No Added Sweetener

Ruby has been doing much better tolerating wheat lately so I haven't had to be as careful with it. I still make mostly gluten free muffins and limit her cracker intake, etc. so that I don't have to limit so much when we eat out and so she can eat goldfish crackers at church.

I have been working more at limiting her (and my) sugar intake. For more than a year now I've been realizing that there's too much sugar in too many things. I no longer feed the kids regular breakfast cereals or even baby and toddler marketed products because they contain too much sugar. I've found, however, that the kids don't mind eating rice puffs with no sugar or corn flakes sweetened with fruit juice! It's been relatively easy because they're still little and don't really know any different which is all the more reason to limit their sugar - it does their bodies no good so why give it to them!?

The easiest way to limit sugar is to make things from scratch. At first I began cutting the sugar in recipes or replacing it with sweet fruits like applesauce or bananas. Then, several months ago, I was introduced to coconut oil and it's become so much easier. I have found that when I use coconut oil in a recipe (in place of veggie oil or butter for example) I don't need to add any sugar (or alternative sweetener) and you don't miss the sugar at all!
Here's a website about coconut oil - there are lots out there but this one is pretty measured and basic.

Even Chuck agrees that the best pancake recipe of all time is the one that contains coconut oil and no sugar!
I've been so excited about this because not only is it important to limit white sugar but all added sweeteners. That means honey, brown rice syrup, maple syrup or whatever! Your body treats them nearly the same - it has to work harder to break them down because they don't have anything good for your body to use.

I've found that the less sugar I eat, the less I need to make something sweet and the better I feel. I can really feel my body react if I drink a soda or eat a piece of cake because I don't do it often.
Here's a quick article about recommended sugar intake.


Here are a few of our favorite no added sweetener recipes:

Best Pancakes Ever:
1 cup flour (any kind really, we've used white whole wheat, regular and oat flour)
1 cup yogurt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon if desired (we've been adding cinnamon and nutmeg lately - I love fall!)

Mix everything together adding milk if it's too thick. Enjoy!


Apple Banana Muffins (the kids current favorite)
This recipe was adapted from one my sister posted recently - it was her brilliant idea to add apple pieces instead of applesauce.
1 1/2 cups chopped apples (really small!)
1/4 cup almond butter
1 3/4 cups flour
2 eggs
3 bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil
Mix all and bake for 20 min. at 350 degrees. These turn out really soft so make sure you cook them until the tops are nice and brown but don't worry when they're soft in the middle because the apple pieces are in there.

And because it's fall - Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread (revisited)

I made this last year but have tweaked the recipe again this year and it's even better

If you're making this for a party or dessert add 1 or 1 1/2 cups sugar but the kids and I can eat it without or with just 1/2 cup (which means there's only 1/4 cup in each loaf) which is way better than the 3 cups the original recipe called for. Yikes!

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

4 eggs

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup applesauce (or pear-sauce - that's even better)

1 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cups flour (making 1 cup or so oat flour adds to the sweetness and depth of flavor)

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Mix all together and bake for 60 minutes (or so) at 350 degrees. This recipe makes 2 loaves or try baking it in wide mouth, quart mason jars. I did that for some neighbors and it was really cute! Be careful to only add 1 cup of batter, though or it will rise over the top. :)

And here's my new fall ornament tree.

Ruby helped me paint fall colors and then I drew and cut out the leaf shapes.

Happy Thanksgiving Baking

I woke up with Chuck this morning so I could make him breakfast and pack a lunch for him. He's got a big day at work today. I was really hungry and not as much sleepy after he left so I decided to make muffins.
It's 6 am and I'm making muffins.

Part of the reason for my insane desire to make muffins at all costs is the horrible disaster that my last batch of muffins ended in. I began with an idea to make some healthy muffins that Ruby and I could snack on when everyone else was eating cookies and brownies or cocoa puffs for breakfast. The only problem was I could think of where to find a good recipe. There were a lot of limitations: I wanted to use fresh roasted pumpkin, no chocolate of any kind, I didn't have oatmeal, bran or raisin bran cereal. Surprisingly that knocks out most online recipes! So I winged it. I tried to blend two different recipes and it just didn't work. They're eatable but not so enjoyable. Have you ever had that baking powder not enough sweet taste in baked goods? Yup. That's it.
Good news is that Ruby will probably eat them but I certainly can't pass any along to anyone else.

So... last night I had fitfull dreams about pumpkin bread, muffins and all sorts of randomness - thank you pregnancy hormones - and woke up with a renewed desire and drive to find a better recipe. And I did.
Where? On my own blog. Yup, I'm going to make Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread and Rye Pumpkin Muffins.
I don't know why I didn't think of them before?!?!

I'm also going to add blueberry muffins to the list and decided that America's Test Kitchen is the way to go with those. I don't have any yogurt so I'm going to substitute sour cream (and applesauce if necessary) but I'm sure their recipe can be trusted.

Well, have a wonderful day and a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember that it's about being grateful for what we have not stressing out about what we don't whether it's because of finances or time.

Fall playing and food

Things are going well around here for the most part. Ruby is growing every day and is very sweet, funny, curious, stubborn and a constant reminder of the depravity of man. It's daily that I think, "Wow, we really do need Christ." But I also often think about all the mysteries and miracles that God works and understands each day like how he creates life in the first place and how to grows babies into toddlers and gives them a wonderful thirst for learning and experiencing the world and joy.

I'm also growing (because Enzo is) and looking forward to the holidays. I've been doing a lot of baking and cooking lately and really enjoying entertaining friend. We had an informal cocktail type party last week and really enjoyed it. I love hosting, although I still have a hard time remaining calm and socializing, and plan to host more get-togethers as the weather cools. I have plans or pies (sweet and meat!), fudge, soups, spiced cider and other wonderful fall foods.


One of the dishes that I've been craving with the cooler weather is calico beans. I blogged about it already as it's my favorite food and have discovered recently that it's delightful with sauerkraut. I did quite a bit of reading about the health benefits of fermented foods and while I'm still in the early stages of experimenting I do like the sauerkraut that I made and we of course eat a lot of homemade yogurt.


One of the less healthy but wonderful foods that I've enjoyed lately are a variation of a recipe for "Cocoa Blocks" that I got from a friend. I made them for our party last week and they were a hit (as were the pumpkin muffs with mascarpone frosting but I'll post about those later). I've been wanting to add spice and more depth of flavor to everything lately so I decided I would add chili and cayenne to the recipe. I just added them "to taste" so don't have measurements to give you but here's the original recipe (based on a recipe by King Arthur Flour) if you'd like to give them a try. They're delightful melted in a cup of coffee as well!

Cocoa Blocks ½ cup heavy cream 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups) 2 cups milk chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips) 1 cup semi sweet chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips) 3/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate (about 2 1/2 blocks) wooden sticks or toothpicks Directions 1) Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. 2) Heat the cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; allow it to gently melt. 3) After about 10 minutes, return the chocolate mixture to low heat to completely melt the chocolate. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. Add a few drops of flavoring oil if you like; hazelnut, coffee, or vanilla are popular flavors. 4) Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan; shake the pan gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Set aside overnight to slowly set up. 5) Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a clean cutting surface. 6) Slice into 1 ¼" cubes. Heat a knife in hot water and wipe dry before each cut, for smoothest cuts. 7) Stick a wooden stick into the center of each block. 8) Roll in cocoa or crushed peppermint candy, if desired. 9) Wrap in waxed paper, parchment, or plastic wrap to store. Yield: about 3 dozen blocks.

Recipe summary Hands-on time: 20-45 mins. Total time: 12-12 hrs 45 mins. Yield: 3 dozen blocks

Special Snack Day

Ruby and I usually have pretty boring snacks like crackers and grapes or peanut butter toast. Today Ruby and I were both having a rough afternoon due to lack of sleep, another wet day and the trials of being a small person and a small person's mom. Because of this we decided that we needed a more special snack.
Today we enjoyed sliced bananas with spiced anglaise and softened carrots with miso dip.
I've been craving miso soup lately but haven't been able to find bonito flakes for the broth yet (traditional japanese miso is made with bonito broth - bonito is a type of fish similar to tuna) but I did buy miso because I figured I could try it with a different fish broth if I got desperate - which I'm not far from. I planned to have hummus with our carrots but my last batch had gone bad - we never eat it fast enough since I can't find Stacy's pita chips anywhere in Denton - but I noticed on the side of the miso container a recipe for a dip. I modified it and have since googled for another version that sounds good so if you like miso you should give it a try!

Special Snack Miso Dip - 2 small servings
1/2 Tbsp miso (I used this kind which I recommend beacuse it is organic and unpasterized)
1 Tbsp cream cheese (I used home made cream cheese from our raw yogurt - here's a quick how to on both)
about a 1/2 tsp or to taste of savory seasonings or in my case the "savory blend" from my spice rack
a few shakes of celery seed for a sweeter note
1 to 2 tsp rice vinegar to taste and to help stir everything together

Even Ruby liked it although she would rather have eaten another two or three bananas with the anglaise - she loves bananas.

I plan to do more with anglaise in the future. The first time I encountered it was last weekend when Chuck took me out to dinner and we had a piece of cake with chocolate chili anglaise. The anglaise was the best part in my opinion because it was not too sweet and I liked the way the chili complimented the dark chocolate flavor. I'm really excited about fall baking in general actually and will have to update soon about all the recipes I have in mind. Please let me know of your favorites!

Charles Enzo's Chocolate Cake

So we're having a boy. It hasn't fully sunk in yet. It probably won't until he's here and I can hold him but I think that's the feeling with having babies whatever the gender. I guessed he was a boy but I think in the back of my mind I was only guessing that because I really thought he was a girl.

Speaking of Charlie (or Enzo, we're still deciding what we're going to call him although we're pretty set on the name Charles Enzo) here's the recipe and appropriate notes for the most amazing chocolate cake ever created.

I started with a recipe that a blogger, Hayley, also known as Buff Chickpea, adapted from one that originally appeared in Gourmet Magazine in 1999. You can read all about that and see her version on her blog. I didn't have enough chocolate bar to do the ganache that it called for so I found a delightful blog with an equally delightful frosting recipe that I adapted/morphed into the icing. If you need a basic chocolate frosting recipe check out G'ma's Bakery.


Charlie's Chocolate Cake
 
3 ounces Ghiradelli dark chocolate (or other 60% cacao baking chocolate)
1 1/2 cups of your favorite coffee, the stronger and more flavorful the better (I used cold brewed toffee flavored coffee - Cookie Doodle from Sprouts for those of you who can get it)
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Guiness beer (you'll have to drink or find someone else to drink the rest in the bottle but it's worth it - don't leave it out)

1/2 cup buttermilk (add a tbsp of vinegar per cup of milk to create buttermilk)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300°F, and grease two 8 or 10-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

Melt chocolate using the double boiler method.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, melted chocolate, coffee and Guiness to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about an hour.

Cool layers in pans on racks for several minutes and then run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

I made the cake after Ruby went to sleep so I waited to make the frosting and assemble it until the next day lest I fall asleep with a mixer in my hand. I started with the basic frosting recipe and added melted chocolate, a little bit of this and that and more coffee and I ended up with a sauce that I could pour on top rather than frosting it. I also added some crushed Skor bar and hazelnut chocolate bar (from Ikea) between the layers. This was a specific element from my baby craving induced vision and it definitely added to the awesomeness.

I'm not a very talented cake maker so it turned out a little ugly (lopsided, cracked on top, etc) but I wasn't planning on selling it, just eating it. And eat it I have...


Alright. There it is. Now I can eat the last piece and forget this short chocolate filled episode of my life ever happened.