Chia Pudding

My son, big world traveller that he is, requested chia pudding the other day.  This recipe from Minimalist Baker looks like it will hopefully work for him, but I think it could be tweaked to maybe work for folks like myself too, so.

I'm trying something new right now, which is to put in the original recipe, and then show how it can be altered.  This is honestly some really basic stuff that most cooks are going to know like the back of their hand. However, this is for those of us who are NOT cooks, or at least, cooks who are used to having recipes to use rather than having to come up with our own from scratch and trying to figure it all out.  So this may be too basic for some, but just remember, it's probably aimed at someone who is not as good at cooking as you are (yet, anyway). ^_^

Chia Pudding

DIY Hummus

I absolutely love hummus, even though I can only have a little bit before I react. However, I know that many folks may not be able to enjoy store-bought hummus due to issues with sesame or garlic, and so I wanted to put here a couple quick recipe 'bases' that you can use to enjoy some hummus for yourself!

Hummus (most basic recipe)

ingredients:

Dried chickpeas
olive oil
salt
lemon juice (or another sour liquid or semi-liquid)
(optional) any spices or seasonings of choice (chili powders and cumin are popular)
(optional) any aromatics (roasted peppers, roasted chiles, and/or garlic are popular and tasty)
(optional) tahini or other seed/nut based 'butter'

Directions:

1. Soak the chickpeas in water, overnight at minimum.  If you want a kind of different flavor, you can soak the chickpeas for a day or two and change out the water a couple times; they will start to ferment and develop a kind of pseudo-cheesy scent that can be pleasant with certain seasonings.
2. Decide if you want 'cooked' hummus or 'raw' hummus.  Either one will be fine, but the taste and texture of cooked is a bit less strong in taste and smoother in texture.  If you choose 'raw' hummus, a 12 hour soaking time total, at minimum, is helpful. 
3. For cooked hummus - drain and rinse the chickpeas, and cook in boiling water (not salt) for a few hours, until very soft.
4. For raw hummus - drain and rinse the chickpeas.
5. Put the chickpeas, salt, and any potential spices or aromatics (or tahini/seed butters) into a food processor (or large mortar and pestle, if you only have that) and blend/mash until chunky-smooth.  Then add in lemon juice and blend a little more. Then, while blending/mashing, slowly add in olive oil in a steady stream until the hummus is the desired texture.  Done!

Notes:

1. Why does this have no ingredient quantities?  Mostly because it's quite varied, how much you need, depending on what is added, if chickpeas are cooked, etc...  And how much or little is added in terms of spices and aromatics is highly dependent on taste.

2. Isn't it weird without tahini?  Nope.  Making hummus without tahini was actually a technique I got from an acquaintance from the Middle East. He mentioned that where he lived, tahini was really cheap, but olive oil less so, so using ONLY olive oil and no tahini became a bit of a status symbol.  I don't know how common this practice is, but it works quite well, even if tahini does make the hummus a bit smoother.

3. Is it safe to eat raw chickpeas?  Yeah, no problem for most folks. If you have any digestive issues, though, especially with any kind of raw foods or beans, however, you probably want to go for the cooked chickpeas rather than raw.

4. I can't use lemon juice; what can I use for a sour taste? This one is a bit tricky.  I have tried vinegar when I couldn't tolerate lemon and while it is 'okay,' it does have a distinct taste that is not necessarily a good match for chickpeas.  I have considered taking plain yogurt and draining it for a few hours, and using the liquid as a good souring agent. Haven't tried this yet, but I've used that as a lemon replacement before and it sometimes works.

Faux, dairy-free, beef stroganoff-ish sauce

It has been quite some time since I've posted anything. I have a loooong list of pinterest recipes I've explored, but it's been a tough year all around and I've not had the energy to put a lot up.

However, I've so enjoyed this little sauce that I wanted to share. It's pretty tasty, a pale white to gray-white color, and I have used it like I'd use stroganoff sauce.

Stroganoff-ish sauce

yellow onion
white button mushrooms
salt, rosemary, or other seasonings
water


Directions-
1. Blend up onion and mushrooms, with enough water to help it blend, in a blender until smooth-ish. I usually do 1 onion and maybe 1/2-1 small package of mushrooms, but this is honestly to taste.
2. Add seasonings - I do fresh herbs like rosemary, mostly.
3. Add this sauce to any beef dish you are cooking in a frying pan, to cook on a low simmer for at least 10-15 minutes. I have used this with both ground beef and beef cubes.  It will stay relatively thick, and is relatively nice if the beef-sauce mixture is poured over rice, mashed root veggies, cauliflower rice, etc...


This is, obviously, not as nice as a real stroganoff sauce. But if you're in need and have very few ingredients, this works well in a pinch for something nice. ^_^

Throwing Things Together 2

I am literally SO happy right now with how this dish is turning out! 

Spicy Potato-Chicken stew (photo coming...when my camera stops acting like a jerk)

Yeah, a lot of my thrown together stuff is soups or stews, because it's easy. I don't even care. 

First in, cubed, unpeeled, potatoes in a skillet. Because I was going to make fried potatoes and realized the one oil I can use, I'm out of. So I put in a little water with the cubed potatoes. Which looked lonely and sad, so I added two tiny chopped radishes from my garden.

Then one small chicken thigh, chopped.

And then two slices of chopped leftover onion, because it was there. And then I remembered I had about 1/4 cup of left over 'green soup'* and added that, too. 

Then the color was kind of 'meh' - an odd grayish green sort of thing - so I grabbed a couple tomatoes and grated them into the pan, too. They looked really pale until they started cooking and then reddened right up.  

I added some fresh grated ginger and turmeric as well, at that point, and a small handful of chopped cilantro stems, and a couple slices of chopped jalapeño, too. 

Then put in some dried oregano and tiny bit of dried thyme from the garden, as well.

This stuff is finishing cooking as we speak, just the potatoes need to finish, and I can hardly wait. So far, the sampling I've done tastes amazing.  Much more flavor than I thought I'd get, honestly.  I will have to try this again with the green soup added to it and see if that is what makes the difference, because I don't often get this level of flavor to similar recipes. 

The color is not quite that lovely red-orange you see so often in various Indian dishes, but still a nice color. The smell is great, the texture looks like it's going to be awesome.

In the future, I'd likely start things off with the onions and some herbs first, maybe the tomatoes, so the flavor is a little heightened, even, but so far...this one is a winner!

I could totally see this being served over rice (if you can have that) or even cooked down to lower the liquid content and maybe used in a sandwich or on a bun, Sloppy Joe style.

Not how I'm gonna eat it, but it could work that way!

*Green soup is a recipe from one of the Low Histamine Chef's cookbooks. My own version this time around had included water, salt, one white onion, the chopped stems and a few leaves from a bunch of parsley, 1 1/2 zucchini, 1 fennel bulb, one head broccoli, 1-2 jalapeños, a good amount of fresh thyme and savory, and salt - all blended up after cooking until soft.

I reacted to what?

I'm posting this one as a sort of 'pay it forward' post, because a post like this started me down the path to figuring out some of my own issues. So this is for all the people who are still struggling and searching, and who would swear that they are reacting to water, or to salt. Or that it feels like they are allergic to water or salt, sometimes.

I'm here to tell you that you are not losing your mind. It is entirely possible to react to water or salt. Or rather, it's possible to react to water, or to contaminants present in water and salt due to our current processing.

Day 13 and 14 - Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce with GF General Tso's Tofu

Pinterest Day 13 and 14 

The Pinterest recipes I looked at these two days were Gluten Free Hoisin Sauce at the Gluten Free Lifesaver, and then a Gluten free version of General Tso's Tofu from Grumpy's Honey Bunch, which required a GF hoisin sauce to make it work.

It turned out pretty-pretty!

Mid-meal, as my son ate so fast I couldn't get another picture!

Throwing Things Together I

I just wanted to jot down what I come up with periodically, when I'm trying to use up ingredients in the fridge. Sometimes, there's something good that comes out of it. Sometimes, there's things I want to remember to avoid!

Wish I was a better cook by this point in my life, but I'm trying to cut myself a break.  I have had to start my recipe making over from scratch, due to added allergies, at least six times now in the last 14 years, with the last one losing nearly all the main ingredients I used to cook with, and all the pre-made condiments and sauces.  I figure I need to just view this as though I am back in my teens, learning to cook again!!

And, well, I just focus on stuff other than cooking, often. If I really want to get better, I should really see if I can get some time to focus on this more, too!


Beef, chile, potato soup

Today, had about 1/4 cup leftover cubed and fried potatoes, about 1/5 of a tiny can of chopped green chile, about 5 slices of zucchini, two big slices of white onion with all the rings, and a few leaves of lettuce that were still good after the head had frozen in the fridge (grrr).

So, I chopped them up, threw them all together in a pot, added some dried tepin chiles from my bushes and some ground beef about half the size of my fist, then added salt, water to cover, and wild tarragon, and cooked it on a low simmer for maybe 30 minutes - until meat was cooked and onions soft.

How it turned out
It turned out surprisingly well in taste - quite nice.  Color is brown and almost coffee and cream brown. Just looks pretty boring and bleh, so wouldn't serve it without something to jazz up the color - maybe red bell peppers, at least. It went well with corn chips - which I shouldn't eating as they aren't so great with me, but after caring for two sick kids, and getting little sleep and no chance to go to the store, it's been hard to make sure I eat as frequently as I need to (I start having difficulties if my blood sugar goes too low).

So, I would totally make this again, but presentation changes would be nice. Might cook onions ahead of time to bring out the flavor more, too. This is a good base, though!

Day 12 - Gluten Free Tortillas

Pinterest Day 12 

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Gluten free Flour tortillas at the Art of gluten free baking. No photos because seriously, these things went SO fast I made three batches just trying to keep up with the kids eating 'em!

The Reasons:

Trying to make more things at home for my daughter, who is going to be starting another restriction on her diet which eliminates most processed bread-like goods.

Day 11 - Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Pinterest Day 11

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili at Alida's Kitchen. 

Day 10 - Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Pinterest Day 10

The Pinterest recipe I looked at today was Tofu Vietnamese Spring Rolls by Minimalist Baker. I have no pictures - the food was all eaten so fast, there was nothing left.  I made this three times, and the immediate disappearance of the food did not change, LOL.

Edible squash leaves

At one point I thought I had put up this information, but if so, I can no longer find it, so here it goes again!

Squash leaves and stems are among those foods that are not commonly eaten here in the USA in my area, but are quite common in other areas of the world. Below is a great link to a variety of recipes for preparing and cooking them: http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html

Batter for Frying plus GF cream cheese wontons

This batter is based off of this recipe (almost exactly it): http://www.food.com/recipe/batter-for-deep-frying-161589 . This is for my kids, so has a lot of stuff not so good for me, but might be fun for someone trying to figure out something similar.

Whole30 Chicken and Zucchini with Green Chile Sauce

For foods that are, likely, whole30 compliant, I'm pretty much just throwing things together, for the most part. Every once in a while I might have a 365 days of pinterest recipe, though.

For right now, though, so I can remember what works, here is the first one.

Watermelon- Mint Salad

This turned out amazing - a nice, cool treat for summertime, and super easy. Pictures will come, as usual, when the camera is behaving.

Watermelon-Mint Salad

Gluten free is definitely not always gluten free

New study just came out, and it's saying what a lot of celiacs have been saying for years: gluten free products are not always as gluten free as they claim.

In the study, out of 158 products labeled gluten free, 5% of those with the gluten free label with not gluten free. 4% of the products labeled as certified gluten free were not gluten free, and these are the ones that are supposed to certify as having half the allowed gluten contamination as the regular gluten free label.

https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/blog/Five-Percent-of-Tested-Foods-Making-Gluten-Free-Claims-are-not-Gluten-Free-Study-Finds/41

Personally, I think this is the canary in the coal mine of contamination.  Gluten currently is one of the only allergens to have actual ppm contamination standards on the books. The other allergens do not.  You would expect that having to meet actual standards would increase compliance, to avoid prosecution if nothing else.

So if gluten free foods are only gluten free about 95% of the time, what's the level of 'free' for other allergens that list themselves as soy free, egg free, and so on?

Obviously, it's something we have to figure out for ourselves. But for those of us with serious allergies, or who have very serious reactions to allergens, I think this may be a factor to consider for our food. Yet another potential reason to start looking at whole foods rather than processed foods when making dietary choices.

DIY gelatin

I found a link for DIY GELATIN at maantistaaste.com.  Yes, that's the gelatin you could use to make jello.

Originally it was for pork bones, but I used it for ox tail and it worked GREAT.  I'd check out the link above to see what they have to say about gelatin, as it's interesting, but let me tell you the basics here.

Sweet potato chip nachos

I came across this recipe on pinterest, for 'Loaded sweet potato nachos.' I had never thought of nachos using sweet potato chips before, so I figured I'd give it a try!

Sweet Potato Nachos.

There's those tiny chips, waaaay underneath the toppings

The best cheesecake ever

This recipe was made by a person who obviously LOVES their cheesecake. And after making it a few years back, I can see why. It is quite literally the best cheesecake I ever had in my life, and it's one I made myself, which makes it even better. I can't eat it anymore, of course, but that doesn't matter.

I'm sharing this because frankly, it needs to be shared for everyone who can eat it. Seriously - so amazingly good. I'm not even talking about it more than this, just sharing.

Cooking Debauchery's cheesecake
EDIT: Sadly, this website is no longer with us. But thankfully, I copied the recipe itself because it was so awesome, so I'll share this genius' awesome cheesecake with others so it will not be lost.

"Best cheesecake ever
By kitarra

THE Cheesecake
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 pounds cream cheese (4 8 oz packages), softened
4 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup Kifir Cheese [2]
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
Zest of one small lemon, finely chopped
Butter and additional sugar for the pan

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.

Set oven to middle rack and slide into it a large roasting pan.  Fill the bottom of the pan with boiling water and allow to heat with the oven to create a little steam.  Bring another pot of water to a boil.

Removed the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.  Line it with a large piece of tin foil, folding the edges under so that they do not interfere.  Replace the bottom of the spring form pan into the hoop and lock into place.  Carefully uncurl the tin foil from the bottom and bring it up around the edges of ring, crumpling at the top to create a water tight seal.

Brush the insides of the pan with melted butter making sure to coat every nook and cranny.  Once the pan is coated, pour in 3 tablespoons sugar, shaking it around to evenly coat the bottom and sides.  This will prevent the cheesecake from sticking.

Evenly distribute the cream cheese in the food processor.  Turn to on and slowly add the sugar through the feed tube until the cream cheese loosens and becomes smooth.  You might have to scrape down the sides a couple of times.  Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the sides between each addition if necessary.

Stop the processor.  While it is stopped add the zest, vanilla and kifir cheese.  Pulse until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared crust [3], resisting the urge to lick the mixer bowl.  Shake the pan, taping it against the kitchen counter to get out any errant air bubbles.

Place into the middle of the roasting pan and add enough water to come up a little more than half way up the sides.

Bake at 500 degrees for 12 minutes.

Open the oven door and reduce the temperature to 200 degrees.  Keep the oven door open for a few minutes until it cools slightly.  Close the oven door and bake without opening for 1 hour.

The cheesecake will look done at this point and be jiggly in the center.  It will want to come out.  Don’t you believe it!  To prevent cracks, run a thin knife between the edge of the cheesecake and the pan.  It should retract readily.  Close the door and bake for another hour to 75 minutes or until the whole cheesecake move in a slightly rubbery way when gently shaken.

Bring the temperature up to 350 and bake until the top is golden and puffed.

Remove to a wire rack and cool, tearing away the tinfoil to allow heat to escape.

Chill in the refrigerator over night.  DO NOT be tempted to cut into it right away.  This is very hard, I know, but the texture will not right until it has chilled thoroughly.

[1]  Cheesecake Nirvana is currently located in my freezer where it will sit and await my birthday on the 16th.
[2]  Kifir Cheese is sometimes called Lebnan and can be found in Persian or Arabic markets.  If kifir cheese is not available, substitute with Greek Yogurt, preferably drained for a few hours in a coffee filter.
[3]  The first hint I had that I was on the right track is that this cheesecake was nearly half an inch shorter than the cheesecake mousse horror!  The pan should be about half full, maybe a little more.

Originally from http://www.cookingdebauchery.com/cooking_debauchery/2007/02/the_cheesecake.html"

As for allergens - It's gluten free, can be grain free (depends on some brand names), peanut and tree nut free, but it contains dairy, eggs, sugar, and lemon or vanilla.

Sweet Potato Cakes

I finally got these suckers to work!  I saw that the gluten free girl used yogurt to make an egg-free sweet potato latke, and that finally pinged a connection with the cashew cream I've been using, and this is the result. Inspired by her recipe.

Yummy!

Socca part II

I have found a much easier way to make Socca (original recipe here), or at least something that resembles it. Good enough for Gov't work and all that.

This is a VERY cheap and easy way to make this, for those who are gluten free but don't want to break the bank by buying lots of chickpea flour, and don't have a grinder to make it themselves.

Socca with hummus, cucumbers, and dill