Grain Free Granola

Grain Free Granola

2 cups sliced almonds

1 cup each sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (raw and unsalted)

3/4 cup each unsweetened coconut and raisins

1/2 cup each sesame seeds and ground flax meal

1/4 cup each honey and butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine nuts, seeds, flax meal, coconut and raisins. In a small saucepan, combine butter and honey and heat until melted. Add vanilla and almond extract to the butter and honey, and pour over the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Spread granola onto a large baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes. Let the granola cool, then break into small clusters. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Make a Week of Steel-Cut Oats in 5 Minutes

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups steel-cut oats
4 cups water
Large pinch salt
Mix-Ins:
Milk or soy milk
Cinnamon or other spices
Raisins or other dried fruit
Walnuts or other nuts
Jam
Honey

Equipment
5 pint-sized Mason jars with lids (I used wide-mouth jars)
Large saucepan
Ladle

Instructions

1. Collect your jars and other equipment. I like pint-sized jars for this as they allow a little more room for adding nuts, raisins, and milk later. But you can also use half-pint jars.
2. Bring the oats, water and salt to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat.
3. Ladle the oats and water into the jars. Cover the jars tightly with their caps and rings. Leave on the counter overnight. (This is how I make my oatmeal and I have had absolutely no problems with it, healthwise, but if for some reason you are not comfortable leaving hot oatmeal out overnight, you can also refrigerate the jars. The oatmeal won't be quite as well cooked in the morning; it will be a thinner, less creamy oatmeal. But it will still be fine.)
4. The next morning, put all but one of the jars in the refrigerator. Take the cap off one jar and stir up the oatmeal inside. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or until quite hot. Add any milk, raisins, or other mix-ins. Enjoy!
Additional Notes:
• You can also add your raisins, cinnamon, or other mix-ins to the rest of the jars before putting them away in the refrigerator. Then all you have to do is grab one and go on your way out the door.

From: http://www.thekitchn.com/

Blueberry Stuff (aka- Blueberry French Toast)

My mom makes this for Christmas morning every year. She also makes it for breakfast for birthdays and other special occasions- our family LOVES it.

12 slices day old white bread
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese
1 c fresh or frozen blueberries (JD and I use mixed berries instead- we like that better)
12 eggs
2 c milk
1/3 c maple syrup or honey

Sauce:
1 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 c water
1c blueberries (or mixed berries)
1 T butter

Cut bread into 1 inch cubes; place half in greased 9x13 pan. Cut cream cheese into 1 in cubes; sprinkle over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread. Beat eggs, milk, and sugar together in large bowl. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge 30 min before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 min. Uncover and bake 25-30 min longer, or until set.

In saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; add water. Bring to boil over medium heat and boil for 3 min, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries, reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 min, or until blueberries burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve over french toast.

Wedding Waffles

2 c (10 oz.) flour
1 Tbl. sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c dried buttermilk powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c sour cream
2 lg. eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. unflavored club soda

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl; mix sour cream, eggs, vanilla and oil together until combined.  Add to dry ingredients.  Stir in club soda.  Don't overmix.

From: Sherri Sangster

Gluten Free Porridge

2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
¼ cup walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup boiling water
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt (I like things super salty, so you may want to reduce this)

1.Combine all ingredients in the dry container of a Vitamix2.Blend until finely ground (you can try a coffee grinder, I have not, so not sure if it works)

3.Transfer mixture to a bowl

4.Pour hot water over mixture, stir, then let sit for 5 minutes to thicken

5.Garnish with raisins, sunflower seeds or treats of your choice

6.Serve

From: Elana's Pantry

Gluten and Dairy Free Mini Muffins- (a work in progress)

1 cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil

In a large bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda. In a smaller bowl, blend together eggs, agave and oil. Blend wet ingredients into dry. Scoop batter 1 tablespoon at a time into greased mini muffin tins. Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes. Cool then remove from muffin tins and serve.

Adaptations:
- Replace agave nectar with brown rice syrup. You should add more syrup than the amount of sweetener called for- twice the amount of syrup when replacing agave.

-Replace eggs with flax. 2 T ground flax plus 6 T water equals 2 eggs. Let the mixture sit before adding to recipe. I tried making with eggs this time and it was the first time I've tried them in a while. I got sick. Don't know if it was the eggs or if it was something else, but hopefully I'll find out when my tests come back. This will probably work just as well with the flax.

- Add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary and 1 tablespoon lemon zest- packed and heaping. This is what the recipe originally calls for, but I thought it was way too much rosemary. I'm wondering if it was a typo. If I try it again, I'll update the amount I actually use.

-Add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices. I added pumpkin to the unchanged recipe and then added spices and vanilla and the oil should have been reduced or eliminated. They were still good though. I will certainly be trying to improve this one. I miss eating pumpkin laced treats.

Still a lot to work on before perfecting this one. I served them at a girls night the other night and made a double batch. I forgot to not double the baking soda. They were disgusting. I threw them away. But the pumpkin ones I made this morning worked pretty well. Poor girls night friends. I wonder if they will ever eat my food again.

Adapted from: elenaspantry.com

Banana Sweetened Granola

1 ripe or frozen banana
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375° F.Using a blender, blend together banana, water, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and sea salt until very smooth.Toss banana puree together with rolled oats and nuts. Lay everything out in a single layer on a tinfoil lined baking pan (it may stick a little). Bake for 40 minutes until oats are starting to brown. Stir 4 times throughout, breaking up any clumps that are forming.Add shredded coconut when there are 12 minutes left of baking time to lightly toast.Remove from oven and add the flax seeds and raisins. Serve with milk or yogurt or as a snack on its own.

Adaptations:
Replace banana with 1/2 c pumpkin. Increase cinnamon to 1 T, add 3/4 t allspice, 1/2 t cloves, and 1 1/2 t ginger.

Allergy Free Muffins

No wheat, dairy, egg, or sugar- but tastes great!

1 T ground flax seed
3 T water
1 c oat flour (put oatmeal in a coffee grinder or food processor to create flour)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 T rice syrup or other sweetener
1/3 c almond milk
1 T oil
add-ins: blueberries, peaches, etc.

Mix ground flax seed with water and set aside. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. Then add the wet ingredients. Once the flax seed combination becomes gelled, add it to the wet and dry ingredients. Mix in add ins. I love peaches in mine. Cook for 15 minutes at 425. You will be surprised by the taste and light texture.

Do you have any suggestions for add-ins? I'd love to know what you put in yours.

Whole-Wheat Quick Bread

UPDATE: Yummmmmy! JD said he liked this bread better than the other I make. It's really moist and when it's first taken from the oven it tastes like a giant muffin. Good stuff.

Another one I haven't made, but sure will.

1 egg, beaten (1 T. dry egg powder + 2 T. water)
2 c. buttermilk (1/3 c. dry milk powder + 2 c. water + 2 T. vinegar or lemon juice, let sit for 5 minutes)
3 T. molasses or honey
2 T. butter, melted
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder

In a bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, molasses or honey, and butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Stir well; add to first mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan. bake at 400 degrees for about 45-40 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool slightly then turn out of the pan onto a wire rack. Slice while warm. Makes 1 loaf.

From: everydayfoodstorage.net

Blender Wheat Pancakes

These are pretty good and are a good way for a rookie to use her wheat from her food storage- which makes it perfect for me!

1 Cup Milk (translation for powdered milk is 3 T. Milk and 1 C. Water)
1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked
2 Eggs (2 T. powdered eggs 1/4 C. Water)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbs. Oil
2 Tbs. Honey or Sugar

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender. Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth. This will NOT break your blender (no matter how cheap it is) because you are blending it with water. Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low. Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan. Cook; flipping pancakes when bubbles pop and create holes.

From: everydayfoodstorage.net

Todd's Famous Pancakes

I don't know who Todd is, but I thank him. These really are the best pancakes I've ever had. Don't freak out about the batter getting puffy and weird. It's what makes these so good. They are really fluffy. The site says you can make them right away instead of waiting for them, but I haven't tried them that way.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup frozen blueberries, thawed (I used fresh raspberries, so any kind will do)

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. Stir milk and egg into flour mixture. Mix in the butter and fold in the blueberries. Set aside for 1 hour.

I sprinkled the berries on top of each one instead of mixing it in with the batter.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

From: Allrecipes.com

Granola

Dry Ingredients:
6 cups Oatmeal
1 cup Bran (mine didn’t have bran)
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Walnuts (I used sliced almonds instead)
1 cup Sunflower Seeds
½ cup Dry Milk

Combine dry ingredients.

Wet Ingredients:
½ cup Honey
½ cup Oil
2 tbl. Water
2 tbl. Vanilla

Combine wet ingredients.

Combine wet & dry ingredients. Bake 300 for 25-35 minutes, stirring often. (I only baked mine 24 minutes, stirring every 8 minutes; maybe that’s why it’s softer)

Optional Ingredients:
1 cup Coconut, Raisins or Sesame seeds
¾ cup Wheat Germ

From: Jessica Wilhelm

Band-aid Bread (a.k.a. Panatone)

Story behind the name: My mom makes this bread for Christmas as gifts. This year she made a batch for some of the general authorities that my dad was going to meet with. She threw it in the oven, and then discovered her band-aid that was on her finger was missing. She searched the kitchen frantically (dad had to leave soon) and couldn't find it. She couldn't bring herself to chance it and threw all 7 loaves away. A few days after Christmas, she found the band-aid. It wasn't mixed in the bread afer all!

Beat together until smooth:
6 eggs and 12 egg yolks
4 1/2 c sugar
3 c melted butter

Add:
2 T grated lemon peel
2 T anise seed
2 T anise extract

Stir in 1 1/2 cups each of:
pine nuts
raisins (I don't like raisins so I skip it)
dried apricots
craisins or dried cherries

Add:
16 c flour
4 T baking powder
1 T salt
6 c milk

Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, stirring until mixed.

Before mixing the batter, fold down the cuffs of brown lunch sacks until they are about 4 1/2 inches tall (about 3 folds). Grease sacks or spray with Pam. They will be translucent when greased.

Put bags on a cookie sheet. Be sure the bottoms don't get too brown and be sure there is plenty of room around each bag for the bags to cook evenly. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 20-45 minutes. It makes 7 sacks. Tie a ribbon around the sack and it's so cute!

From: Mom

Pumpkin Waffles

2 C flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp coriander (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 C milk
1 C pumpkin
3/4 C butter, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside (I never do this actually - I just mix it all in). Separate eggs and beat yolks slightly. Add milk, pumpkin, melted butter and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into pumpkin mixture. Bake in waffle iron and serve with buttermilk syrup - yummy!

Buttermilk Syrup (make this before you start the waffles)
1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring first four ingredients to boil in an extra-large pan (really! You'll need it!) Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz to twice its height. Let set, stirring occasionally, until fizz is gone (takes longer than you think!).

From: Leanna Risenmay