GAPS Brownies

Great recipe for those on the GAPS diet.

Ingredients:
16 oz almond butter  or 1/2 butter 1/2 almond butter
2 eggs ( I used flax seed. 1 TB flaxseed to 3 TB water)
1 1/2 c honey ( I just did one cup. I like them more dark chocolate.)
1 tbsp vanilla extract (overflowing)
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate drops (omitted. use nuts!)
1 tbs coconut oil melted

Directions:
Mix wet ingredients together. Mix in dry ingredients. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Delicious! Hint for the brownies: Stick a toothpick in the middle. It shouldn't come out clean. You should see a glob of chocolate. Not liquid.And I promise they are done. Enjoy!

German Chocolate Brownie Pie

This pie is way too sugary. But it was guilty-delicious right out of the oven with some ice cream.

Ingredients:
1/2 bag brownie mix
1/2 stick of softened butter
1 C oats
1 C pecans
1 C shredded coconut
1 C caramel sauce

Directions:
Empty brownie mix and oats into a bowl.
Add butter and cut in until a pie-crust dough forms. If too dry, you can add a few tsp of cold water. Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

While crust is baking, mix pecans, coconut, and caramel in separate bowl.

Take out brownie pie crust. Let cool 10-20 minutes. Top with pecan caramel mixture. Bake at 350 for 10-15 more minutes.

Add whipped cream and chocolate shavings and then enjoy!

This is to die for!

Chocolate Cookies--Best ever!

These are to die for. I took these to a family reunion, and many asked for the recipe.

I got these from a Martha Stewart recipe, but I didn't keep the original around long enough to make sure. I'll have to make these again to make sure they're the same. Until confirm, these look just about the same.

I used a dark chocolate bar from Venezuela, 70% cacao. Use bars of chocolate. That's what separates it from the cocoa powder cookies. Trust me.

Source http://www.marthastewart.com/339686/outrageous-chocolate-cookies


Ingredients

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Step 1
   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
   Step 2
   In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
   Step 3
   Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ades. Limeade, Lemonade, Orangeade...

Limeade. The greatest recipe I've found just got three times as cool. I've switched up the citruses. Check out all three recipes. The Limeade tastes like the original Brazilian goodness. The Orangeade tastes like orange creamsicle. The Lemonade tastes like lemon meringue. 

Hardy Orangeade: 
1 large orange, scrubbed and cut in fourths
1/2 C sugar
3 TB sweetened condensed milk
3 C water

Place contents in blender in order listed. Pulse until peel is in small pieces. Strain liquid through sieve to remove rinds. Pour over ice. To get a stronger orange taste, use another half of an orange. Add to liking.



Hardy Lemonade:
1 large lemon, scrubbed and cut in fourths
1/2 C sugar
3 TB sweetened condensed milk
3 C water

Place contents in blender in order listed. Pulse until peel is in small pieces. Strain liquid through sieve to remove rinds. Pour over ice.


Original Brazilian Limeade:
1 large lime, scrubbed and cut in thirds
1/2 C sugar
3 TB sweetened condensed milk
3 C water

Place contents in blender in order listed. Pulse until peel is in small pieces. Strain liquid through sieve to remove rinds. Pour over ice.

Mac N' Cheese - Cheese Sauce

This is a great sauce to pour over elbow macaroni. Kids will love it... and husbands too.

This sauce is delicious. The base recipe came from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-mac-and-cheese/. I made my own adjustments as always. This recipe is originally for a mac n cheese casserole, but I found that the sauce works wonderfully for normal mac n cheese.  Here it goes:

Ingredients:
for 8 oz macaroni ( mine seemed to double.)
2 C shredded shard cheddar cheese. (3 cups of mild cheddar)
1/2 C parmesan or other cheese (I used mozarella and yum)
2 1/2 C milk
1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 C butter
2 TB blour
2 TB flour
1 pinch paprika

Directions:

1. Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain. Hint: Add butter so noodles don't stick to each other as they cool.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. 
3. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. 
4.  Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. 
5.  Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. 
6. Put macaroni in large bowl and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well. Enjoy! Sprinkle paprika if desired.

Alfredo Sauce

Delicious Sauce. We put it over lemon chicken and penne pasta.

Ingredients:
1/4 C butter
1 C heavy cream
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 C freshly grated parmesan
1/4 C parsley, chopped (preferably fresh)
1 pinch lemon zest/juice

Directions:
In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the lemon zest, garlic and heavy cream. Simmer for five minutes. Do not boil. Take off of heat. Add cheese. Stir until melted. Add parsley. Save some for garnish.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread--Homemade Nutella

This is absolutely delicious. Way better than Nutella. This is an overnight preparation recipe.

Source: I can't find my exact source, but here's another: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/09/better-than-nutella/

I've added my variations after learning from experience what works best.
Soak hazelnuts overnight in warm water and a pinch of salt, and something to break up the phytates.
Rinse before using.

Toast hazelnuts in oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Spread nuts on pan an turn over half way through the 15 minutes.

Let nuts cool.

Peel hazelnuts by placing in a bowl with a bowl on top an shaking vigorously.

Blend hazelnuts first, pulsing until it reaches a nut butter consistency, about 3-4 minutes. Scrapes the sides of the blender often so the nut butter can be smooth throughout.

Add syrup, cream, milk, coconut oil, salt, and cacao. Blend 2-3 minutes, pulsing, until all is integrated well. Add vanilla and blend a few seconds more. taste it and adjust to your liking.

Refridgerate and enjoy. Keep in glass jar in the fridge. It keeps for a couple of weeks.

makes abt 2 cups. a pint.

Best Banana Bread

This Banana Bread smells SOOO good coming out of the oven.

 I had three people walk in my house while it was baking. They paused. Inhaled slowly and nostalgically and confirmed, "Banana bread?"

This was a simple recipe to make and great for those super ripe bananas. And mine were...almost not yellow anymore. Hint: if you can't make banana bread and you have left over bananas, peel them, stick them in a baggy, and freeze for smoothies!

Credit for the recipe goes to: http://www.breadtopia.com/moist-whole-wheat-banana-bread/




Ingredients: 
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (I used salted because I didn't have unsalted, and it turned out great. I just put in less salt with the dry ingredients.)
½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar (or use raw honey!)
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (overflowing. balances flavor if you use honey instead of sugar.)
1 ½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium to large browning bananas)
¼ cup honey or grade B maple syrup
 2 large eggs
1 1/2 - 2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat (sub almond butter for GAPS)
 ½ cups chopped walnuts 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and nuts, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.
Bake the bread for 50 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

 Mine came out super dark because of the brown bananas and wheat flour. SO good.
 

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins--Made with Almond Flour

Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.

No sugar, no flour!

These muffins are delectable! I love the texture--the almond flour makes it slightly grainy but it blends well with the poppy seeds. So in short, the texture is perfect.

The lemon and sweet work together to make a crunchy-top, moist-centered muffin. Breakfast just got ten times better.

Follow the recipe below, and make changes for any special diet or allergy concerns. Trust me, you'll want to triple this recipe. I got this recipe from comfybelly but made my own modifications. Check out her website. She has some great stuff.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (using almond flour)

http://comfybelly.com/2011/05/lemon-poppy-seed-muffins-using-almond-flour/#.UcIUPILvb-Q

Ingredients (makes about 8 regular-size muffins)

•    2 eggs, separated. 

•    1/4 cup of oil (I use butter. Coconut oil works too. You can always do 1/2 butter, 1/2 oil.)

•    1/2 cup of honey (Or other sweetener. I do half honey, half maple syrup. Grade B has less sugar.)

•    1 tablespoon of vanilla (overflowing.)

•    1 tablespoon of lemon juice

•    2 1/2 cups of blanched almond flour

•    1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

•    1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

•    1 tablespoon of lemon zest (about one medium-size organic lemon; I do a little extra. It, along with the vanilla, balances out the honey flavor.)

•    1 tablespoon of poppy seeds

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree F.

2. Place muffin liners (cupcake liners) in a muffin/cupcake baking pan.

3. Separate the egg yolks and whites.

4. Whip the egg whites until you form stiff peaks. *(This step is super important. Make those white SUPER stiff. This will give the muffins great texture and help the middle not sink in.)

5. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the yolks, honey, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice.

6. Whisk all the dry ingredients into the batter.

7. Fold the egg whites into the batter and blend well.

8. Add the poppy seeds and lemon zest to the batter and blend well.

9. Fill each muffin liner about 2/3 of the way with batter and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

10.           Cool and enjoy! Store for several days in a sealed container. Or... just on the counter covered with a light napkin.