Recipe Review: Fluffy Nut Butter

 

Fluffy peanut butter and carrot sticks…yum! :)

This is a great way to make nut butter less calories and also make it last longer…doubling the amount of nut butter…so it’s frugal too.

 

I’m going to quote Chef Rachel’s recipe here but feel free to see it on her site here:

“Fluffy Nut Butter  
Prep: 10 minutes/ Yield: 1 cup; 8 servings

To make almond butter, peanut butter, and other nut butters more spreadable and less calorie-dense, you can emulsify them with warm water and add a little sea salt. After the mixture chills, it thickens and fluffs up making a delicious spread for bread, waffles, baked sweet potatoes, winter squash, cooked apple compote, or sliced fresh or frozen bananas. For a sweeter taste, see variations below.

Notes: Select a bottled brand of nut butter that doesn’t contain added salt, sugar, hydrogenated oil, or soybeans, or use homemade nut butter.Although it may be tempting to dilute an entire jar of nut butter––don’t do it, unless you plan to freeze most of it. Diluted nut butter will sour in the refrigerator after about 5 days if unsalted; 7 to 10 days if salted. It keeps well frozen.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted, unsweetened almond, cashew, or peanut butter  
1/2 cup warm filtered water
1/4 teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt (Celtic, Lima, or Real Salt…)

See sweetener suggestion below if using this with frozen bananas

1. Don’t discard the oil on top of a new jar of nut butter. Process the contents of the jar in a food processor, a Vita-Mix, orin a bowl with a sturdy spoon until smooth. Return nut butter to the original jar and refrigerate what you don’t plan to use immediately.

2. Dissolve the sea salt in warm water. Add the almond butter and mix or blend until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a wide-mouth jar or small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or freeze for 1 to 2 hours) until thick, before serving. Use within 4 days if unsalted, within 1 week if salted, or freeze for up to 6 months in covered glass jars with 1-inch of headspace at the top for expansion.

2 tablespoons: 109 calories, 4 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate (3 g fiber), 9 g fat, 89 mg calcium

Variations:

*  Sweet, Fluffy Nut Butter: To the recipes above add 2 to 3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or clear or vanilla flavored stevia extract liquid.”

 

This is really good! :) Give it a shot! :) I haven’t tried it sweetened yet…but I want to try again soon without salt/less salt. :)

Recipe Review: Ali and Tom’s Thai Coconut Fish Sticks and Peanut Dipping Sauce

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Ali and Tom from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. They always have the greatest recipes for those with food allergies and I love reading their posts. I’d been dying to make these since the day I saw the recipe here and finally did. They were so good! Of course, these aren’t made exactly the same (but pretty close) as I used what I had on hand (ie. the frugally rich way, of course! :))



Thai Coconut Fish Sticks à la Ari :)

1.5-2 lbs skin-less fish (I used cod)

1/4 c. cornstarch/tapioca flour/arrowroot starch

1 t. sea salt

2 eggs

2 T. milk (or dairy-free alternative)

2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes

Organic Spectrum Palm Shortening Oil (used since I was out of coconut oil) or Coconut Oil (prefer)

If your fish is frozen, defrost them first carefully in the microwave. Next, cut up the fish into sticks. In a small bowl, mix the starch and salt together. Roll each stick in the starch and then into an egg wash (I used 2 eggs and 2 T. milk). After that, roll the stick in shredded coconut. Place each stick in a warm frying pan (medium heat) with plenty of melted oil (you can start with a few tablespoons). Cook thoroughly on both sides. If your fish falls apart easy, you know it’s done! :)  ***FOR MORE BREADING IDEAS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST :) ********



Peanut Sauce à la Ari

1/4 c. natural peanut butter or other nut butter or sunbutter

2 T. lime juice

water (the original recipe calls for 1/2 c.)

garlic and salt as desired (I omitted the garlic as I’m intolerant)



First off, I am going to recommend doing this a little different then the original recipe suggests because of what happened when I followed the directions (really liquid/watery  sauce.) So, I suggest that you make this with the 1/4 c. peanut butter as stated in the original recipe, BUT then add the water and lime juice one tablespoon at a time until you get your desired consistency. Also, you might want to add the lime juice in teaspoonful amounts as I found the lime flavor a little overbearing, but maybe that’s just me. Add garlic and salt to taste. Dip your fish sticks in and enjoy every little bite!

Looking for more breading ideas??? Look no further......:)



I also experimented with using crushed corn flakes (first picture) and oat flour* with curry powder.

To do so yourself, follow the same directions as above, except omit coconut and roll in crushed corn flakes (or oat flour* with your desired ratio of curry powder.) Tada. Easy. :) And more variety for you to boot! :) I do have to admit though, my favorites were the coconut ones! But I also shared these with a neighbor (who follows SAD-standard american diet ;)) and she loved all of them, but especially the curry ones. :) So I'm sure it is just your personal preference! :)

*Use GF oat flour if needed.

PS. I tried some of these with flounder but thought that cod was much tastier! :) (again, probably personal preference...)

Recipe Review: Another “Quick” Bread Recipe

Guess I’m really into quick, lately eh? :)

Anyways, this recipe is for a whole loaf of bread, but you don’t have to wait for it to rise or anything. (There’s no yeast.) 

The taste wasn’t quite like your typical bread but it still tasted good to me.

My best description of the flavor would be that it tastes like a “bread-like” pancake. Hard to imagine, I know! So you’ll just have to try it out and let me know what you think. (Note: It was however, good enough to post about and good enough to eat! :) It didn’t last long in my house!)

First off, I’d advise baking this bread in a smaller loaf pan (or double the recipe to use a regular sized loaf pan) with the rack placed in the top section of your oven.

Now, for the slightly altered recipe:

• 1 cup oat flour (GF if needed or another cup of flour/GF blend)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or GF blend) *I think this recipe would work well GF
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (or agave, maple syrup, etc) 
• 1 tablespoon oil (or melted butter/earth balance/coconut oil)
• 1 cup milk (or non-dairy alternative)

Preheat your oven to 450 F. In a medium mixing bowl, combined the oil and honey. Add the other ingredients (besides the milk) and stir well. Add the milk gradually, stirring frequently. You may not need the whole cup. Add the milk until a soft dough forms. If you add a little too much milk, you can add a little more flour. Grease and flour your pan (as this dough is quite sticky.) Once you’ve made a soft dough  (GFer’s :), you will especially understand how “soft” this can be), place the dough in the greased pan. Place pan in the oven for twenty minutes or until top is golden and the insides are cooked well (check this with a toothpick.) Place on a cooling rack to cool. Cut and enjoy!

And as the original author suggests, “It's pretty dense, but great when fresh from the oven. Especially with butter [or earth balance/coconut oil] and honey [agave] on cold [or any] mornings!"

Did you make this? Are you going to try it GF? If so, let me know! I’d love to see how it turned out for you! :)

Recipe Review: Really Really Quick Single Serving Bun/Bread/Roll! :)

Wow! These beauties are really! as quick as this digital “instant photo” is! I don’t know how I found the link to this recipe, but man, this recipe is certainly a “wonder”!

I played around with it a little bit and here’s what I found:

The seeds really will help the appearance and probably texture too!

These will work probably with any flour you choose…whole grain even! (and that is whether you are GF or not!)

Don’t be intimidated by the almond flour (if you don’t have it on hand.) I didn’t and I just subbed for it with another tablespoon  of flour.

Here’s the recipe with some little alterations/ suggestions:

Ingredients:

1 egg

¾ teaspoon molasses (or try honey or agave)

2 tablespoons flour (try any whole grain flour like teff, sorghum, brown rice, whole wheat, etc)

1 tablespoon almond meal(or another tablespoon of flour)

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (or try chia seeds)

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cocoa powder (for a darker color, not taste. Sub with the same amount of flour if you don’t want the color).

a pinch of salt, if you want

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (or cornmeal or finely ground nuts or poppy seeds, etc) Ohhh! I can envision a lemon bun! with poppy seeds! :)

In a cereal bowl, beat the egg and molasses (sweetener) with a fork, for about a minute. Now, add the flour, almond meal, ground flax seed, baking powder, and cocoa powder (if you so choose). Add in the salt (if you are adding it.) Add the egg, stir until smooth. Oil a 10 oz Pyrex custard cup (glass)  and sprinkle seeds (if you like) on the bottom and sides.

Pour the batter into the cup. Top with more seeds if you like.

Microwave for 90 seconds. That’s it! 90 seconds to having bread in your hands! It’s so amazing! I only wish I had thought of it! :)

Slice in half and serve! (Topped with “butter” dairy-free/not, jam, etc!)

 

Mini Chicken Meatloaves!

MINI CHICKEN MEATLOAVES

I was flipping through some recipes I had saved and saw one that sounded really good! Of course, I couldn't just leave it like it was, soooo I Ariana'itzed it! :)

First off, I didn't have any ground turkey or chicken (if you want lean ground turkey or chicken, you have to pay an arm and a leg for it, so I never buy it. ) Instead I make my own.

How to make ground chicken or turkey in three easy steps:

First off, I used chicken breast that I half-defrosted and then cut into chunks.

2. Then I pureed it into

ground turkey in my food processor.

3. Put it all together. In the end, I ended up with about two cups of ground turkey. (I tried to

weigh it but my scale wasn't working.) Use it for this recipe or freeze for later use :).

Sorry if those pics are kind of unappetizing but it is so worth it in the end :)

The finished product, well, before cooking :)

Mini Chicken Meatloaves!

Yield: 1 Dozen Mini "Muffin" Size Meatloaves :)

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts (pureed into ground turkey)

1/2 c. chopped carrot (sneak some good veggies in there- your kids won't even notice)

1/2 c. breadcrumbs (I used GF ones I saved from my bread every time crumbs fall off and then put it in the freezer for future use)

1/2 c. sugar-free ketchup + (see my sugar-free recipe on that link :))

1 egg

1 t. marjoram

1 t. salt

sprinkle pepper

Preheat oven for 350. Mix all the ingredients. Distribute evenly into 12 muffin cups (about 3/4 full). Squirt ketchup on the top and place in the oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!

See this and other entries here at the Simply Indulgent Carnival. Give it a shot! This weeks giveaway is perfect for the coming holidays! A $25 Amazon gift card!

Recipe Review #6: 2-hour Memory Buns

Celiac Teen recently posted a recipe for these incredible rolls/buns. Seeing that they were rolls/buns and whole grain I was very excited to try them!

Here's the alterations I made:

• 1 and 1/4 c. + 1 T. water (I used less water because of the agave
• 3 T. agave (Agave is at least 25% sweeter than sugar so I used 1 T. less, and I don't like to use cane sugar)
• I ended up adding about 1/8 c. more teff flour, 1/8 c. more sorghum flour, 1/4 c. more corn flour, and 1/4 c. more millet because the batter was pretty runny.
• I also let it rise, covered with plastic wrap in a 200 degree oven (preheat to 200 and then turn it off. Then place the bread in).
  
• I only had to cook this about 15-20 mins.

They came out a little flatter I think due to the alterations I had to make and more flour. They are very tasty. Mine got more mashed together as you can see and I may just pour the batter if that runny in the future. Still, they tasted great!

In the future, I plan to use less water and also possibly add baking soda/powder to help it rise more. I think they would be great with butter if you can use it instead of oil or as I plan to, I will use Earth Balance next time! I am also thinking of decreasing the total oil amount. I also think it would be a great recipe to convert into a regular bread recipe!
Thanks again Celiac Teen!

Recipe Review #5: Super Easy (and yummy) peach crumble

Have some peaches that need to be eaten up? I sure did! I was looking at a dessert I could make that my family may enjoy even though they in no way eat the same as I do. I came across this recipe by Gluten-Free Goddess and had to try it.

The verdict? YUM! Thank you for the recipe!

Here's the only alterations I made or how I followed it:
For the topping:

• I used oat bran for the oats (I thought these would be interesting to try for texture and easier to digest) Make sure they are GF though if you have celiac!
• 2 T. oat flour
• 2 T. dark agave
  
• no walnuts or mesquite
• pinch of cinnamon
  
• 1/2 t. vanilla
  
• 2 T. earth balance (not melted)

In the peach filling, I didn't use arrowroot because I didn't have any on hand. I used 2 T. light agave.

Anyway, everyone of my very picky eaters (that would be my siblings especially) loved it. Most of them asked for seconds and thirds!

Recipe Review #4: Gluten-Free Whole Grain Waffles

I was in the mood for waffles. Real, hearty, whole grain waffles, like the whole wheat ones my mother used to make.

I found this recipe on The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen Site. I love this recipe! So delicious and simple! I tried it with a few alterations to the wet ingredients:

• I used 6 T. apple sauce (homemade or organic, sugar-free)instead of oil to make lower in calories and fat
  
• 4 tablespoons dark agave, low glycemic, similar taste to maple syrup
• 3-3.5 c. of water, I used this simply because I ran out of milk, use more water to make it less thick, (it's up to you)
  

Also, I used 2 t. cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Recipe Review #3: Avacado Mayonnaise

This recipe also comes from Ricki via Dr. Kim at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs! I love it dip and mayo! Take Ricki’s and my word for it! This is a great mayo alternative and it is sooo good on tomatoes! See her post here.

“2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, scooped out of skins, and cubed

large handful of fresh basil leaves [or a couple shakes dreid basil]

2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) extra virgin olive oil [I didn't use it but I'm sure it'd taste even better!]

2 tsp. (10 ml.) fresh lemon or lime juice

1 garlic clove, peeld and minced

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Combine basil, garlic, and a pinch of sea salt in a small food processor and blend until ingredients form a paste.

Add avocados and process until smooth. Blend in oil and lemon or lime juice, and then season with salt and pepper. Makes 4-6 servings.”

Recipe Review #2: Healthy! Guilt-Free Key Lime Pudding!

Here it is! The recipe that the most of you requested! Key Lime Pie Pudding! I got this recipe from Ricki’s dietdessertndogs website. See the original (almost the same recipe) here. I give her all the credit for this recipe and thank her for it! It is definitely nutritious and delicious! Thanks Ricki!

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 large chopped ripe avocado

3-4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

stevia to taste or 1/4 cup agave

Pour all of the ingrediants into your food processor and blend! Serve immediately! And enjoy!

Recipe Review #1: Healthy and Yummy Chocolate Zucchini Cake Mu

Ever wish you could find out if that recipe is actually good? Yes? Well, you've come to the right place. This starts my first post of recipe reviews. I will note when I follow a recipe exactly or closely and what the results were. The past week, my mother made chocolate zucchini cake for the rest of the family. Knowing that I could definitely not partake of the glutenous, sugar, and dairy laden cake, I started to look for some sort of cake or muffin that I could make and then freeze the leftovers. I found this post and will show it with what I did and the results I got. But all the credit definitely goes to ladybugsandbees! I followed the recipe pretty closely!

Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

(I got 18 muffins with this recipe)

• 1 cup extra finely ground brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch (not flour)
• 2 Tbs plus 2 tsp Tapioca Flour /Starch
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melt if solid)
• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk plus 2 Tbs water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup shredded zucchini

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with paper liners or spray with non stick spray.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. In a second bowl, combine agave nectar, coconut oil, coconut milk,water, eggs and zucchini. Add the flour mixture to the “wet ingredients” and mix well until fully blended.

3. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups, filling each to about 1/2- 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

These were really good! I could taste the yummy coconut flavor in them too with the oil and coconut milk. Next time, I want to try them with less fat and sugar etc but I am learning to follow the recipe to exactness on the first try making it . I will update you when I make them again. Also, see her site for just plain chocolate muffins (use 1 c. applesauce in place of the zucchini). I filled these about 1/2 to 3/4 full and then wet my fingers with water to smooth the tops so that they’d be even. They are filling and rich tasting. For an even richer treat, add chocolate chips as she did or raisins. Thanks again ladybugsandbees of gluten-free naturally!