NEW HERE? READ ME FIRST

My family started this "No-Sugar-No-Flour" (NSNF) challenge in August 2009. I posted a lot of background and "how to start" info in those first few posts. To better understand WHAT we are doing and HOW we are doing it, please take a few minutes and go back to the ARCHIVES and read the first four posts beginning August 2009.

We started strong in '09, had great success, but got too confident and quit too soon. Valuable lesson learned. We've "started back" twice since then and also had success, but were not as dedicated as needed. So here we are in summer of 2012 and we are starting again. We've had our ups and downs but we have not given up. We are going to put our story out there to help make us more accountable and hope you support us.

My 2 teen girls will be blogging as well so my only rule is you have to BE NICE! If you can't say something nice, GO AWAY. We hope to inspire someone but this is our journey. You are welcome to join us and support us but it's hard enough without having naysayers. Love us or leave us... there's no in between.

We welcome your prayers for success!!
Jennifer
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Sunday, June 3 - Pancakes - DELISH!!

Jennifer here....

For summer being so slow and lazy, how do I get behind on posting??

It's Sunday morning and we just tried a recipe that was soooo good that I had to go ahead and share now.  Kids LOVED it too!!  I'm so thankful for the people who experiment with recipes and share them so I can find great ideas that work for us


NSNF Pancakes!!
2 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1 packet Stevia (we use Stevia drops, not powder, so I used 2 drops, BUT I did a batch and skipped the sweetener all together and it was great too.  I will skip from now on.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
** I added blueberries as well though recipe did not call for it.  I bet you could add bananas too!  I did one batch with blueberries dropped onto the cooking pancakes and one batch with blueberries added to the bullet so they were blended into the mix.  Batter was purple-ish.  Your choice.

In your blender or bullet, blend all above ingredients until smooth (or you can choose to sprinkle cinnamon on the pancakes as they bake).  Let sit 2 minutes for bubbles to fade.  Pour onto pan sprayed with cooking spray, 2 min on one side, 1 min on other.

Serve with sugar free syrup.
Looked like a regular pancake

TASTED like a real pancake too!

I cannot believe how good these were!!!  THEY TASTED JUST LIKE THE REAL THING!!!  All 4 of my kids AND Tom loved these!!

Here's the link to the original recipe:  http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cream-cheese-pancakes.html




For dinner tonite, I am making the crock-pot chicken tacos but not using flour tortillas; I'm using corn taco shells instead.  Will let you know how it goes!


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Zucchini Pizza Crust and Banana Ice Cream

Zucchini Pizza Crust 

(from Donna Klein’s The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen)
2 to 2 ½ cups grated raw zucchini (about ¾ lb)  [Note: I used 5 large zucchini and it was 2 3/4c)
Salt
2 eggs
1 cup shredded gluten-free part-skim mozzarella cheese
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Lightly grease a standard-size nonstick baking sheet with sides. Place the zucchini in a colander set in the sink and sprinkle liberally with salt; let drain for about 15 minutes. Rinse under cold-running water and drain well. Transfer to several layers of paper towels and squeeze to thoroughly dry. Transfer to a large bowl and add the eggs mozzarella, and pepper; toss well to thoroughly combine. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, pressing mixture evenly into the sheet with your fingers. Bake in the center of the oven until light brown and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. Use as directed in recipe.
2 3/4c shredded zucchini

Spread on cookie sheet


Cook til golden brown.

Add your own toppings and cook!
It’s really important to squeeze as much of the liquid out of the grated zucchini as possible before mixing with the other ingredients.  Even after I drained, and squeezed in paper towels about 4x, I spread it on the cookie sheet and drained it still 3 more times!  Just keep squeezing!  The dryer the zucchini, the crispier the crust, which is what you want.
* http://aglutenfreeguide.com/zucchini-crust-gluten-free-pizza.html


Banana Ice Cream

EVERYONE LOVED THIS!!!!

1.  Get some bananas.  We used several "extra ripe" ones that I found marked down at the produce market, but any ripe bananas will work.
2.  Peel the bananas, cut them into approx. 1/2" slices, and put them on a tray.  
3.  Pop the tray in the freezer for a few hours until the bananas are frozen.  (Once they're frozen, you can also put them in a bag to use later).
4.  Put your bananas in a food processor or blender.  (NOTE:  I used a blender because that's what I have, but I think a food processor would have worked much better.  I had to keep pushing the frozen bananas down in the blender so the blades could reach them and it took a little longer for them to reach the right consistency)   
5.  Start mixing.  First the bananas will just get chopped up.
6.  But as you keep mixing and scraping down the sides, it'll get creamier and creamier.
7.  You can eat it right now, just out of the blender/food processor, and it'll be like a soft serve custard.
8.  Or you could put the mixture back in the freezer where it will get harder and more scoopable like regular ice cream.  [this is what the Crow's did!!  Put it in the freezer a few hours and it scoops just like ice cream!}

** I had a frozen a few strawberries yesterday that were starting to get soft so I added them to the banana puree and it was wonderful!!  The kids and I are going to experiment with adding different things to the banana puree and see what we can come up with.  Things like peanut butter, unsweetened coconut, other fruit... will let you know how it goes when we try!  ALSO, we did NOT eat this on a cone -- just straight out of a bowl.

http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2012/05/banana-ice-cream-made-from-bananas-only.html 



















Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"Mock" Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Black Bean Brownies

"Mock" Garlic Mashed Potatoes

From the Food Network - Chef: George Stella

Ingredients

  • 1 medium head cauliflower
  • 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt)
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.

Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about
6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower
very dry between several layers of paper towels.

In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot
cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper
until almost smooth.Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.

Hint: Try roasting the garlic and adding a little fresh rosemary for a whole new taste.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-stella/mock-garlic-mashed-potatoes-
recipe/index.html#dialog 



Black Bean Brownies

*Note: I have made a few changes to this recipe showing the ingredients I used
 that I had on hand.  The original had organic and raw options that I didn't use. 
To see original recipe, link is below.

Tools

  • Blender or food processor
  • 8″x8″ cake pan
(These come out only about an inch thick, so if you like them thicker, double
 the recipe, change to a 9″x13″ pan, and add a little more baking time.)

Ingredients

  • 1 can black beans
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 1-½ Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • walnuts, chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Rinse beans very thoroughly and drain them completely. Now do it again.
    You really don’t want any “beany” tasting liquid in your brownies!
  3. In your blender, add rinsed and drained beans, eggs, vanilla, coconut oil, sugar
    or honey, and cocoa powder. Blend until smooth, then add the salt and pulse
    until well mixed. Batter will be thin.
  4. Grease an a 8″x8″ baking dish liberally with coconut oil, and pour batter into
    dish. Top with optional walnuts or other toppings.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top and sides are set, and the insides are just
    a little soft.
  6. Cool before serving and enjoy!
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/grain-free-brownie-recipe 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Strawberry Muffins - NSNF

This is Jennifer.

Found this on another website (http://dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-shortcake-muffins/) and made them with my 11yo son who loves to bake!  The kids were happy with the results!!  We tried 2 batches experimenting with different sweeteners -- one batch used honey and one batch we used applesauce.  The family definitely preferred the honey batch -- sweeter taste, darker color.  The applesauce batch was bland.  We'll try stevia at some point.  You'll see her note about using a foil liner - I didn't use them since I didn't have them on hand and the muffins really did stick pretty bad to the paper liner.  Take her advice on that!  I put these in a zip-lock in the fridge and we've warmed them up for breakfast the past couple mornings with a banana.  Also had one as a snack one day.  This is a nice substitution for a traditional muffin.  I'm on a mission now to see what other recipes I can substitute oatmeal for flour.

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

http://dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-shortcake-muffins/
2 1/2c  Oats (old fashioned kind, not quick cooking)
1 cup Plain low fat greek yogurt
2Eggs
3/4 cup Sweetener of choice, (that measures the same as sugar) or 1/4 cup (about 12-15 packets) baking tbs stevia sweetener1
1 1/2 tspBaking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2c  Strawberries, diced, and patted dry + (optional 1/2 cup strawberries, diced to place on top of muffins)
Optional1 tsp lemon juice
*NoteThe paper liners don’t work well when baking with a base that does not include flour (which is the case with this recipe), they always seem to stick to the paper. If you don’t have a silicone muffin tin or liners, I recommend buying the foil cupcake liners at the store, and removing the paper inserts so you are only using the foil part of the liner! That way no sticking will occur!  









The estimated total time to make this recipe is 30-35 Minutes.
1 -Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners, (or just use a silicone muffin pan).
2 -Place all of the ingredients (except the strawberries) in a blender or food processor, and blend until oats are smooth. Pour mixture into a medium sized bowl, and stir in strawberries. Divide remaining 1/2 cup diced strawberries over the top of each muffin. (This step is optional, but it really makes the strawberries burst with color and flavor on top of each muffin!)
3 -Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Nutrition Breakdown
12 Servings (muffins)
93 Calories Per Serving
2 WWP+*
*Weight Watchers Points per serving