Warm Gluten Free-Corn Free-Vegan Breakfast

Doesn't that title just make you hungry? Totally, for sure. If not, it's because this recipe isn't for the average eater. So there. Are you average? Most people would just go to the cupboard and get from oats for oatmeal or even just go to the pantry and get that package of generic maple oatmeal (that has way too much sugar, by the way). This recipe is for the people who either a) can't eat those oats (this lady) or b) people who want to give their digestive system a little break or c) someone who just wants something a little different.

This recipe has brown rice, soy milk, maple syrup, and apples. It is the perfect cold morning breakfast. I was craving oatmeal but since I can't eat it, I made this. It definitely satisfied my craving. And it is super easy to make, just like oatmeal. Although, you do need a grinder, I use an old coffee grinder.

Warm Rice Cereal
serves 1
adapted from The Whole Nutrition Cookbook

INGREDIENTS
1/4c sweet brown rice (or other brown rice) coarsely ground in grinder
3/4c vanilla soy milk (or regular milk)
1T maple syrup
1t cinnamon

1/2 apple cut in small pieces
1/4c water
1t cinnamon
1/2t nutmeg
1T maple syrup

*optional - blueberries

METHOD
1. Put rice, milk, syrup, and cinnamon in a small saucepan and put on low heat.(if adding blueberries, also delicious, put in pan too and don't worry about steps 3 and 4.)
2. Stir constantly until paste forms. About 3 - 5 min. If too thick, add more milk or water.
3. Take rice off heat and let sit while making apples.
4. Put apples, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and syrup in small sauce pan and stir occasionally until it makes a glaze-y sauce. About 5 min.
5. Put together in bowl, add more milk if wanted and maybe a little agave on top and enjoy.

Cabbage Rolls

Time for a recipe. But, since I am only eating go-straight-through-you food, I really had to think about this one. What is something I am currently eating that people might actually like?

BTW, is anyone annoyed that I keep talking about my elimination diet? Because, if so, you must realize I LOVE food. I love making food. I love eating food. So, since I can't eat my amazing food, it is on my mind all.the.time and I like to speak my mind (if you didn't notice). In other words, if it annoys you, time to get over it. There, I said it.

 

 

Anywho, I made cabbage rolls for the first time and they were seriously flippin' delicious! You really should try them. You can pretty much put anything you want inside them but I am going to give you my version and if you happen to be on Phase One of the Whole Food Elimination Diet, you have scored. You scored big. You don't have to eat kale again tonight. Holla at yo' girl.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
serves two
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Since I was not able to eat tomatoes at the time I put this dish together, I used a squash sauce. However, instead of doing my squash sauce step, you could just save yourself some time and use tomato sauce instead. The squash is delicious though (always is).


INGREDIENTS

Sauce
- 2 1/2c peeled, diced squash
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2c veggie broth
- 2T Olive Oil
- salt and pepper


Cabbage Rolls
- 1/2 head cabbage
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2T olive oil
- 1 carrot shredded
- 1/2c zucchini chopped
- 1/2c rice cooked, this is a pre-recipe step*

METHOD
1. Cut the core out the bottom/middle part of the cabbage but leave it whole. The core is hard to roll, so you don't want it in there.
2. Place cabbage, with the empty core area facing up, in a large bowl.
3. Boil water and pour the water over the cabbage until it reaches the top and let it sit for ten minutes.
4. Heat the oil in a saute pan.
5. Add onions and garlic for the sauce. Cook for 4 min.
6. Add squash and salt and pepper (to taste). Saute for 5 min.
7. Add veggie broth and cover. Cook for 10 min.
8. Add sauce mixture to food processor and let sit until slightly cook.
9. While the sauce is cooling, cook the other onions until they are soft.
10. Add garlic, carrots, and zucchini and cook for 4 min.
11. Add rice and saute for another 5 min. Add salt and pepper to taste.
12. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool a bit.
13. Drain the head of cabbage by turning upside down.
14. Pull off large leaves, cut out the large vein. If the leaf is very large, you can make two rolls from each.
15. Roll about a spoonful or two of filling in each leaf (depending on the size of your leaf)
16. Arrange in a large, wide pot.
17. Process your squash mixture until smooth. If the sauce is thick, add more broth. You want it to be the same consistency as heavy cream.
18. When sauce is right, pour it over the rolls, enough to almost reach to top of cabbage. (You can add more broth or water to the pot if needed.
19. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat, letting them simmer covered on the stove on low for about 30-45 min.
20. Serve immediately. If sauce you have extra sauce, pour over individual portions. Mmmmmm.

Punk'in Pie Cinnamon Rolls

I have found a new blog. Cook Local. It is a Seattle blog. It isn't vegetarian specific but they certainly have a lot of things that I can eat on there. It's wonderful.
I found these cinnamon rolls on there and thought they sounded so tasty. I cooked them for breakfast the next morning. Turned out great. They definitely taste best right out of the oven though!
This recipe may look daunting but I assure you it isn't too difficult, especially if you make the dough beforehand.
Punk'in Pie Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Cook Local blog
Makes about 6 - 9 rolls, depending on how large/small you make them

Ingredients
For Rolls:
1 T of active dry yeast
1/4c of warm water
1/2 t sugar
1.5c + 1T flour
1/8 t
1/2c pumpkin puree
2 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar

For Filling:
1/4 c butter, softened
2 t crystallized ginger, minced
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
2 Tbsp sugar

For Frosting:
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 t ginger
2-3Tbsp water

Method
1. Place the warm water in a small bowl.
2. Add the 1/2 tsp of sugar and the 1 Tbsp of yeast and let stand while you prepare the dry ingredients.
3. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined.
4. Add in the pumpkin puree, yeast and mix well until the dough comes together. It should be a bit sticky. Add more water or milk if not.
5. Oil a large bowl.
6. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat all surfaces with oil.
7. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm area for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
8. Punch the dough down and let it rest for a moment while you flour the counter or large cutting board.
9. Roll out the dough to approximately 7 x 11 inches.
10. Mix the filling ingredients together and gently spread the filling over the dough.
11. Starting with the long end, roll the dough up, trying to prevent any large air gaps. Pinch the ends to seal.
12. Cut the dough into 1 inch rounds.
13. Grease an 11×9 inch baking dish on the bottom and sides.
14. Lay the rounds, cut side down, in the dish, leaving plenty of space on all sides.

*At this point, you can put the dough in fridge (cover the dish) and eat in the morning...or you can go ahead and finished the recipe to eat now.*

15. If kept in the fridge overnight, take the rolls out and let rise for at least a hour, or until not too cold anymore. If you are eating them right away, cover the dish and let the dough sit for about 45 min more to rise.
16. Preheat oven to 350.
17. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
18. Mix the frosting ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
19. Frost by drizzling frosting over the rolls and enjoy.

Oh my Lord, Squash is Good!

As Tyler and I prepare for our wedding, we have realized that food is an important aspect of "the party". We have been interviewing caterers and toyed with different ideas about what we want to serve. In the end, we REALLY want to use food from our own garden so we are working on all that and we found a caterer we like who knows about food and is excited to use our food. Good food.
When we met with this particular caterer she told us about this pasta they make with butternut squash. It sounded mouth watering delicious to me and so of course I went home and looked for a recipe. Turns out, I found one.
I made this last night for dinner as an experiment and it turned out to be my favorite thing I have made in awhile. Granted, I don't cook with butter and cream that often and how can that not taste mmm mmm good?

Creamy Squash Pasta

INGREDIENTS:
*adapted from kcra.com
- 2 medium squash (I used delicata and some other thing I picked up), about 2 pounds
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2c finely minced shallots
- 1 1/2c heavy cream
- 1/2c veggie (or chicken) broth
- Salt to taste
- 1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
- pasta
- freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

METHOD:
*please note you want to do these in this order because the sauce does need time to cool down and thicken so this recipe is set up to allow for that*
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel the squash then cut, discard the seeds and slice into 1 inch cubes.
3. Place squash on a sheet pan and toss with oil until covered.
4. Bake until pieces are lightly golden and soft-about 20 minutes.
5. Cool and transfer to a bowl.
6. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. When the butter begins to foam add the shallots and stir until lightly golden and soft.
8. Add the cream and broth, season with salt and nutmeg and simmer until sauce just begins to thicken, three to four minutes.
9. Add the squash and stir for a minute or two.
10. Turn the heat off as you are cooking the pasta.
11. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta.
12. When cooked, drain pasta.
13. Spoon pasta on plate and top with sauce and cheese and salt to taste.

Makes three generous servings

Don't Squash it out with your Boots Ted

Two things to talk about: boots and squash soup.

Fall Squash Soup
adapted from Smitten Kitchen


Ingredients
1/4 cup (1/2sitck) butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 14 1/2-ounce cans (equals 5.5 cups) veggie broth*
8 cups 1-inch pieces peeled squash {butternut, delicata, acorn, mix and match, what ev'} (about 3 pounds)
1 1/4t minced fresh thyme
1 1/4t minced fresh sage
1 1/2t ground cumin
1/2t ground ginger
1t Salt
Pepper
1/8 cup whipping cream
Sugar to taste (I used about one t)

Method
1. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and sauté on low until tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add broth, all squash and herbs and spices; bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Working in batches, puree soup in blender.
6. Return soup to same pot. Stir in cream and sugar; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe is DELICIOUS with a broiled bread. Put butter on one side of bread and broil for one minute. Flip bread over, cover with your favorite cheese and some salt and pepper and broil for another minute. Awesome!

*This would be a great place to add that homemade veggie broth to a soup!!

Romeos
To be a true farmer (or you could insert logger, for Mt Baker purposes), you need Romeo's. Who is Romeo and since when did he live on a farm, you may ask. Meet Romeo....


Story: I bought these "boots" a couple of years ago because I liked them and all the cool kids (seriously, kids) were wearing them and I liked how they looked. Turned out to be quite handy, they are slip ons 'nuf said, and although I got the HUGEST blister on my heel the first time I wore them we became fast friends.
Tyler on the other hand was holding out. He was waiting until they became functional. Today, that day has come and he bought his first pair. What a true farmer. He used them to feed the pigeons and to let Gus out to poo. Really working 'em in hard! His were half off too, can't beat that.

Shoe Friends