Fluffy Baked Eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking dish, either by rubbing oil on the inside or putting a little butter or coconut oil inside and heating in the oven long enough to melt, then tipping it to coat all sides of the pan.

Prepare your eggs just as if you were going to make an omlette or scrambled eggs. For me, this means beating my eggs and adding a dash of milk or milk substitute. Add salt and dried dill to taste. I use a very generous amount of dill. You can either mix these in or just sprinkle them on top after you pour the eggs into the pan.

Bake until solid but not too brown--for a 6 egg batch, I bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

This is so simple, and amazingly delicious. And you don't have to stand over it stirring it the whole time it's cooking. :)

Crustless Sweet Potato Pie

One 15-oz. can or 2 cups pureed sweet potatoes (the more orange ones often called yams)
1/2 cup honey
Scant 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 cup milk or milk substitute (I used whole goat milk, but coconut milk would probably also work very well in this recipe)
4 eggs, beaten

Mix ingredients together, pour into oiled pie pan or baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for another 35-45 minutes. Best if cooled before eating.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread

This is the gluten-free version of the Eggless Banana Bread recipe--I added a couple of eggs to bind it and to add protein, but it would probably be just fine with the eggs left out.

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup melted butter or oil
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca or sweet rice flour (NOT modified tapioca starch--any modified food starch is an excitotoxin)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out relatively clean.

This was almost a bit too sweet--next time I'll probably try cutting the honey down to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.

Sweet and Savory Lentil Soup

Small amount of oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion (medium to large), diced
2 to 4 cloves garlic
3 to 5 carrots, washed and sliced thin
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized chunks (1/2" to 1" or so)
Other vegetables as desired (I added 1/4 head of green cabbage, sliced)
2 cups lentils, rinsed and drained
About 10 cups water
Large pot

Saute onion and garlic in oil in the bottom of the pot until beginning to get soft and brown (carmelized). Add carrots and cauliflower, stirring and cooking slightly. Add water and lentils, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium to low heat until lentils are tender, about an hour.

Depending on what other vegetables you add, you may wish to add them when you add the lentils, or wait until closer to the end of cooking. I added cabbage about halfway through cooking.

If desired, add up to 1 lb. sausage about halfway through cooking also. (I buy a safe uncured sausage made with just meat and fresh herbs at a local butcher shop [Butcher Boys' ground Italian or Breakfast sausage], or there are a few safe brands of chicken sausage available commercially) If you leave out the sausage, this is a vegan recipe. Carmelizing the onions and garlic until they are brown makes the flavor and color much richer, and the carmelized onions and carrots give the soup a sweet flavor.

Just before stirring, add salt and pepper to taste if desired. With the sausage, I found we didn't need any further salt or spices.

This recipe is grain-free and nightshade-free, as long as you are careful about sausage ingredients. The cauliflower gives the starchy, mild flavor that takes the place of rice, noodles or potatoes in this recipe.

If you leave out the sausage, it's vegan. We get sausage with no additives other than herbs and spices at a local butcher shop or natural-food store. Our sausage contained ground chicken, salt, fennel seed, caraway seed, coriander, black pepper, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. For even more flavor, you could use vegetable broth or bone broth in place of all or part of the water.

Rewriting My Introduction

Since it's been 4 years this month since I started this blog, and our dietary journey has come a long way since then, I decided it was time to rewrite the post introducing and telling a bit more about myself and this blog.

It's been updated--for now. :)

Almond-Crusted Tilapia with Garlic and Dill

Lay 5 to 6 fillets of tilapia or other mild white fish in a baking dish (I used a glass 11" x 13" pan)

Drizzle with 2 to 4 tablespoons oil (I used a mixture of olive oil and melted coconut oil)

Rub with 2 cloves crushed garlic

Shake a generous sprinkling of dried dill over the fillets.

Spread about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of almond meal over the fish (enough to coat the tops heavily), followed by another drizzle of oil and a second sprinkling of dill on top of the almond meal.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until fish is light and flaky.

I did not actually measure anything for this recipe, so the amounts are guesstimates. Basically I applied a fairly heavy sprinkling of dill each time (we like dill) and a nice thick layer of almond meal, with enough oil to lightly coat the fish and then slightly moisten the almond meal.

Even my fish-hater found it edible, and everyone else pronounced it some of the best fish they'd ever had.

I served it with a side of heated canned green beans, a head of cauliflower that I chopped and fried until lightly browned on the stovetop with oil and a sprinkling of salt, and some cooked quinoa.

Fluffy Fry Bread

Mix together:

1 cup flour (I used oat flour this time)
1/2 tsp. safe baking powder
1/8 tsp. sea salt

Add:

2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk, milk substitute or water
1 to 2 tsp. maple syrup or other sweetener (optional)

Mix just until moistened.

Drop by spoonfuls and fry in hot oil until lightly browned, turning to cook both sides.

You can substitute other types of flour, but may need to adjust the amount of liquid depending on how absorbent your flour is. It should be slightly thicker than pancake batter.

Rice Cream Porridge

Cook 1 cup of brown rice (we like short-grain or sweet rice for this recipe) with 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp salt (salt optional) until rice is done cooking and water is absorbed.

Add cooked rice and enough rice milk, milk, dairy substitute or water to process in blender. Blend until smooth.

Serve and enjoy! You may add toppings such as fruit, nuts or sweetener if desired, but it's good plain too.

Homemade safe chocolate

Take a small amount of your favorite fat that's solid at room temperature--I like coconut oil, butter, or a combination of the two. Add a small amount of sweetener (brown sugar is my favorite, but honey is good too) and cream this together with cocoa powder or raw cacao to taste. Eat as is or pour onto greased surface and chill to harden.

Buckwheat Blender Waffles or Pancakes

This recipe is adapted from Sue Gregg's Blender Pancakes or Waffles recipe. (I highly recommend Sue Gregg's cookbooks.)

Buckwheat is supposedly technically a fruit, not a grain, so these could be considered grain-free.

Measure 1 cup buckwheat and rinse. We used raw buckwheat (whole light-colored kernels, with the hulls removed), but Sue Gregg recommends sprouting buckwheat.

Put rinsed buckwheat in the blender and cover with about 1 to 1 and 1/2 cup(s) raw buttermilk, yogurt or kefir thinned with filtered water to buttermilk consistency. (For a non-dairy alternative, use rice milk, nut milk or water with 1 Tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar as part of the liquid).

Soak 6-12 hours or overnight.

Add to buckwheat mixture in blender:

2 Tablespoons chia seeds, ground or whole (optional--or you can substitute other types of edible seeds such as flaxseed if desired)
1 egg (optional--you can leave out or substitute)
2 Tablespoons oil, melted butter, or melted coconut oil
(optional) 1-2 teaspoons honey, maple syrup, or other sweetener
Enough liquid to blend, if necessary. A thinner batter is better for pancakes.

Preheat waffle iron.

Blend buckwheat mixture very well at highest setting until smooth, 3-6 minutes or more. Add more liquid if necessary for blending.

Meanwhile, mix together:

1/2-1 teaspoon baking soda (adjust the amount depending on the acidity of your liquid--more baking soda for higher acidity, less if you are diluting your yogurt or kefir, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon salt

While blender is running, sift baking soda mixture through fine sieve into blender, or drop carefully into vortex of blender. Turn off the blender as soon as the baking soda mixture is thoroughly mixed in.

Thoroughly grease or oil hot waffle iron and bake waffles until they have mostly stopped steaming (for both of my waffle irons, this is slightly longer than the iron's doneness indicator).

Carefully loosen waffle from iron (with non-metal implement if using a nonstick iron). We eat these plain, but you can top with fruit, syrup, whipped cream, or just about anything else. If you leave out the sweetener, waffles make a great base for things like sausage gravy, creamed tuna, or chicken a la king.

Waffles freeze or refrigerate well, and can be reheated in the toaster.


Troubleshooting and Variations:

* You can leave out either the egg or the seeds, but you probably need one or the other to bind it and keep the waffles from sticking to the waffle iron.

* Gluten-free waffles tend to stick to the iron more, so it's important to grease well and remove the waffles gently. Also make sure the waffle is done (has stopped billowing steam) before lifting the cover of the iron.

* You can leave the oil out or reduce to 1 tablespoon, but will still need to grease the waffle iron and the waffles may stick more. Increasing the flaxseed will allow you to reduce other added oils without so much of a sticking problem.

* If you wish to use plain water or un-soured milk or dairy substitute, reduce the baking soda to 1/4-1/2 tsp. The waffles won't rise as much and may be a bit more bland, but they should still work.

Flaxseed egg substitute

For 1 egg: 1 Tbs ground flax seed, mixed with 3 Tbs hot water

For 2 eggs (in some recipes, this amount can substitute for 1 large egg): 2 Tbs. ground flax seed, 1/4 cup hot water

You can either just let this sit for a while and then add to the recipe, or you can cook the flaxseed and water until gelled, let it cool and then if desired you can whip it to add more lift to your baked goods. You may need to add 1-2 Tbsp more water for the cooked and whipped version.

Another thing I've done when I want to substitute for 1 to 4 eggs is just add 1/4 cup or so of flaxseed meal to my recipe and increase the liquid a bit if needed. Flax seed contains quite a bit of oil, so you may be able to omit or reduce other oils in the recipe. It's pretty flexible, so you can play with the amounts without hurting your baked goods too much.

I do recommend using ground flax seed, or grinding it in a coffee grinder or spice mill to release the oils and the nice sticky compounds in the flaxseed that make it a good binder in baked goods.

If you're trying to make something like waffles and they are sticking, either grease your griddle better or try adding another tablespoon of flax seed and the corresponding amount of water.