While experimenting to make a satisfying treat for Oscar and I during the few weeks we are avoiding white sugar, I stumbled across this concoction that is actually quite tasty!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temp)
1 cup packed coconut sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
Raw sugar for rolling

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Beat together butter and coconut sugar until smooth (about 1 minute). Add the egg and molasses. Beat for an additional minute. Combine flour and wet mixtures. Spread a thin layer of raw sugar on a cutting board. Spoon balls of dough onto the raw sugar and roll to lightly coat. Place about an inch apart on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until tops are matte with a few sugary crystals forming on top. Remove and separate immediately from the cookie sheet with a spatula to prevent sticking (or use parchment paper).

Sometimes running out of key ingredients results in happy accidents. Behold these delicious gluten free nutty oatmeal butterscotch scones! Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven to 405 degrees F.

Sift together:

Banana cakes with honey-sweetened chocolate, almond butter, slivered almonds, and honey-lemon syrup…kale/carrot/spicy avocado and bean salad…golden delicious apple and plenty of water to wash it all down

Since I have been doing the gluten free thing for a while, I’ve decided to ramp it up a bit and make a small cookbook of recipes that are healthy in other ways too. In addition to being gluten free, many of the selections are vegetarian/vegan and even the treats use minimal amounts of dairy and sugar. When sugar is used, it’s honey or coconut sugar which both have lower glycemic indices than the white processed stuff. Since I am NOT a vegetarian, a few recipes call for organic, free-range, lean meat. If you’re a vegetarian, you can skip those or substitute the meat components with something like a big beefy portabella mushroom. Surprisingly–at least in my opinion–all of these recipes are actually DELICIOUS and satisfying. If your’e looking for a way to eat well and EAT WELL, you might find something of value here. Roll up your sleeves, get out a plate and get ready to cook and eat clean!

Keepin it Clean with CBM

Recently, I taught Oscar to make ganache. As you can see, he was eager to learn.

Once again this year, I hosted a gluten free cooking class as a fundraiser for Oscar’s school. As part of the class, I cobbled together a small cookbook of recipes. This year–with so much going on outside of the kitchen–it was difficult to find the time and energy to sink my teeth into this project. Still, I think there are some delicious recipes in here. I hope you think so too! To create your own copy of the cookbook, print the file linked below two-sided, fold, staple, and start cookin’!

Gluten Free Cooking with CBM 2.0 Magical Modifications

Here are a couple of clowns enjoy their mousse.

A friend recently posted a yummy-looking recipe that I’m planning to try this weekend. I’ll be making a small gluten free modification. The original recipe calls for pretzels. I’ll be using almonds instead. If these turn out half as good as the picture suggest, I think I will soon be in chocoalty, caramely, almondy heaven.

Salted Caramel Almond Bark

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter
1 cup of light brown sugar
Raw, unsalted almonds
12 ounce bag of chocolate chips
Sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large bar pan with parchment paper, cover with almonds. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. When butter begins to bubble, add brown sugar. Stirring occasionally, let butter and sugar meld together and brown (about 3 minutes). Do NOT let the mixture boil. Pour caramel over the almonds evenly, spreading with a spatula as needed. Work quickly since caramel cools fast. Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle with an even layer of chocolate chips. Place bark back in the oven for 45 seconds. Remove and spread melted chocolate with spatula as needed to coat evenly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. Cut into squares and ENJOY!

Because I was getting seriously disgusted with the amount of junk I had been ingesting and in preparation for a race that I will be training for soon, I decided to give up seven major foods for three weeks. All of the banned foods are often implicated in food allergies. Even for those who are not allergic, these foods can cause the body to work less efficiently than it should. The foods that I am currently abstaining from are:

1. Dairy
2. Soy
3. Peanuts
4. Gluten
5. Eggs
6. Sugar
7. Corn

I’m not trying to be a zealot about this and I definitely don’t believe in suffering when it comes to food. I’m sure I’ll be enjoying a fat bowl of ice cream with all the fixin’s soon enough. However, I DO believe in occasionally giving my body a break. Every once in a while, it’s nice to be really thoughtful about what I’m putting into my mouth.

And so–just like when Oscar got his celiac diagnosis–I’m finding myself experimenting a bunch in the kitchen these days. I wouldn’t really call myself a chef…I’m more like a mad scientist…heating and cooling…mixing and mashing…blending and boiling in search of concoctions that I hope will be as satisfying and delicious as they sound inside my head. Our kitchen is getting pretty worked over these days.

I’m happy to report that despite all of my serious self-imposed limitations, I am actually eating quite well and feeling pretty great 6 days into this little experiment. When I need something sweet, I find that a dash of organic maple syrup or a little honey goes a long way. For my cheese hankerings, I have rediscovered my love of goat and sheep’s milk cheeses. Coconut and almond milk (often a mix of the two!) satisfy my dairy hankerings. Below are a few of the recipes that are getting me through. These are so good, they might actually become part of my regular repertoire–even after my 21 day adventure has concluded. Bon appétit!

Simple Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups of frozen berries (I use the organic antioxidant frozen berry mix from Costco.)
• about 1/4 cup coconut milk (Adjust depending on desired thickness. I like mine thick like sorbet!)
• 2-3 Tbsp. honey (depending on desired sweetness)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add coconut milk and honey to adjust sweetness/thickness as desired.

Sugar Free Chocolate Almond Bark

Ingredients

• 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coursely chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp. organic, pure maple syrup (adjust depending on desired sweetness)
• slivered almond (or any other kind of nut/dried fruit you like with your chocolate)

Instructions

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler (i.e., a stainless steel boil that has been placed over a pot of boiling water.)
2. Heat maple syrup in the microwave until just boiling. Mix into melted chocolate until smooth.
3. Immediately press chocolate/maple syrup mixture onto parchment paper and press almonds (or other additions) to the top of the chocolate.
4. Allow the chocolate to cool completely and cut/break the chocoalte into pieces as desired.

Mustard and Almond Encrusted Hallibut

Ingredients

• 1 lb. halibut
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard (I checked the label to make sure mine didn’t have any of the banned substances!)
• 3 Tbsp. almond milk
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds (Pecans would work too.)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375° F.
2. Mix together mustard and almond milk to make a paste.
3. Dip hallibut into the paste and coat on both sides.
4. Sprinkle almonds over both sides of the fish and place in a glass baking dish.
5. Bake until fish is flaky but still moist (10-20 minutes depending on the size/thickness of your fillet).

 The past week has been a blur of preparations for teaching my first gluten free cooking class. The class (which happened yesterday) was a fundraiser for Oscar’s school and was attended by some very supportive mommy friends from both Marguerite Montgomery Elementary and Applegate. I spent every spare moment last week writing a cook book (Contents) to pass out to participants. Even though (given the time crunch) it’s undoubtedly full of typos, it was such joy to spend the week going through recipes and photos, recalling all of the magical moments I’ve had in the kitchen with my boys these past years. I was so empowered to spend the morning creating with strong, smart, amazing women who are bright lights…every one. I can never get enough of their stories, their insights, their company. Even when staying up entirely too late to make it happen, it’s amazing how energizing it can be to make time to do what you love with people you love. Spending the week tapping into who you are at your core…starting the week filled with appreciation…THIS is what living is all about.

Flourless Chocolate Cake, Gluten Free Buttermilk Buscuits, Mac & Cheese, and Scones paired with Delicious Company