Vanilla Extract

I use a lot of vanilla. It makes smoothies taste special. Mixed with peanut butter and honey, it makes an instant candy-filling-like treat. I like it in chai, and in coconut cappuccino. It's indispensible in most baked goods. When using coconut milk, oil, flour or flakes, I find it necessary to really up the amount of vanilla in order to get the flavor. Organic vanilla is expensive, so I am making my own extract.

Ingredients

1 oz. (about 6 or so) vanilla beans
750 mL vodka (1 standard bottle)

Method

Split vanilla beans in half lengthwise. Pour a couple of ounces out of your vodka bottle to make room for the vanilla beans. Place split vanilla beans in bottle. Store in a cool, dark place, shaking every so often, for two or more months. When it is ready, it will be a deep caramel color and will smell delicious.

Holiday Candy

I made several different kinds of candy for my kids for Easter this year, and this recipe was both the easiest and the one they liked the most. It is very versatile and would work well for any holiday or special occasion, or simply a fun treat. This is also a great recipe to have the kids help with. The recipe comes from Julie Mathews' workbook entitled "Cooking to Heal", that accompanies her book "Nourishing Hope for Autism". This book gives a wonderful overview of the various diet options used to treat Autism Spectrum Disorders, as well as much more detailed and advanced information for those who have been doing special diets for awhile. I highly recommend her book.

Ingredients:

1 c. coconut butter
1 tsp coconut oil
1-2 T honey (or to taste)
flavoring extract of choice (optional)
natural food coloring (optional)

Method:

Put the coconut butter into a food processor (it will be chunky), and pulse briefly to break the chunks into smaller pieces. Heat the coconut oil just enough to melt and add it to the food processor while on. Add the honey and extract, and any coloring that you are using. Taste and adjust flavors if needed.

Pour the mixture out onto waxed paper and place another sheet of waxed paper on top. Roll with a rolling pin to flatten to anywhere between 1/4 and 3/4 inch, depending on preference. Place the flattened mixture in the fridge to cool and harden.

The recipe suggests taking it out and cutting it into squares at this point. This would work fine, but I personally feel that the candy is somewhat plain and would benefit from a little extra attention. I used mini cookie cutters to cut it into Easter-themed shapes. I also added the option of natural food coloring as that would also make it look much more appealing.

Depending on the flavors, colors and shapes used, this recipe would adapt easily to any holiday. The texture of this candy is very similar to chocolate, and for those of you following the blog who aren't doing the GAPS diet you could add cocoa powder to this to make your own chocolate candy easily.

Crab salad

One of my personal survival strategies when doing a special diet is to remember how wonderful simple meals, using high quality ingredients, can be. Some of our recipes are very time consuming or require planing ahead, and it can be nice to have a few simple, elegant options for those nights when you just don't feel up to anything more complex.

To make this meal, which was a favorite of mine before this diet, I simply make a green salad with lettuce and tomatoes and dress it with a tangy vinaigrette dressing. I then place the shelled crab on top and it is just wonderful that way. This would go well with Teri's now famous onion torte (see earlier post), or some form of GAPS-bread made into garlic bread. I will update this post when I accomplish that! But then, since crab season is coming to an end, that may have to wait...

Zucchini Noodles with Pesto

It seems that Easter brought out the sweet tooth in us, so I thought I'd post something savory to provide some balance. I made the noodles by following Elaine Gottschall's recipe from Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which were actually easier to make then I was expecting. I also wanted to note that nether of my kids liked this dish at first, but after serving it several times, now they both love it. It is a good reminder that adapting to a special diet can be a process and not to give up on something too quickly.


To make the noodles, you will need 1-2 medium sized zucchini per person. Wash them, trim them and remove the outer peel. Then, to make the noodles, stick a skewer through the center of the zucchini to hold it and shave off slices from top to bottom while turning it.

There are several ways to cook these noodles. Elaine Gottschall says to pile them onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 215 degrees. This has worked well for us, but I do recommend mixing them around at least once during this time. Other people have reported success with sauteing them or boiling them.

PESTO

Ingredients:

4 oz basil leaves
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp salt
2 (or more) cloves of garlic
honey to taste (optional)

Combine in food processor and blend. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. This pesto is somewhat thin, which we don't mind, but you could thicken it with nut butter, coconut, or white beans (if you are at that point in the diet). I have found that cashews work well in place of pine nuts. As for oil, olive oil is traditional, but can be bitter, and there is no cheese to offset the taste. We used macadamia oil with great results.

Blueberry Ice Cream

2 14-ounce cans (3 1/2 cups) coconut milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries (I used Trader Joe's Organic Wild Blueberries - their tiny size is ideal for ice cream because they won't make marble-sized ice cubes in the dessert)
Optional: Honey to taste

Methodology:

Note- for this recipe, I used my Cuisinart electric ice cream maker. You have to start the day before to allow the custard to chill completely, and to allow the ice cream bucket to freeze. Other ice cream makers may have their own requirements.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the coconut milk SLOWLY over low heat. At no point during this recipe should the mixture be allowed to boil, or it will curdle, so watch the custard carefully.

Beat the eggs until they are light and bubbly. When the coconut milk is hot, slowly pour about half of the mixture into the eggs WHILE beating the eggs. Then pour the egg mixture back into the pot, WHILE beating the coconut milk in the pot. If using honey, add at this point.

Add the blueberries. The mixture will turn light purple. Continue stirring the mixture while it continues to heat and gets thicker. If you see a bubble appear (the early signs of boiling), remove from heat immediately. Stir in the vanilla.

Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove the blueberries. Store the blueberries in a separate container in the fridge (you will add them back into the ice cream when it is done churning). If you add them at the beginning, they'll all fall to the bottom.

When the mixture is completely chilled and the ice cream maker is ready, churn the ice cream according to the mixer instructions. It took about half an hour in mine. Add the blueberries after the ice cream is thick and almost completely done. The blueberries should distribute themselves nicely throughout the custard. Best served immediately, as the mixture will freeze into a solid block if you place it in the freezer.

Sunflower Cake

This cake is very simple, with no fancy frills, and would make very good muffins. I think it would also work well as a layer cake.  It is moist and spongy and has the texture of a bran muffin. I have heard of a place in town that sells sunflower shaped cake pans and intend to get one to jazz this up.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of soaked sunflower seeds
2 T coconut oil
1/3- 1/2  cup honey
4 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon

optional, will make it "spongy-er"

1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T apple cider vinegar

Method:

First, I ground the sunflower seeds into a smooth paste in the food processor..

Then add the other ingredients, including the baking soda if you are using it, but not the vinegar yet. Blend it all until the mixture is well combined, then ad the vinegar if you are using it and blend a little more to mix.

Pour this mixture into a greased 8x8 baking dish or 9" cake pan..

Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Knife inserted in center should come out clean when done.

Note- I haven't tried this, but with the addition of the right spices, this cake might make a nice gingerbread.

Banana Caramel Sticky Buns

I was going for muffins with a streusel topping. That didn't work out so well, but they came out like caramel sticky buns, and they were fabulous. I asked my non-GAPS husband if these weren't the "best thing ever", and he replied enthusiastically that yes, the were "the best thing ever!"

One problem I had was that the butter from my topping oozed out all over my oven, creating a smoking mess. Partly that's because I only topped half of the buns since my six year old wanted plain banana muffins (so double high topping). Partly it was because the sticky part of sticky buns is actually supposed to be on the bottom (while baking. You flip them onto a tray when they come out of the oven). I am going to cook them that way tomorrow, and I'll let you know how it works out.

Ingredients for buns

1 Large very ripe banana, mashed
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Ingredients for topping
(These measurements are approximate. It should taste great raw, so feel free to experiment.)

1 cup chopped crispy pecans or walnuts (from Nourishing Traditions or WAPF)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. coconut flour

Method

Makes 12 buns.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients for buns with a wire whisk. Pour into a well-greased muffin tin or use silicone liners (I think paper would stick too much).

Mix all ingredients for topping with a fork. Crumble topping on buns.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. Cool for about two minutes then immediately remove from muffin tin to a wire rack to finish cooling. You will have to scrape the topping back onto buns as you remove them, but the topping will set-up as they cool. Hot caramel can burn skin badly, so please be careful.