vanilla gelato

I have been working on non-dairy eggless frozen deserts for a while.  I was reading a cookbook and came across a gelato recipe that did not have any eggs in it.  My thought was that I had to try it.  Not bad even though it did not have as much stirring while freezing as I would like!

This actually had  a caramelish flavor because I ran out of white sugar and used brown.  Once I got past the initial taste/texture, I decided I liked it.

Vanilla Gelato

4 cups hempmilk

1/4 cup arrowroot

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons vanilla

In a large saucepan over medium heat, put 1 cup hempmilk, arrowroot, vanilla, and sugar.  Whisk well which means until the arrowroot in blended in.

Pour in the rest of the hempmilk and cook while stirring all the time until it coats the back of a spoon.  This will be ten to fifteen minutes.  Think of this as time for meditation.  Like when you wash rice (yes, really).

Pour into a bowl that has a cover and cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Freeze following your ice maker directions or your favorite non-mechanical way.

This did not come out as creamy as I would have liked because I did not stir it as much as I should have.  With the hempmilk, there was a nutty flavor.  When you are going for straight vanilla, not quite what you may be thinking but it was yummy in its own right.

Enjoy!

dessert for breakfast and healthy!

Last weekend I had been watching the bananas on the counter turn to the perfect brown dottiness for baking.  And then they started disappearing!  In this household, that is also just right for eating.  I was able to work with three bananas which became banana pancakes for Sunday breakfast.  These tasted like dessert but were heavenly!  And healthy!

Banana Pancakes

Note:  You may use milk or another non-dairy milk of your choice

          You may use two cups of whole wheat or white flour instead of the gluten free flours

3 bananas

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup teff flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 cup hempmilk

Start preheating a griddle over medium heat.

Mash the bananas well.  Mix in the brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and salt to the bananas.  (I did this in the blender because it was easier.)  Mix in the flours, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Mix in the hempmilk.  If you wish a thicker batter use less.  If a thinner batter, use more milk.

Grease your griddle and fry like you would for normal pancakes.  I found when I used olive oil for the frying, the pancakes were more caramelized.  Butter made them less candy like.  It was a bit strange.

My Beloved made unprintable comments about these pancakes they were so good!  It was like eating dessert first.  Did not need syrup!  Yumminess!

gluten free chocolate fudgy oatmeal peanut butter brownies

I got home from work and skating today knowing I was going to need to make something for the potluck at work tomorrow.  The potluck is on a Thursday, which does not sound so difficult, but one of the people eating eats vegetarian on Thursdays.  And she eats no eggs on Thursdays.  Part of the challenge was to come up with some sweet she could eat.  But then I figured any leftovers my Beloved would wish to eat would need to be gluten free.  I came up with the brownie recipe.  

Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Brownies

Notes:  To make vegan, find a peanut butter chip without whey in them or use chocolate chips.

            If you allergic to nuts, use 1/3 cup sorghum flour and 1/3 cup amaranth flour in the place of almond 

flour

    You can use 1 2/3 cup wheat flour in the place of all the gluten free flours if you wish.

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup olive or canola oil

2/3 cup hempmilk or other non-dairy milk or regular milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup arrowroot starch

1/3 cup potato flour

2/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup teff flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper or butter.  I used parchment paper because it is just easier.

Mix the sugar, milk, oil, and vanilla together.  Add all the flours, cocoa, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Mix well.  Mix in the oatmeal.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  At this point, you could mix in the peanut butter chips or sprinkle on the top.  I chose to sprinkle.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife stuck in the brownies come out clean.  If you can, wait 20 minutes to cool so they hold together better coming out of the pan.

These are just decadence.  Especially if they are just a bit warm.  There should be leftovers for my Beloved tomorrow but there may not be.

agave mustard salad dressing

While camping, do we buy our salad dressing?  Of course not.  We have been making salad dressing since my Beloved stopped eating gluten and soy.  Then he was able to eat gluten and soy again but we were spoiled with homemade dressing.  It is easy easy.  On the camping trip, I wanted something like a honey mustard but we had no honey.  We did have agave though.

Agave Mustard Salad Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon agave or to taste.

Dump everything into a mason jar.  Screw on the lid.  Shake.  Taste and adjust to your tastes. 

I do admit that I squeezed agave and did not measure.  We put this on the bison burger and salad we had for dinner.  Heaven!

fry bread - gluten free or not if you please (biscuit too)

I was reading A Grave Denied by Dana Stabenow on Sunday morning and there was this description of fry bread and coffee that made my mouth water.

Now you must realize, the above picture is how my kitchen normally looks on a Saturday or Sunday morning.  Every burner of the stove is being used, something is in the crockpot, there might be something in my thermal pot (in this case yogurt), and I am trying out something new.  My Beloved just chuckles.  And reaps the rewards.  So in the middle of this, I look up some fry bread recipes and go about putting a gluten free one together so we can have it for breakfast.

fry bread (gluten free or not)

1/4 cup potato flour  (if you would like to make this without gluten free flours, just use 1 cup flour)

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 cup amaranth

1/4 cup corn 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup milk powder (I used non-instant)

1/4 teaspoon salt

warm water

In a skillet, heat a half of inch of oil.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  I actually whisk them to make sure there are no lumps.

Mix in enough warm water to make a stiff dough.  I started with a quarter cup and ended up closer to a half cup.  But do not add too much water because you need to roll out the dough.

Divide the dough into four.  Roll out each piece into a circle.  Put into the hot oil.  

They were done when they were golden and floated to the surface.

We ate them with beans, eggs, and honey.  VERY yummy!  Made our bellies haaapppyyy!!!

I did a little bit of experimenting with this dough.  I took a golf ball size bit and baked it just like a biscuit, 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about ten minutes.  This dough made a fabulous baked biscuit.  More ideas!  I am getting around to figuring out my scone recipe in a gluten free from.  I really need to buy more flours though.  Going to the grocery store has not been on the list recently.

Try the fry bread with honey and a cup of sweet tea or a cup of coffee with cream and brown sugar.  Happy belly!