Welcome to my crazy world of real food cooking ...

Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. -- Michael Pollan

I wish I could take credit for that because I think it sums up how we should eat. Simply -- eat stuff that really is food, instead of stuff that is food like substance. The supermarket is almost entirely food-like-substances, and, my friends, you should probably never ever eat them.

Fortunately, there is a world of deliciousness out there, and it can all be had in a way that not only doesn't harm your health, but in a way that benefits you hugely.

I think it's important to eat stuff that satisfies you, that keeps your blood sugar stable, and that gives you stuff your body really needs to run optimally.

But baby, it's gotta taste good.

I really like getting experimental in the kitchen. I love cooking, I love layering flavours, and I love coming up with really super yummy food. I have very strong opinions about what constitutes food, and there are a lot of things I won't touch in the kitchen. Bottom line? Pretty much everything I make is ridiculously good for you even if it tastes decadent. Although there are occasional big fat cheats ... but even those stick to real food, my friends.

For food that is usual gluten free, usually free of cane sugar, usually super low on the glycemic index, full of protein, fiber, flavour, and excellent energy, join me and Alice down the rabbit hole.

Every recipe on this blog is my own original effort and idea, so please pass 'em on, giving credit where credit is due.

Many thanks, and come back often. I'm really glad you are here!

:)

Monday 24 August 2015

Double Layer Chocolate Cake with Ganaaaaaaaaaache

So it's like this. I was under orders by Spoiled Rotten Kid to make a double-decker chocolate cake with chocolate icing. This one whipped up in a trice, and is pretty darn wholesome. The taste is delicious, and it's rich and gooey and pleasing in the ways that chocolate cake should be.

Anyway, I mixed all the ingredients save the water together, and then added the water and mixed that. Which means the ingredients can be combined ahead of time, and just turned into batter when ready to bake.

Super simple and super easy, even if I did use both coconut sugar and date sugar. The main criticism people have of my recipes is that they can have too many ingredients. Hopefully this will seem simple all the same.


The frosting is thick and gooey, and made of good things like dates, coconut oil, and cacao. The two together make a really nice dessert that has none of the sin and all of the virtue.












Chocolate Layer Cake:

ingredients:

1/4 cup finely ground chia
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup date sugar
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup almond flour (or use raw sunflower seeds and make a fine flour by grinding them up)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean
1/2 tsp sea salt

2 cups water


directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chia, tapioca starch, date sugar, coconut sugar chickpea flour, almond flour, cacao, baking soda, ground vanilla bean, and sea salt. If you don't use ground vanilla bean and instead like vanilla extract, please don't add that here.
2. Stir all the ingredients together until it's a nice homogeneous mixture.
3. It's a dry, shelf-stable concoction, and you can either use it now, or put it in a sealed container to make your cake later.
4. If you choose to use it now, prepare 2 round 8 inch baking pans by covering them well with coconut oil and using parchment paper rounds to line them. Preheat your oven to 345.
5. add in the 2 cups of water to your dry ingredients, and mix really really well. If you're using vanilla extract instead of ground vanilla bean, you can add it here. Yay! Mix!
6. evenly divide the batter into the 2 pans.
7. bake at 345 for about 40 minutes, or until the top is resilient.
8. remove from the oven, let cool a little in the pans, then run a knife around the edge of the pans, and gently tip out the cakes and place on a cooling rack
9. I often let cakes cool before removing the baking parchment.




Thick Gooey Ganache Frosting:

You'll need an immersion blender or another blender for this ...

ingredients:

1 1/2 cup pitted honey dates
1 cup hot water (just boiled is good)
1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil


1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt


1/2 cup raw cacao



directions:
1. combine the hot water, dates, and coconut oil. Let sit for at least 10 minutes to fully soften dates.
2. add the sea salt and vanilla extract, and puree with an immersion blender until beautifully smooth,
3. stir in the cacao
4. cool. I stuck it in the refrigerator for a little while.
5. use. It was perfect for generously filling and frosting an 8 inch double decker round cake. Or eat by the spoonful. I dare ya. Double-dog, double-decker dare you.


When the cake is cool and the frosting chilled, assemble your cake. When you layer a cake, get an appropriate plate, and place the first layer top side down. The bottom side is flat and even, and makes a much more receptive layer for frosting. Some pros will shave off the top of the cake to make it flatter, but I'm of the flip-it-over school of cake layering. Put a generous portion of the frosting on the first layer, and spread it gently towards the edges. Top with the second layer, nesting it securely onto the bed of frosting you have put down. Make sure the second layer goes top side down, so the flat bottom (tee hee) is upper-most. Scoop frosting onto the second layer, and smooth out towards the edges, and along the sides. This part can take a little practice, but with patience your cake will look very nice. This frosting will show the painterly brush strokes of your application, and not a smooth glassy finish because it's a little sticky. If you want a really smooth glazed look, there is a glaze I made in the past for cake that will achieve that.

Sunday 23 August 2015

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip -- 5 ingredients not including the salt/baking soda

Kim, Brooke, and Claire came over to play briefly yesterday. Brooke confessed that Claire had been wishing to make treats for him because in her 7 year old heart she felt it was terribly unfair that he couldn't have treats just because he's diabetic. They'd tried to make some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies from a recipe they'd found online (using krisda chocolate chips which are sweetened only with erythritol and stevia and taste great) but the results were sadly inedible. So I thought I'd put together a batch of something that centred on almond flour. Kim and Brooke don't cook a lot so I wanted to make these with few ingredients. I'm not counting the salt and baking soda, or the water (is that cheating, Kim????????) These whipped up in a flash, baked in 20 minutes, and were out of the oven before the trio had to leave, so everyone got to enjoy some.

So, here they are. Five-ingredient chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. No high glycemic sweeteners. Lots of wonderful, blood-sugar stabilizing almond flour.  And all ingredients easy to come by. If you need nut free, just grind up some raw sunflower seeds into flour and use those instead. That is what I will be doing to transform these into a lunch-box treat come September.

They are super-duper-delicious, which to me is of the point of cookies, diabetic-friendly or no.










1 cup oatmeal (I used large flake)
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean (optional. OPTIONAL. DON'T HATE ME. You can use a tsp of extract if you want)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup water

1 cup krisda chocolate chips



1. combine ingredients excluding water and chocolate chips
2. stir well, then add water and mix into dough
3. add in chips, and stir well
4. scoop small balls of cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet (I use silicone liners, but parchment works)
5. flatten with a wet fork into rounds

preheat oven and bake at 345 for 20 minutes

They stuck to the silicone mat a little bit, so it was best to let them cool before removing them with a stainless steel spatula.

makes approx 3 doz depending on size

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Post-Op Chocolate Ice Cream -- vegan milk chocolate






Spoiled Rotten Kid wants this ice-cream as part of his post-op recovery. And what Spoiled Rotten Kid wants, Spoiled Rotten Kid gets. This is a pretty wonderful, creamy, chocolatey pleasure, and is an enduring favourite in our household.


ingredients:

2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup coconut oil (3/4 cup)

1  cup dates (pitted or take the pits out)

1/2 cup coconut nectar

2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt


1/2 cup raw cacao
1 can coconut milk



directions:

1. combine the ingredients in a bowl not including the cacao and coconut milk, and allow to stand for a while to fully soften the dates
2. once the dates are soft, and the coconut oil is melted, use your hand blender to create a smooth concoction. If you have no hand blender, use your jar blender. If you have no jar blender, maybe this recipe is not for you.
3. once the mixture is fully incorporated and beautifully smooth, add the cacao and coconut milk, and blend again
4. allow to cool and then chill
5. freeze according to your ice cream freezer's manufacturers instructions.