Mar 5, 2013

Gluten-Free & Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Mar
5
2013
Tuesday

2 Comments

Gluten-Free & Grain Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe!!

I’ve been doing pretty well with this whole grain-free thing, but one thing that I’ve really missed are occasional sweets!  I’ve gotten the hang of cooking meals with no grains, but I’m just now getting the hang of the dessert part of a grain-free lifestyle.  I’ve been wanting to make some grain-free chocolate chip cookies and so decided to try to figure out how to make some this past Saturday.

I looked around on google for coconut flour chocolate chip cookies and didn’t find anything that I was completely thrilled about (and that I had all of the ingredients for), so I came up with my own recipe and it actually turned out really well!!

Here’s how I made them…

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Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Author:

Ingredients
  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • ⅓ cup sugar (I used sucanat, but you can use honey or regular sugar)
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
  • 5 eggs
  • ½ cup of coconut oil or butter (I used half butter and half coconut oil)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla extract)
  • A lot of chocolate chips
  • Possibly a little extra water if the dough needs any extra moisture

Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350˚.
  2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowel.
  3. Melt the butter and coconut oil and add to the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl. Mix well.
  4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mix and mix until a nice dough forms.
  5. Add the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly.
  6. If any extra moisture is needed, add a SMALL amount of water at a time (1 tsp.) and continue mixing.
  7. Grab medium chunks of cookie dough, roll them into balls, and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  8. Flatten the cookies to about ¼ inch thick and seal up the edges to make the circles look nicer.
  9. Bake at 350˚ for 13-15 minutes.
  10. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet and serve!

Interested in learning more about using coconut? Check out my other coconut posts below:

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2 Comments | Author: Rachel Holland
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Mar 1, 2013

Coconut Flour Breakfast: Gluten-Free Coconut Bake Recipe!

Mar
1
2013
Friday

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Gluten Free Coconut Bake

So I’m continuing my coconut-themed week (although it might turn into a coconut-themed month… or year?) with a recipe that I tried out for breakfast this morning. It was a HIT with all of us (except the 2 year old who can’t have eggs… or bananas, although I’m sure if he could have eggs & bananas that he would’ve loved it too.) :)

This would be a great base for muffins or cookies as well. Even though there are A LOT of eggs in here it definitely had more of a cake-like feel. Think of heavier banana/slight-coconut flavored angel food cake.

Also, *I* think this is sweet enough with just the banana, but I haven’t had much of anything sweet for the past two months so I’m probably not a very good judge of sweetness. If you need some extra sweetness with it then you can add some honey (either in the recipe or on top after it cooks), or you can pour a little syrup on the top when it’s done.

If you would like the whole process of getting to coconut flour from coconut flakes then start at the How To Make Coconut Milk post and then read How To Use Coconut Flour (it’s very different from using regular flour as you’ll see with the recipe below).

Ryan did say that he thought it was a tad dry, but I thought it was perfect, and I think that’s just one of the (very few) drawbacks to using coconut flour. Just experiment with the eggs to get it to your perfect consistency.

Here’s how to make it:

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Easy Gluten-Free Coconut Bake

Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast/Snack/Dessert
Serves: 8

Ingredients

Instructions
  1. Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.
  2. If you would like to bake it in the oven, then you can pour the mixture into muffin tins and bake at 350˙ for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven.
  3. If you would prefer to bake it in the microwave then fill a ramekin with the mixture (it will grow as it cooks so don’t fill it too high) and cook on high for 3 minutes.
  4. Mixture makes 7-8 ramekins depending on the size of your ramekin.

 

There is a ton of protein packed into this little “cake” and I was very full after eating just one!

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Feb 28, 2013

Cooking With Coconut Flour – How To Use Coconut Flour In Recipes!

Feb
28
2013
Thursday

2 Comments

How to cook with coconut flour #glutenfree #gf

What do you do when you’re allergic to grains, corn, and rice, and don’t want the extra calories and fat content (and expense) of almonds in all of your baked goods?

You use coconut flour!

Coconut is my new best friend and I love that I can use the flour that’s left over from making the milk to bake pretty much anything.

You can either buy the coconut flour already ready (we like the Bob’s Red Mill brand), or you can take your pulp that’s leftover from making coconut milk, dry it out (either in a 170˚ oven overnight on a baking sheet, or in a food dehydrator) and then grind it up really fine in a food processor, coffee grinder, or a Vitamix (or Blendtec, but I’m definitely on team Vitamix!)  ;)  And then you have coconut flour to bake with!

When I thought about going just gluten-free for the first time a couple of years ago (yes, it has taken me two years to get the point of actually REALLY doing it) it seemed like such an impossibility.  I was sure that I would never be able to eat anything that tasted good ever again.

But now that I have switched over and feel AMAZING (oh, by the way, I went to bed really late last night and woke up before 7 this morning WITHOUT any fogginess – unheard of for me after such a little amount of sleep!) I have no desire to eat anything that would make me feel terrible, no matter how good it might taste.

What I didn’t realize back when I was in allergy-denial, was that I could use coconut flour to make just about anything that I thought I was going to miss… pancakes, cookies, BREAD, muffins, anything!

AND, the benefits of coconut flour are pretty amazing:

  • Coconut flour is very low-carb.
  • Coconut flour is 58% dietary FIBER (more than any other flour!)
  • Coconut flour is ideal for baking since it can handle high temperatures.
  • Coconut flour is helpful while trying to lose (or maintain) weight since the glycemic index on it is low and it is packed with fiber.
  • Coconut flour is high in protein!

There are a few tricks for using coconut flour though since it acts very differently from other types of flours.  Since coconut flour has SO MUCH more fiber than any other type of flour, it absorbs liquids like crazy, which means that if you bake with it then you need LESS flour and MORE liquid to make up for the extra that’s absorbed.

If you’re going to use it as a breading (like for chicken parmesan or even fried chicken) then you can use the 1:1 ratio since it will not be baked.

But if you are going to bake with it, then since coconut flour doesn’t have any gluten in it (what binds everything together when you’re cooking with wheat),  when you’re baking you’ll need to use another binder for the coconut flour so that everything doesn’t fall apart.  Typically with coconut flour, that binder is eggs.  LOTS and lots of eggs.  Typically AT LEAST 4-5 eggs (sometimes more) for every cup of coconut flour in a recipe.

The best thing to do when you’re looking for coconut flour recipes is to find one that someone else has used that has only coconut flour.  Coconut flour reacts differently in different recipes so substituting it for wheat flour in a recipe can get really tricky.

BUT, if you are brave enough to try substituting coconut flour for wheat flour in a recipe then you might want to try 1/4 – 1/3 coconut flour for every cup of wheat flour, plus 3/4 – 2/3 cup extra liquid with an extra egg or two as part of that liquid (depending on how much coconut flour you used).  Also, your liquid needs to be something fatty, NOT water, so I would recommend using coconut oil, butter, or full-fat yogurt as your extra liquid.

If you’re looking for some quality coconut flour recipes for your favorite bakery treats then check out these below:

See?  Not hard at all!!  :)

If you’re interested in finding more gluten-free recipes, then be sure to follow my Gluten-Free Pinterest board!  I’ll be posting great gluten-free recipes that I find to that board (and if you also have a gluten-free Pinterest board for me to follow then leave the link in the comments).

If you have any other recipes that you would like to share (or tips about using coconut flour), feel free to share the recipes or tips in the comments below!

Oh, and this is definitely the best coconut flour price that I’ve found!  Even though it seems pricey (even at half off), you don’t use anywhere near the same amount of flour that you would with other recipes.  I can make enough of the breakfast bake (linked to above) to last me all week with just 6 Tbsp. of coconut flour!

Bob's Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour, 16-Ounce Units (Pack of 4) List Price: $32.32 Price: $26.76 Read Reviews Buy Now

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Feb 27, 2013

Coconut Milk Recipe: How To Make Coconut Milk!

Feb
27
2013
Wednesday

1 Comment

Coconut Milk Recipe


Ever since we found out that our youngest is allergic to dairy (MAJOR diaper rash if he eats anything dairy) we have been buying almond milk and coconut milk for him to drink.

While we can get good deals on it with coupons and it lasts for a while in the fridge, he goes through so much of it that it still ends up being pretty expensive.

I just recently learned how to make coconut milk from scratch (well, almost from scratch… you use the coconut already shredded :) ) and I wanted to share the recipe with you guys!

Here’s how you make it:

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Homemade Organic Coconut Milk

Author:

Ingredients

Instructions
  1. Put the water in a pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high.
  2. Once the water is hot (but not boiling), put the water and the coconut flakes into a blender (I prefer to use my Vitamix – best kitchen investment ever!) and blend for a couple of minutes until completely liquid.
  3. Put a cheesecloth in a mesh strainer and strain the liquid from the blender through the cheesecloth into another container (you likely will need to do this in two batches).
  4. Pour the milk into a container with a tight-fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
  5. Keep in mind that the coconut oil will separate so just shake it up really well before serving.
  6. *If you would like it to have some sweetness then you can add some honey to sweeten it some.
  7. Then dry out the remains (what’s left in your cheesecloth) to use as coconut flour! I love my food dehydrator, but you can also just put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at a VERY low setting (as low as it can go) in your oven until it dries out.

 

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If you liked this recipe then you might also like these recipes:

 
 
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Feb 2, 2013

Moroccan Tagine Recipe With Beef & Sweet Potatoes + Saffron Road GIVEAWAY!

Feb
2
2013
Saturday

7 Comments

Moroccan Beef Tagine Recipe

I miss cooking.

No no, I “cook” but I have really tried to whittle my cooking down to as SIMPLE as possible.  With the stage of life that we are in right now (4 kids, homeschooling, blogging) I decided that my culinary pursuits would have to take a back seat so that I could spend as much time as possible on the other aspects of my life.

Our meals have been healthy and cooked at home, but SIMPLE.  And that has been very helpful in me keeping my sanity during this crazy time of life.

So earlier last month I got an email from a company called Saffron Road (I had met one of the representatives at a blogging conference) asking me if I would like to try out (and of course post about) their simmer sauces.

The simmer sauces looked simple enough for even me so I decided to take a look at the company… and I LOVED what I saw:

  • All of their livestock are humanely raised and are never given any antibiotics or hormones.
  • Their founders are organic food pioneers who support the natural food movement.
  • They support family owned farms and local growers.
  • Saffron Road has 12 certified Gluten Free Products. (Ryan is now Gluten-free and I’m close to being there.)
  • Saffron Road is enrolled in the Non-GMO Project.
  • Plus many more commitments to their customers!

Yes!!  Those are all things that I can get behind!

Then I went to the Saffron Road page about their simmer sauces (since that’s what they wanted me to try) and took a look at the ingredients.  I could actually pronounce everything on the ingredient list!  For those who don’t know, that’s kind of my general rule of thumb when I’m considering adding a new food to what we regularly eat.  I look at the ingredient list and make sure that there’s nothing there that I can’t pronounce.  That rule doesn’t catch EVERYTHING that’s “bad”, but it sure catches most of it!

I loved that it was in a pouch (vs. a can since I don’t like to use cans lined with BPA and heated to high temperatures) and that the recipes to use the simmer sauces were SIMPLE!!  I could FEEL like I was creating a culinary masterpiece without actually taking the time to do so.

So I told them that they sounded great and that I would love to try them out.  They sent me a pack of all four of their simmer sauces and the first one that I decided to try was the Moroccan Tagine.

And ya’ll… I was expecting it to be good.  But it blew me away!  Who knew a little packet of sauce could give that much flavor?!

They are regularly priced right around $2.99 each, so not a lot for something that I would feel more than comfortable serving to company!  (Am I the only one that gets thrilled when I find a recipe that’s simple, not expensive, and something that I can serve company?)

Did I mention that there’s a Saffron Road coupon on their Facebook page?  Yep, there’s a $1 off ANY Saffron Road product coupon, so definitely go over and print it if you plan to try out their products!

So here’s the recipe that I made.  And while it took a while to actually cook (2 hours) the prep work was very easy!

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Moroccan Beef Tagine With Sweet Potatoes

Author:

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. of your favorite roast, cut into 2 inch cubes
  • ½ large purple onion, diced
  • 1½ colored bell peppers (I used half of each of a red, orange, and yellow)
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1 packet of Saffron Road Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • Green onions, for garnish

Instructions
  1. Put the cubed roast, purple onion, bell peppers, and olive oil in a pot and saute until the meat is brown on all edges and the onions are a little see-through (I know there’s a technical term for it, but see-through is just so much easier!)
  2. Add the 2 cups of beef broth and can of garbanzo beans
  3. Add the packet of Saffron Road Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce (or you can attempt your own but that’s A LOT of spices to buy!)
  4. Simmer on med-low for 1 hour
  5. While the mixture is simmering, peel and cut up the sweet potatoes (I cut 1 inch sections and then cut those sections into fourths)
  6. Add the sweet potatoes to the mixture on the stove and add more broth if needed (I still had plenty of broth left so I didn’t need any more)
  7. Simmer until sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through (around 45 minutes)
  8. Serve with couscous (or rice if you’re not a couscous fan) and garnish with green onions!

 

Doesn’t that sound amazing?! How would you like to win FREE Saffron Road products?

Saffron Road Foods is giving away FIVE prize packs worth $25 each to you guys!! All you have to do to enter is follow the steps below:

REQUIRED ENTRY:

1. Click on the button below to enter the giveaway.

OPTIONAL (BONUS!) ENTRIES:

1. Leave a comment on this post letting us know which Saffron Road Food item you would be most interested in trying out!

2. Subscribe to Surviving The Stores via RSS blog reader or free daily email updates and check the box on the form that you are a subscriber. (Yes, it counts if you already subscribe!)

3. “Like” Surviving The Stores AND Saffron Road on Facebook and check the box on the form letting me know that you did.

4. PIN the picture of this recipe on Pinterest and let me know in the giveaway form that you did (btw, did you know Saffron Road is on Pinterest?)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

This giveaway will end on Saturday February 9th at 10:00 pm CST and it open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Prizes will be fulfilled by Saffron Road Foods. This giveaway is sponsored by Saffron Road Foods, and ALL opinions are 100% mine. You can read my disclosure policy here.

You can follow Saffron Road Foods on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Official rules: 1) No purchase necessary to win 2) must be 13 or older to enter and have a mailing address within the United States 3) only one entry per person, plus up to four bonus entries 4) odds of winning depend on number of entries 5) employees of Surviving The Stores or sponsoring company not eligible for participation 6) contest sponsored by Saffron Road Foods 7) Surviving The Stores and sponsoring company are not liable for any injury or damage to persons and/or things as a result of the acceptance of the prize offered.

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7 Comments | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Front Page, Giveaways, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,
Jan 31, 2013

Healthy Chicken Mole Taco Recipe!

Jan
31
2013
Thursday

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Healthy Chicken Mole Taco Recipe!
Getting bored with the same old tacos? Try out this recipe- the cocoa and spices give the tacos a unique, sweet and savory taste…plus they are full of nutrients and low in fat and calories!

Author:
Serves: 4

Ingredients
  • 1 tsp Canola oil
  • 1 Large onion, chopped
  • 2 Garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbs Unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 tsp Chili powder
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • ½ tsp Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Sugar
  • ½ tsp Dried oregano
  • ⅛ tsp Salt
  • 1 (14.5 oz) Can no-salt added diced tomatoes
  • 1 (15.5 oz) Can no-salt added black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 C Cooked chicken breast (skinless and boneless), chopped
  • 8 (6 inch) Whole wheat tortillas, warmed
  • 2 cups Shredded romaine lettuce
  • ½ cup shredded Reduced-fat monterey jack cheese

Instructions
  1. Add oil, onion and garlic into large skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for about 7 minutes (until onions start to brown)
  2. Add next 8 ingredients (cocoa and all spices/seasonings). Stir for 1 minute (until fragrant)
  3. Add tomatoes to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 8 minutes (stir occasionally, sauce should thicken slightly)
  4. Stir in beans and chicken (try using rotisserie chicken to save time), return to simmer and cook for 3 more minutes
  5. Spoon ¾ cups chicken mixture on each tortilla, top evenly with lettuce and cheese

Nutrition Information
Serving size: 2 tacos Calories: 373 Fat: 10g Saturated fat: 2g Trans fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 52g Sugar: 5g Sodium: 938 mg Fiber: 25g Protein: 35g Cholesterol: 37g

 

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Leave a Comment | Author: Rachel Holland
Filed Under: Front Page, Healthy Recipes, Recipes
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