Squeaky Gourmet

We are on our February vacation here in New Hampshire and yesterday we were looking for a small adventure. As some of the readers know my daughter, Brighid, has Celiac’s disease. This means, in laymen terms, she has an allergy to a certain proteins called gluten.  Gluten is also the cause of the magic in most baked goods giving them their gooey sticky wonderful goodness.  So, this is why we experiment a lot with gluten free food items to try and develop a manna of baked goods for Brighid to enjoy. While we are also whole food consumers as well as health centered in our approach it makes the experiments even more challenging.  So–occasionally we like to see what others are creating with gluten free goods so we can compare ideas and try out new foods.  For some of you who already eat gluten free I am sure you have run into the same disgusting food products out there–we have bought cookies I would not feed to the dogs let alone pack in a lunch tote for my children.  We have also seen the increase in prices that people pay simply because it is gluten free. So, with those things in my mind we headed out to Buzz’s Bakery in North Hampton.

We arrived close to the closing time so our choices were limited. However we were greeted by the owner and his mother as soon as we walked in. So, first note is that Buzz’s Bakery is a family run establishment and that alone is an endearing quality for a bakery to have, don’t you think? It was like walking into a friend’s home when his mother had just finished making something homemade and wonderful–like a hug! The bakery is small and clean and everything is right there for you to see. I talked for a while with the owner, Steve, about food ideals ,ingredients, and healthy choices etc. It was like meeting a fellow foodie who had the same REAL FOOD focus. He explained he uses real butter, real sugars and also mentioned the movie Food Inc. He agrees with the rest of the real food community that people should view this movie and grasp the meaning behind it. HELLO STEVE!

After I talked for far too long (remember they were about to close when we arrived? OOPS!) we decided to make our choices. I wanted to try everything soups, pastas, breads, rolls–but we choose a few baked treats to begin with.

Inside Out Whoopie Pie, Brownie, Almond Cherry Scone

There were a lot of things to choose from and the prices were what you would expect from a normal whole food bakery–not from a specialty one–meaning great prices! They also had a few non gluten free food items for that person in your family who is not limited–and they make sure to out source for those so that there is no chance of contamination to the foods they prepare.

We selected the White Chocolate Almond Cherry Scone, the traditional brownie, and the inside out whoopie pie. The brownie in this picture I cut to fit in the shot–they give you a large piece. It was chocolaty and the texture was rich and doughy and exactly what a brownie your mom made you should be like. Perfect!

Biddy helped me set up the pastries for the picture--she adjusted the whoopie pie for me!

The whoopie pie was another win, very rich in texture and flavor–filling your mouth up with sugar and calories and delight. In fact I believe milk was invented just for these whoopie pies–do not tell the cows or their feelings may be hurt. Now, with these two items I want to also add–this is real food and your body knows real food. When I was talking with Steve we were commenting on how you do not have to over eat treats and that eating rich luxurious foods in a normal quantity is fine–we are living beings who hate to be deprived so indulging with a healthy conscious is good for the soul! So–when you eat these foods with the real ingredients you are sated and enjoy the portion they give you. It just tastes so much better than store bought artificially flavored junk that you do not feel like you are missing out on anything!

OK, the last item we tried–that scone! WOW! It was like a baking soda biscuit that your grandmother made in the summer time that she slathered whipped cream and strawberries over. The texture was so perfect, the right balance of salt and butter and almond—the cherries in it were a wonderful addition. I loved these–I want this recipe! If you started every Sunday morning off with a scone like this, there would be no need for church! What a great little cake this was!

We were thrilled with the samples we came away with and we will be heading back to try out the breads and pizza crusts. If you are in the area of North Hampton be sure to stop in–you will be thrilled!

You can see more of their products by visiting their homepage!

The heavens looked down on the fudge and it was a good thing. (Do you have to actually pay Martha Stewart when you use that term?) No matter where I set this fudge the sunshine would wrap around it and glisten as if the sky itself wanted to taste the goodness of this treat.  If you tasted it, you would understand why as well! This is why I am sharing with you the recipe, as I am a foodie evangelist sharing with all of you through the monitor just how you can have healthy food and once in a while a fabulous treat that will cause you zero guilt.  Please note, I said once in a while treat, not that you can eat this treat while on the treadmill thinking somehow it will be the miracle food that will lean you out while you dine on it’s delight. It won’t–it is in the class of junk food that is not poison, how is that? However, if given a list of foods to purchase that are junk, this would never be on it. This is right up there with granolas and whole grain breads–but it has chocolate in it! I mean–look at it! YUM! It was also kid tested and very–very approved!

So–let’s get on with it, shall we?

What the Fudge
1 cup natural peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup local honey*
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flax seeds
1 cup organic cocoa powder

Step 1: Heat the honey on medium heat for about 5 minutes then add peanut butter and mix in really well.  You can see in the first image here it is still separate, the honey and peanut butter are just swirling around each other not totally in love as of yet. So–keep mixing till it looks like the next image.

See how it is creamy and thick and rich looking in this second image–make it look like this.  This is the foundation of the fudge and making sure you cook it while doing this and stirring it until it is emulsified will give you that chewy texture that feels so good in your mouth!

Step 2: While still cooking stir in the cocoa powder until completely blended.  It looks good, doesn’t it? Well, do not sample it, it is HOT!

Step 3: Remove from heat and stir in the seeds–you have to fold them in really as mixing is very difficult to do at this point.  Once again, I want to remind you that this is hot…hot hot hot. (OK so I burned myself trying it, can you tell?) Press this seed mixture into a lightly greased pan and slice up while still warm into 1″ cubes. This really should be step 4 but I did not get a picture–you know, because I burned myself and was all preoccupied.

Other good ideas:

–Add some dried fruits like cherries
–Add in different seeds like sesame or some chopped nuts

North America is paying attention food makers! Movies like Food Inc. as well as books recently written; Food Rules by fabulous author Michael Pollan , are causing up a stir. More people are reading labels and wanting to know just where their food comes from. This, as Martha would state, is a good thing!  So, on that note: have you ever read what is IN tomato soup? Sure, tomatoes we think, right? Open a can of tomato soup, pour into a pan add milk or water and heat n’ eat. So, let’s examine the number one favorite brand, Campbell’s Classic Tomato Soup:

Ingredients

Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste)Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup,Wheat Flour, Salt, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Cottonseed, Canola and/or Soybean)Flavoring, Ascorbic Acid, and Citric Acid.

What!? That is not tomato soup–it sounds more like the packaged ketchup at a fast food chain doesn’t it? Thinned out with some oil and water of course. Blech–not what I want to serve to the family at all–I want creamy tomato soup sans sugar and genetically altered corn ingredients. Also, why is there wheat flour in my soup? I could understand a stew but in my soup? Anyway, if you would like a healthier cleaner version of tomato soup–the answer is so tasty and simple!

Real Creamy Tomato Soup

16 ounce can organic tomato puree
1 quart vegetable broth (cheap and easy to make!)
1 cup greek yogurt ( I used full fat for more flavor)
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 fresh basil leaves
1 scallion chopped for garnish

In a large soup pan on medium heat add in the tomato and broth and stir to blend. Once this is  blended and heated through lower heat to medium/low and add in yogurt stirring well.  In a coffee grinder or food processor add the pine nuts and basil leaves and blend till it resembles flour.  Add the nuts and basil gruel into the soup and stir throughly.

Serve in a bowl topped with scallions. YUM!

Other good ideas:

–Hello grilled cheese with bacon as seen above.

Sometimes I just go to the store with absolutely no planning involved. Well, I PLAN to go to the store but I am, on occasion, shopping on a whim. Yesterday was one of those days. I had been reading about protein bars and how to make them, comparing ingredients in power bars, kashi bars and thinking about my gluten free life and seeing how I could put that all together. I guess it would be similar to when I am drawing or doing a creative writing project. The food items are the canvas and tools and it is up to them to come together to be something–I just hope it is something palatable!

In the organic whole food section of the store I purchased dates, almonds, dried coconut, dried cranberries, and more gluten free oats. At home I knew I had this protein powder in the pantry that was really unfriendly in most of the recipes I had tried with it. I guess I am not a banana creme lover after all–don’t tell the monkeys.

So, back at home I go–ingredients in the car and ideas in my head. First I knew I wanted to soak the almonds, oats and dates. The oats to remove some sort of acid a friendly blogger mentioned to me–what acid it was–no idea (details escape my ADHD brain). Perhaps she will be kind enough to chime in to remind me! I had to soak the dates to make them easier to use as a paste and the almonds were to be soaked to make them less flavorful–ok, just kidding, I soaked the nuts because it is the thing to do! ( I forgot why)

I am super glad I did soak all of them because the results were a benefit to the end results. The oats with the dates made a fantastic paste that just blended so well together. The soaked almonds added a different texture to the end result that made it feel more earth like and natural, more wholesome. I liked it! I soaked them all for 30 minutes, however, the dates were soaked in hot water, nuts and oats in cold water.

After the soaking and draining, I removed the pits from the dates and added those along with the soaked oats to the hand blender blender. (Dear Santa if you can see this, please may I have a food processor for the holidays?)The oats were really in no need of draining as they plumped right up and absorbed more water than I thought they even would! Once these were fully blended into a paste I added that paste to the stand mixer. I tossed in some dried cranberries, some dried unsweetened coconut and an egg and let that blend together.

While that was mixing I took out my handy dandy coffee grinder (which has never seen a coffee bean) and ground up those soaked almonds into a chucky meal of sorts. You can see how there are still considerable chunks in the grinder along with tiny little almond fragments. I added this right into the stand mixer as well. Then I threw in the protein powder and some cinnamon then watched as it made the dough. I was apprehensive and curious–like a mad scientist waiting to see if the creature would live. I thought about short circuiting the outlet to give the bowl a charge but thought better of it. I then remembered to add some xanthan gum to the batch to make sure once it was baked it would still all be as one versus a bunch of weird lumps of granola or something.

I lightly greased a pie pan ( do not use a pie pan, use a 9×9 pan) I dumped my new creation into the pan. You can click the image of the blob to see what it looks like. Very, um, blob like with lumps of goodies poking out. I then wet my hands (if you cook gluten free you should know this trick) and began smoothing out the dough with my wet hands. Wet hands do not get the dough stuck to them. Nifty, right?

I then took the pan and placed it in the oven and laughed maniacally while rubbing my hands together. I was alone in the house so this was OK behavior. I baked this for 35 minutes, until the edges were brown and the top golden. When I sliced this up and took some out I thought–hey these look like Biscotti! So, I plated some and took some pictures and then threw them onto a non-stick pan and placed them back in the oven to toast them up.

You could certainly serve these after the first baking, they smelled so wonderful and had great texture–chewy and crunchy. I just wanted to see what they would do if I baked them again. I left them in for 25 minutes with the oven still on 350 degrees and checked them for burning while they cooked.

I was very pleased with the end result, as were the kids and the hubby. This is a keeper for sure and I will be making these in batches to freeze for breakfast bars. These will now be a part of a healthy breakfast in our New Hampshire home!

Biscotti Protein Bars
serves 9
13 whole dates
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups protein powder
1 cup raw almonds
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 TBL cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Calories Per 2 cookies-360
Fat- 14 grams
Carbohydrates- 30 grams
Fiber- 7 grams
Protein – 32 grams

It is officially fall–leaves are changing, weather is cooling down and the days are shorter. So, to celebrate, lets bake some cookies! Apple spice cookies with oatmeal just screams fall to me, really I can hear it, can’t you? Oh, and of course these are gluten free!!

Apple Spice Cookies
1 dozen
1/4 cup fresh butter
2 cups fresh apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raw sugar

1 cup GF flour mix*
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbls orange zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. In a bowl add all the wet ingredients and blend using an electric mixer until the mixture is fully blended. In a separate bowl add all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix blending on medium speed until it is all the dry is added and well mixed.
Place large spoon fulls on cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are browned.

* you can use whole wheat flour if you do not need gluten free cookies

Other Good Ideas:
–add in nuts
–add in dried fruit
–make extra because these are really good

Calories per Cookie- 164
Fat- 5 grams
Carbohydrate- 26 grams
Fiber- 3 grams
Protein- 4 grams

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We eat chicken a lot in our home–it is affordable, it is lower in calories than other meats and it is very versatile. We also are a stuffing kinda household but now with the recent emergence of Celiac disease in the family I am looking for gluten free answers to all of our life dilemmas. Well, OK only the food dilemmas because no matter how hard you try, gluten free cookie dough will not find missing socks.

Recently I was staring at a raw chicken, some raw quinoa and a freshly picked butter nut squash and thinking–I will mash you all together in harmony! So I did and it was a big hit (figuratively of course).

Quinoa Stuffing w/ Roasted Squash
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 large butter nut squash peeled and chunked
1 fresh onion
1 bunch of fresh sage chopped finely.
1 tb. Olive Oil
1 large clove fresh garlic minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and prepare bird for stuffing. In a bowl add all the ingredients together aside from the quinoa and mix well. Add to a baking pan, cover and roast for about 20-25 minutes, you want to just stick a fork into the squash but not have it fall apart under pressure(it has a job to do and now is not the time to crumble!)

Remove from oven and place in a cool dish and set in the fridge to chill out.

When the vegetables have cooled enough to handle mix the quinoa in and blend well. Return to the ice box to let the flavors get to know one another, hope for marriage here! This will only take about 30 minutes–during all this cool down time you can bake some potatoes in the already heated oven to save for double stuffed taters later in the week.

Stuff the bird with the cooled stuffing and bake until the bird is done. The time will vary depending on the size of the bird. This stuffing was so delicious, I loved the outside of the stuffing that had browned in the oven by my husband preferred the softer stuffing from inside the bird. I prefer this now over bread stuffing, the texture is more rewarding and the aroma and taste far fresher than stale bread!

Other good ideas:
–bake stuffing in a baking pan and use to serve with a meal if you prefer out of the bird stuffing
–stuff peppers or even squash with this stuffing
–add dried cranberries and walnuts for a more seasonal stuffing

Ok I have heard the hype about the black bean brownies. There are recipes all over the internet about this “secret ingredient” brownie. All have declared it delicious, amazing, rich, glorious–I do not need to go on, right? We all know how people describe chocolate and frankly, it is a little embarrassing!

Though in my desire to open the door of gluten free possibilities to my daughter I decided –Why Not, let’s give this brownie a go!

Black Brownie
serves 12
modified from Whole Foods Black Bean Brownie
15 ounces canned black beans-rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tbl butter-melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 8×8 pan.Blend beans into a paste using a blender or food processor. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour brownie batter into pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan.

Family feed back: My husband thinks he hates black beans, he tasted the brownie and said they were very good, rich in texture and he asked me if the secret ingredient was coffee. However, the coffee in this is no secret! The taste to me was like those \dark chocolate covered espresso beans you can get in gourmet candy stores. For me the flavor was a good combination because I do not like chocolate but I love coffee which made them tolerable for me.
My children who love chocolate were asked to rate the brownies by a 5 star rating system–one declared 19,000 stars–but she really loves chocolate. The other children all gave the brownies 4 stars.

You cannot taste the bean in this at all–but they add a texture which pleases the palate much like dove chocolate does. These are a rich dessert with some added fiber.

Calories per brownie-146
Fa- 6 grams
Carbohydrate- 18 grams
Fiber- 2 grams
Protein- 4 grams

Other good ideas:
– shave off some calories and substitute butter for applesauce
– cut sugar in half by using stevia
– serve hot with a tablespoon of peanut butter and sliced bananas

OK, harvest is here as well as school starting. So let’s keep those lunch box snack ideas rolling in! Here is a modified version of our Zucchini Apple Muffins we have in Squeaky Gourmet. These were so wonderful and delicious–we shared them with athletes at the NAS Nationals and received rave reviews on the flavor, texture and the fact they did not weigh you down!

Zucchini Banana Bites
makes 12 small muffins
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 large egg
5 large egg whites
1 medium banana-mashed
3/4 cup shredded zucchini
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your Muffin pan with non-stick spray. Add all the ingredients to the mixer and blend thoroughly. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Other Good Ideas-
–use pumpkin instead of banana
–add in raisins or other dried fruits
–add in walnuts

These are so good and so easy to prepare you can make them ahead of time and freeze for the winter snacks. Also makes an excellent zucchini loaf!

Calories Per Muffin- 60
Carbohydrates- 9 grams
Fat- 1 gram
Protein- 4 grams

Surfing around the blogs for healthy foods I found one called “Healthy Indulgences” which ended up being a super cool landing page for those of you doing Atkins style dieting( Hi Marvin!) or for others who have joined the bandwagon who feel sugar in all forms are forms of the devil herself. The recipe on her page called for sugar alcohols or splenda–but that is not how we want to prepare our recipes so I decided to try her recipes with a Squeaky adaptions to it. I added more fruit, more lemon and more gelatin to make up for it being less “sweet”. Kids loved it!

Strawberry Mousse
1 lb fresh strawberries-hulled and chopped
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbls lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbls Vanilla
2 tbls unflavored gelatin
1/4 warm water

Set gelatin in a bowl and add the warm water and allow it to melt. In a food processor or blender add strawberries lemon juice and zest and blend thoroughly. Add this fruit puree to a sauce pan and heat until warm–adding in the gelatin stir to let it full dissolve. Cook for 5 minutes–then remove from heat to cool. While the strawberry mixture is cooling add 1 cup light whipping cream and vanilla to a bowl and whip on high heat until very stiff peaks are formed. Fold in the cream with the now cooled off berry mixture. Once the berries and cream are fully incorporated set in the fridge for 2 hours which allows the gelatin to do its job.
Other good ideas:
–Serve over Angel Food Cake
–Serve with our Protein Waffles as a dessert
–Serve with fruit compote

Calories Per 1 cup Serving: 94
Carbohydrate: 6 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 2 grams

When I was a little girl I would play in the sand box for hours on end. I would create mud pies, mud cakes–6 course mud meals even! Sadly, no one would eat them for me but that did not stop my creations!

In our book , Squeaky Gourmet, we have a recipe called “Dirt Balls” which pulls on the little girl heart strings–reminding me of the sand box and all those hours wasted on mud food when I could have been making dirt balls that everyone would eat. (This recipe was recently mentioned on the NPR show on KAXE–listen here to the interview) So I enlisted the help of my own little girls to help me make Dirt Balls as a wonderful gluten free snack for the kids (and adults who long for the days of mud pies!) These were devoured by all of the kids soon after we made them.

Dirt Balls
serves 14
1/4 cup toasted oatmeal(old fashioned)
2 tbls sunflower seeds
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chopped fine
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls roasted almonds chopped fine
1 pack stevia or 3 tbls raw honey

Toast the oatmeal in a non-stick skillet set on medium heat until they are browned. This was a great job for my 6 year old to work on since it is not highly explosive or flammable or anything and she felt like a big girl using the stove with me.

Setting the almonds aside; use your kitchen mixer add the remaining ingredients and blend well. We used raw honey in our mix because we have some allergy sufferers in the family and raw local honey helps build your own immunity to allergy triggers–but it has to be local honey to get the benefit. Once the oats are toasted to your liking you can add them to your coffee grinder or food processor to chop them up a bit before adding to the mud like mixture on the mixing bowl.

Make small balls about 3/4 in diameter , roll in your hands and then roll in the almonds. Now, this is where the fun came in for my 5 year old daughter as she was enlisted to create the dirt balls from the mud/mortar like substance we had created. Of course she did not want to roll them in the almonds, she preferred sprinkling the almonds on so they lost a bit of the rock effect.

Other Good Ideas:
–Add in dried cherries, coconut, puffed rice, crushed bran flakes,powdered milk or even protein powder
–roll in cocoa powder or cinnamon
–use different nut butters

Calories Per Serving: 92
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 7 grams

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