Pasta Casserole

2 cups dried pasta (we use rice noodles), cooked and drained.

1-2 cups cooked tuna, salmon, shrimp, chicken, rabbit, turkey or pork (or 2 cans, drained) --can add more if desired

2 cups white sauce (gravy made with milk or milk substitute instead of broth--see recipe here)

Green peas (frozen are fine)

Salt & pepper to taste

Butter

Preheat oven to 375. Place cooked & drained pasta in casserole dish. Add meat, peas, and salt/pepper to white sauce on stove and mix well. Pour white sauce mixture over noodles and stir.

Dollop with butter, cover, and bake 30-40 minutes or until hot & bubbly.

Oven Pancake (A.K.A. Dutch or German Pancake)

Oven Pancake

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt about 2 to 3 Tbsp butter in baking dish, then tilt to coat sides of dish.

Beat together:

1 cup flour

1 cup milk or milk substitute (I use slightly less rice milk, as it doesn’t thicken as much)

6 eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

Pour batter into ban, bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until pancake is puffed up and browned around the edges and solid in the middle

You can serve this plain, with sweet toppings (lemon juice and sugar, fruit, syrup, etc.) or savory toppings (sausage, onion, omelette-type or pizza toppings). If you plan to serve it as a sweet dish, you may wish to add a touch of safe vanilla to the batter.

For a variation, layer sliced fruit sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar in the greased baking dish before adding the batter. The batter will run underneath the fruit and result in a more dense, custardy texture.

Crock Pot Banana Buckwheat

Place in crock pot:

2 cups buckwheat grits, uncooked

Sift together and mix in:
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

Then add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 cups liquid (I used a can of light coconut milk, 1/4 cup white grape juice, and 4 cups of water)
1 ripe banana, mashed

Stir well.

If desired, add raisins, currants or other dried fruit. I added about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of currants.

Cook on low overnight.

Pink Berry Rice Picnic Salad

One of the foods I've most missed was the "pink salad" my family traditionally makes for summer potlucks and picnics. So when my grandmother figured out how to make a version that was "safe" for everyone in the family's allergies and food intolerances, I had to make my own version too. Hers had crushed canned pineapple instead of the mandarins, and, since she had previously crushed frozen strawberries, she drained the pineapple and strawberry juice to thicken instead of using apple juice.

You could probably use any type of fruit and fruit juice, and the quantities don't have to be exact. If you use granulated sugar instead of honey, you may need to increase the amounts of both sugar and liquid, or if you have less than a half-cup of liquid, you may want to reduce the starch accordingly.

Approximate amounts:

1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons starch (I used Kuzu starch this time; tapioca flour or arrowroot powder should work just as well)
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup sliced fresh mandarin oranges (this was about 4 tiny oranges, with the segments separated and cut in half)
1 to 2 cups cooked rice (I used 2 cups of cooked brown rice for my version)

Later, you'll need:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon honey
Vanilla to taste, if desired.

Mix the fruit juice and honey in a small saucepan, stir in the starch, and heat slowly, stirring with a whisk to keep it from becoming lumpy, until thickened. Add the sliced fruit and mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender until the fruit is mashed up to your taste.

Stir in the cooked rice and chill the fruit and rice mixture until it begins to set and is cool enough not to melt your whipped cream. :)

Whip the cream with the honey and vanilla. When the rice and fruit mixture is cool, gently fold in the whipped cream.

You can eat this right away, but the flavors will blend and the rice will soften nicely if you leave it in the refrigerator for a while before serving.

Serve chilled.

My kids loved this, and it's so much healthier than the version we used to make with flavored gelatin and artificial whipped topping. :) If you can have cottage cheese, it could probably be substituted for the rice, but we haven't found an excitotoxin-free version of cottage cheese yet.

Super-Simple Hummus

Zap 3 or 4 whole unpeeled garlic cloves in the microwave for about 20 seconds (or you can roast them in the oven, of course). Then simply pop them out of the peels for this recipe.

Combine in blender:

Garlic cloves
A 15-oz. can of garbanzo beans, including liquid (a 16-oz. can would be fine too, if that's what you have)
1/8 cup olive oil
2 to 3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Blend until smooth. You may have to pulse it and stop occasionally to stir with a spoon to release a trapped air bubble, as this is very thick. You can add a bit more olive oil, plain yogurt or water if necessary to blend it.

Serve with crackers, bread, chips, raw vegetables and/or whatever else you like to dip. :)

Feel free to tweak the amounts of seasonings, or to add your favorite flavor--sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives or fresh green herbs instead of the cumin might be tasty (though probably not all together. :) ). If your beans aren't already salted, you may want to increase the salt.

Gluten-free Banana Waffles

This is the gluten-free version of the Banana Waffle recipe I've been making lately. You can use any GF flour, but keep in mind that different flours may absorb more or less liquid, so you may need to adjust the amount of milk substitute.

2 cups flour (I use 1 and 1/2 cups brown rice flour plus 1/2 cup sweet white rice flour a.k.a. gelatinous rice flour, or it's even better with 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup coconut flour, and 1/2 cup sweet rice flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp sugar, optional (I usually leave this out or use an unrefined sugar such as palm sugar)
3/4 tsp. salt

2 mashed ripe bananas (about 1 cup--I'll add a third one if they're extra-small)
3 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 cups milk or milk substitute (I use rice milk)
1/3 cup melted shortening or oil (coconut oil works great)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

(or, if preferred, you can use buttermilk or diluted plain yogurt [1/2 cup yogurt, 1 cup water or milk] instead of the milk and omit the vinegar)

Blend or sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the bananas and other wet ingredients and mix well. Then mix together the wet and dry ingredients just until the flour blend is moistened. Bake in a hot waffle iron until crispy and brown on the outside and the amount of steam coming out of the waffle decreases.

Depending on your waffle iron, you may or may not need to grease the iron between waffles. With mine I usually find I can oil it just at the beginning of the batch and they don't stick.

The great thing about these waffles is that the bananas make them so sweet and moist, you don't even need toppings like syrup. We just eat them plain as finger food. :)

You could add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of vanilla and/or cinnamon if desired. To turn these into an extra-special treat or a dessert, you can add chocolate chips (and maybe top with whipped cream).

Quinoa Apple Salad

This recipe is modified from Martha Stewart's Curried Quinoa Apple Salad recipe.

Rinse 1 cup of dry quinoa well and cook with 2 cups of water. I bring it to a boil in a covered pot, then turn off the burner and leave the pot on the stove for about 20 minutes for perfectly cooked quinoa.

In a separate container mix together for the dressing:

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

2 to 3 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil

1 teaspoon curry powder (I use a nightshade free curry powder and heap the measurement a bit)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sweet spice (optional--this is a mixture with cinnamon, cardamom and other sweet spices by the same manufacturer that makes the curry powder I use; I will edit the post to add the name later)

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon diced shallot

Stir the dressing into the cooled cooked quinoa, add 1 diced apple (grannysmith or Gala apples are good in this recipe) and 2 tablespoons currants.

This recipe is excellent chilled. I usually make a double batch and keep it in the refrigerator for a ready-made quick snack.

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. :)

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.

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.

Jucygalicious Meat Sauce

My kids (ages 4-8) named this one. They're not fans of Italian-style marinara meat sauce, so I decided to try something completely different. It was a success.

This has a very complex, rich flavor. If you don't like fennel, feel free to leave it out.

The recipe can be gluten-free and/or grainless, depending on the starch chosen to serve with the sauce.

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Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef (or meat of your choice)
1/2 sweet bell pepper, diced (I used orange, but yellow or red would work also)
1 tsp crushed garlic (2-3 cloves)
2 Tbsp onion (I used freeze-dried red onion)

1.5 to 2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used Pomi canned tomatoes, about half of a 26+ oz container)
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground yellow mustard (dry)
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp sea salt
Scant 1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp fennel seeds (I ground them in a coffee grinder I keep for herbs and spices, but you could just slightly crush them)
1 Tbsp dried parsely (or 1-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsely)
1/4 cup water or broth (I used 4 cubes frozen bone broth from my recipe here) (Note: for excitotoxin-limited diets, use water or homemade broth cooked only briefly)

Cooked pasta, rice, spaghetti squash, grain or other starch of your choice.

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Brown ground beef on stovetop. (I used a cast-iron pan.) Drain fat if desired. When meat is not quite done, add bell pepper, garlic and onion to brown with meat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until vegetables are soft and flavors are melded, about 10-30 minutes. Add more or less liquid as needed.

Serve over pasta, rice, spaghetti squash, grain or starch of your choice. I used 12 oz. of Trader Joe's Organic Vegetable Radiatore cooked with a little safflower oil added to the cooking water.

Chebe Grainless Dutch Oven Pancake

This is a grain-free (and gluten free) version of the famous oven pancake--that fluffy egg dish also known as dutch babies, Dutch oven pancake, or German pancake. It's really more like a quiche or like a big popover or quick bread than like pancakes. Definitely a favorite dish at my house, we eat it for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.

It goes beautifully with sweet or savory topping (sausage is especially good for a savory version). Usually I add a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup and we eat it like bread without any other topping.

(Update: This is no longer a safe food for us, now that we're limiting excitotoxins.)

This version is made with Chebe bread mix--a tapioca-based grainless bread.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coat an 8.5" x 11" or 9" by 13" baking pan with 1 to 1.5 tablespoons oil or melted butter.

Beat together:


• 5 eggs


• 1/4 cup milk, dairy substitute or other liquid


• 1 to 1.5 Tablespoons additional oil (I used grapeseed--you could probably leave out the additional oil, but it's really good with the oil in it)


• (Optional)--1 Tablespoon sweetener (I used Grade B maple syrup), 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 teaspoon herbs, or other flavoring of your choice.


Mix in:

• 1 packet (7.5 oz) Chebe All-Purpose Bread Mix


Don't overbeat, but mix it in until all the large lumps are broken up and it's looking fairly smooth.

Spread mixture into greased pan with spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. It will puff up, and then fall as it cools. Cut into slices and enjoy!

*Note: This recipe only qualifies as sugar-restricted if the sweetener is omitted.

*Important: If you're sensitive to excitotoxins or extremely sensitive to MSG, you may want to avoid this recipe. The modified tapioca starch in the Chebe bread mix is a potential source of excitotoxins.

Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

Place in blender:

1 ripe banana
8-10 oz. water, milk, kefir, or dairy substitute
[optional] A handful (about 1/8 to 1/4 cup) of raw cashews, blanched almonds, or nuts/seeds of your choice.
1 Tablespoon unsweetened powdered baking cocoa (if you prefer your chocolate less dark, reduce to 1-2 teaspoons, or substitute carob if desired)
About 1 cup ice, as desired (crushed ice works best)

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

I make this in a personal-size blender with just water, cashews, banana, cocoa and ice. It makes a quick snack high in protein and free of grains and refined sugars. The banana is sweet enough that no other sweetener is necessary. This is my standby when I get chocolate and/or sugar cravings. It satisfies my sweet tooth without giving me the later energy/mood crash or heightened cravings I usually get when eating sugary chocolate.

For a NT-style smoothie, use raw milk, kefir or coconut milk and soak or sprout any nuts or seeds before blending.

Grainless Banana Pancakes or Scramble

In our house this recipe is just called "Banana Eggs".

Mash 1 banana, add 3 eggs, beat well. Or, combine banana and eggs in blender and puree. Add 1/16 to 1/8 tsp of salt and, if desired, a dash of cinnamon or vanilla. (Remember, if you use vanilla or other flavoring extracts, check to see if it's free of your allergens.)

Preheat frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden-brown, turning to cook both sides. You'll know the pancakes are ready to turn over when they are golden-brown on the bottom and solid enough that a bubble popped in the middle leaves a hole that doesn't refill.

You can also make a delicious banana scramble just by stirring the mixture frequently as it cooks. This will make a more tender, less brown concoction similar to scrambled eggs.

I make this recipe with 2 bananas and 6 (or 8) eggs for my family. It's great as a snack or maybe even dessert, as well as for breakfast. No added sweetener needed!

Rye Pancakes

This recipe is low in sugars, which means that it has no added sugars and uses selected ingredients that are very low in fructose, sucrose and lactose. This is helpful if you are sugar-intolerant or on a yeast-restricting diet. Rye is lower in fructose/fructan content than wheat. If you are dairy allergic, just substitute non-dairy options (vegetable oil or lard, rice milk or water) for the dairy ingredients.

Rye Pancakes

Beat in a medium bowl:

1 egg
3/4 cup rice milk or other liquid (I use Rice Dream Original Unenriched)
1/4 cup active live yogurt (I used homemade yogurt made with organic pasture-fed whole milk, cultured for almost 24 hours. Such a long culturing time makes for lower lactose and higher probiotic content.)
2 Tablespoons melted butter, ghee, lard or oil.


Mix together dry ingredients:

1 cup rye flour (I use organic whole-grain flour)
1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt
1 Tablespoon safe baking powder [If you can't use baking powder, try 1 to 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda]

Preheat the frying pan over medium-low heat (I set mine slightly under 5 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being hottest).

Whisk the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and beat until smooth, but don't overmix. The mixture may look slightly thick and sticky. Try making a test pancake, and then if needed add more liquid to get it to your desired thickness.

I like to use a small ladle to pour pancake batter on the griddle. Quickly spoon approximately 3-4 inch circles of batter into your non-stick or oiled frying pan. Cook on one side until bubbles in the center pop and do not refill. The bottoms should be light to medium brown at this point. Flip over and cook until the pancakes are medium-brown on the other side and solid in the middle.

Eat plain or serve with your favorite topping.

Soaked Oat Sourdough Pancakes

At least 6 hours before serving, or the night before, rinse 2 cups rolled oats and cover generously with water (I filled my measuring cup to a total volume of about 4 cups). Add a splash of lemon juice--a teaspoon to a tablespoon. Let soak. Refresh your sourdough starter by adding equal parts (by weight) of flour and water to make at least 2 cups total. I had about a cup of starter, and added 3/4 cup flour and a little over 1/2 cup of water to mine the night before.

According to Nourishing Traditions, soaking and culturing the grains denatures the antinutrient phytates in the grains and makes them more digestible.

You can leave out the honey if desired. I serve pancakes with no topping, so I usually add a bit of sweetener to the batter. I figure that 1/3 cup honey spread out over a few dozen pancakes will be less sugar than if we put maple syrup or honey on each pancake individually. :)

When ready to make the pancakes, drain and rinse the oats and put them into a large mixing bowl. Add and beat well:
1 and 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter/lard
1/3 cup honey (optional)
4 eggs

In a small dish, mix together:
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

While beating oat mixture, sprinkle baking soda over batter to mix in.

Fry over medium-low heat until bubbles on the surface pop but do not refill. Flip pancake and cook to desired level of brownness. Serve as is or top with yogurt, preserves, or butter and maple syrup.

Crispy Waffles

These waffles are a variation on a recipe that came with the Disney Princess waffle iron we just bought (yes, it imprints Cinderella's carriage on every waffle, much to the delight of my children). The added starch supposedly makes the waffles more crisp. They are nice and sturdy if you like to put lots of toppings on your waffles.

Mix together and set aside:
3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup flaxseed meal

Preheat waffle iron.

Sift together:
1 and 1/3 cup flour (I have tested this recipe with King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour and brown rice flour)
1/3 cup potato starch (I used Manischewitz)
1 Tablespoon teff flour (optional, or you can substitute another type of flour for crunch and flavor--the original recipe called for cornmeal)
2 teaspoons baking powder (I used Hain Featherweight, which is corn-free)
3/4 teaspoon salt

To flax seed mixture, add:
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar (optional)
3/4 cup rice milk or other dairy substitute (Rice Dream Original unenriched is corn-free)

Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Lightly grease waffle iron with oil or cooking spray. Eggless waffles tend to stick more easily than those containing eggs, so you may or may not need to grease the griddle before every waffle. You will most likely need to grease for every waffle if you use gluten-free flour.

Spoon in enough batter to cover the pattern on the bottom of the iron, close iron, and bake until the indicator on your iron says it's done. Remove waffle and cool on a rack for greater crispiness.
We eat the whole-wheat version of these waffles plain, with nothing on them. If you wish to put something sugary on top, like syrup, you may want to leave out the honey or decrease to 1 tablespoon. The gluten-free version is less moist and more crispy.

You can turn waffles into a main dish by leaving out the honey and serving a meat sauce (think biscuits and gravy) or stew over them. Or they make a great dessert with fruit on top.

Makes about 3-4 large waffles. Whole-grain flour makes these quite substantial and filling.

Sourdough Brown Sugar Drop Cookies

These cookies taste very "normal." The recipe uses sourdough starter as the acid, but nobody would ever guess they're sourdough. You can leave the dough to ferment at room temperature for a couple of hours without hurting it. Fermentation supposedly enhances the digestibility of gluten-containing grains. Use "fresh" sourdough starter that has been fed within the last 12 hours or so, or part of your sponge.

These cookies aren't particularly healthy, so they are for special occasions, but they are whole-grain and the sugar is not highly refined. I add a tablespoon of calcium powder so I can pretend they're healthy. :) They are also free of corn, soy, eggs, milk/dairy, oats and nuts. If you use vegetable gelatin they can be vegan.

The dough tastes just like cookie dough should. We like to eat it raw since it contains no eggs. You could add a teaspoon of corn-free vanilla with the wet ingredients if desired.

Sourdough Brown Sugar Drop Cookies

Mix 1 tablespoon plain unflavored gelatin with 3 tablespoons cold water. Leave it for a couple of minutes to soften, then stir in 1/4 cup boiling water to dissolve. I use beef gelatin, but other types should work as well. If you use a vegetable gelatin, you may have to adjust amount/temperature of the water.

Mix or sift together:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) (if you like denser, less cakelike cookies, try reducing to 1 teaspoon and adding a pinch more salt)
1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
1 tablespoon calcium/magnesium powder (optional)

In a separate container, blend until smooth:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use safflower oil)
2 cups brown sugar (C&H/Domino's is a pure cane sugar that's corn-free and naturally brown)
Gelatin mixture

Stir into sugar mixture:
1 cup sourdough starter

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until blended.

If desired, stir in:
1 cup baking chips, raisins, or other mix-in of your choice. (An entire package of Enjoy Life Chocolate chips is perfect in this recipe--since they are mini chips, they seem to need more to taste right
.)
You can also add rolled or puffed grains (quinoa, rolled oats, etc) if you like. I add a cup or two depending on the grain and the consistency of the dough.

(Depending on the type of flour you use and the consistency of your sourdough starter, you may need to add an extra 1/4 cup or so of flour or a few tablespoons of water to get the dough to good drop-cookie texture. If the texture is wrong, try letting the dough rest for 5 minutes before you make adjustments.)

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto non-stick baking dish. Bake at 375 F for 12 minutes or until solid and lightly browned. Remove from pan immediately for slightly chewy, moist cookies.

(I have in a pinch used an oiled glass baking dish and longer cooking time with some success.)

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Flourless Potato Cookies

These cookies are grain-free and vegan. They are made almost completely with potatoes and some sweetener. They're quite sweet and rich-tasting, especially with chocolate or white chocolate baking chips in them. My husband thinks the texture is like French Fries, although the taste is different.

The brands in parenthesis are what I used when developing this recipe. Since different varieties of potato flour perform differently in baking, you may need to experiment with leaving out the water or adding more liquid if you use other brands of ingredients.

To make these cookies Kosher for Passover, use all K for P ingredients. If you are sulfite-sensitive, this would not be a good recipe to try since potato chips, starch and flour are all likely to contain sulfites.

2/3 cup potato flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup potato starch (Manischewitz Kosher for Passover)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (Featherweight corn-free gluten-free, or see this post for baking powder substitutes)

1/2 cup honey (Fred Meyer pure clover honey)
1/2 cup brown sugar (C & H pure cane sugar)
1/3 cup oil (Trader Joe's grapeseed oil)
2 tablespoons water

1 cup coarsely crushed potato chips (Manischewitz Kosher for Passover Potato Stix)
(optional) 1/2 cup of your favorite mix-in (I used a mixture of Lieber's decorating chips [white chocolate] and Oppenheimer chocolate chips, both Kosher for Passover)
(optional) 1 teaspoon of your favorite flavoring (safe vanilla, ground cinnamon, etc.)

Sift together potato flour, starch, and baking powder. If adding a dry spice, add it with the potato flour.

In a separate container, blend oil, sugar, water and honey. If you're using a liquid flavoring, add it with the liquid ingredients. The oil may not blend into the other ingredients well, and that's okay.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend as well as you can with a spoon. If you have trouble stirring, knead the misture with your hands until smooth.

Stir or knead in the potato chips and the mix-in. Drop by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. Do not flatten the tops of these cookies; the rounder they are the better the texture will be.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8 minutes. They will be golden-brown around the edges and will still be a bit soft and gooey when you remove them from the pan, but stiffen up as they cool.

Best served warm.

Honey-Cereal Candy

This is the vegan, corn-free, gluten-free, soy-free version of rice krispies treats. No marshmallows or refined sugars involved.

If you cook the syrup a little longer, it will be more reminiscent of the honey-sesame hard candies with a texture like nut brittle.

You can substitute other kinds of cereal, such as puffed rice, crispy rice cereal, the round O's type of cereal, or a mixture of several kinds. Different cereals will absorb varying amounts of liquid, so start with 3 cups of cereal and add enough so that the caramel is evenly coating all the cereal without collecting pools of liquid.

The cooking time and temperature given gets the caramel to a soft- or medium-ball stage. This yields a soft, slightly chewy texture at room temperature.

For a chewier, stiffer or even crunchy candy, just increase the cooking time until the caramel reaches a higher temperature and the desired stiffness. Drop a small amount of the syrup into cold water to test what it will be like when cooled.

Ingredients:

1 cup honey
1/3 cup oil (I used safflower oil)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 and 1/2 cups puffed millet


Instructions:

Oil an 8 x 8 or 9 x 13 pan.

Cook the honey, salt and oil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure that you use a saucepan large enough to handle the honey mixture boiling up to several times its height--probably at least a 1 to 2 quart pan.

Bring to a boil and cook for approximately 10 minutes, until a candy thermometer reads 250 degrees F. The mixture will thicken and darken in color, and a drop of the syrup will have the texture of chewy caramel when cooled.

Remove caramel from heat and stir in the cereal. Smooth the mixture into the oiled dish and allow to cool slowly to room temperature.

While it's still slightly soft, cut the candy into small squares (2" or so is good, but you'll want to make them bite-sized if you cooked the caramel to a hard ball or hard-crack stage). The recipe as written will stay soft enough to cut at room temperature, but don't try to refrigerate it first and then cut it. :)

If you have leftovers, wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze the pieces in a larger bag. The colder the candy gets, the harder it is.