EatPood

Eat Some Cake

I don't have time for a lot of song and dance today.  I'm far too busy and important to wow you with my literary stylings.  I know you're all heartbroken and such, but that's life in the not-so-big city. 

Here's your recipe, pals.  I haven't had real pineapple upside-down cake in a several hundred years so I can't compare.  I can tell you that this cake is super duper moist.  Also, this is a good way to make use of a pineapple that you've let hang around on the kitchen counter too long.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2 C blanched almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C honey
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
one fresh pineapple, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a food processor (for a smoother texture) mix the eggs, honey, cooled melted butter, and vanilla.  Stop the processor, and scrape down the edges.  Add the blanched almond flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix again, and scrape down the edges. Mix one final time.

Line the bottom of a 9 inch circular baking dish or spring form pan with parchment paper, and then grease the paper and pan with butter. Place the pineapple slices in the bottom of the dish.

Pour the batter over the pineapple slices. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Remove from oven, and cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes.  Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a butter knife.  Then invert the pan, and remove the cake from the pan onto a cooling rack or serving plate.

Serve.

Recipe from The Almond Flower.

Fall Flavor

Look at this handsome man!

On Sunday, we raked leaves together and baked pumpkin muffins. I don’t know where all his friends were hiding, but I’m sure glad I got to have him all to myself for a few hours.

These muffins have made two appearances at Chez Kinney (in the course of two days)! The first time I made them as mini muffins. I only baked them for 15 minutes, but I found them to be a little dry. On Sunday, Jack and I made a double batch. We used ½ C currants and 1/2 C craisins in place of the raisins. I like them better as full on muffins. 

We ended up with 2 dozen muffins that we have been sharing with friends.  But, that took 5 cups of almond flour, people, and this stuff doesn't grow on trees.  Well, okay, so maybe it does, if you live in California, which I don't, but I'm not bitter.  Sooooo, this recipe has inspired me to import another economy-sized bag of almond flour from Nuts Online. 

Regardless of current almond flour prices, you need to give these little buggers a try. Yum!

Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins

2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners (12 muffins).

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric beater to thoroughly combine all ingredients EXCEPT almond flour, walnuts, and raisins.

Stir in almond flour until well combined.

Stir in walnuts and raisins (or currants and craisins or dark chocolate chips...).

Spoon batter into muffin cups, using wet fingers to press down any bumps on the tops before baking. Makes 12 muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe from Spark Recipes.

FritattaFest and more

Have you heard about me? I will make anything into a frittata. So… ever since I posted the Summer Veggie Saute recipe last month, I’ve been sautéing every veggie to come our way and filling frittatas with the leftover veggies the next day! 

 
 
 
I use any kind of sausage (sage breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, chorizo) or some chopped bacon in whatever amount I have. You can use ground beef or lamb too. In fact, I used leftover Thai ground beef last week.  Cook or heat up the meat in a large skillet and then add the veggies until they are heated through. Then I add 6-8 beaten eggs, depending on how I feel. It rocks. Click for here the recipe from last summer. You can use it as a loose guide.

Also, here’s that date walnut cake recipe I talk about incessantly. I know!  It's about time.  This recipe is from Elana's Pantry.

Date Walnut Cake
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

In a large bowl, combine almond flour salt and baking soda.  In a medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, agave and vanilla extract.  Stir wet ingredients into dry.  Fold walnuts and dates into batter.  Scoop batter into a greased 8x8 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350° for 22-30 minutes.  Cool and serve.

Cliff’s Fully Awesome Birthday

 
Yesterday was Cliff’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Cliffy!  I love you!!! 

To celebrate we had gluten free chocolate cupcakes topped with vegan chocolate “buttercream” icing.

 
This might be a healthy-ish treat for a sensible, moderate person who eats just one cupcake and moves along with her life. I’m not that girl, and today I’m nursing a wicked sugar hangover. Maybe my hangover is due to the several million chocolate chips I ate over the course of the day. It the cook’s prerogative - you know?

I trust that you have much more self-control than I have. I know that you’ll just enjoy the one cupcake because you are smarter than I am. You are the master of your own destiny. You are not a slave to sugar in its various evil incarnations. You will not be weeping during the WOD because sugar has wrought havoc on your fragile psyche!!!

 
Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup cacao powder
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
¼ cup grapeseed oil
½ cup agave nectar

In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, cacao powder, salt and baking soda.  In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil and agave.  Blend dry ingredients into wet and mix thoroughly. 

 
Line a cupcake tin with 10 paper liners and scoop a scant ¼ cup into each. Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes.

 
Cool and cover with vegan "buttercream" chocolate frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacao
½ cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch celtic sea salt

In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil.  Stir in agave, vanilla and salt.

 
Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to chill and thicken.  Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand held electric mixer until it is thick and fluffy.  This takes a few minutes and things look really bad before they start looking good.  There's some lumpiness and separation before the frosting takes on a creamy look.  Hang in there and don't give up!  The frosting will look like this.

 
Recipes from Elana’s Pantry.

Fat Tuesday, Fit Wednesday

Around here, I’ve been having my own private Mardi Gras. It’s actually been Vendredi Gras, Samedi Gras, Dimanche Gras and Lundi Gras. But - beginning on Ash Wednesday, that all ends. I’m taking the next step, and I aim to go a full 30 days with NO CHEATING WHATSOEVER.

If you want to join me check out The Whole 30 on Whole9.  The plan is strict. No protein drinks, powders or bars. No sweeteners of any kind, natural or artificial. That means no honey, agave nectar, stevia, xylitol, grade B maple syrup, or even sugarless gum. Of course, no milk products, no grains, no legumes, no alcohol. We are eating meat, fish, nuts, seeds, good fats, lots and lots of veggies and a little bit of fruit. We are reading labels on the lookout for sinister elements such as added sugars and illicit oils. Then it gets dirtier. No Paleo-tized dishes. Farewell Coconut Pancakes. Au revoir Paleo Pizza. Sayonara Almond Flour Brownies. Perhaps we’ll meet again after Easter, but maybe we won’t even care about you anymore after we eat clean for a good, long while.

This all sounds crazy. Extreme even. However, I’m excited about the challenge, the experiment. When times get tough, I’ll think about how in January, I thought I couldn’t live without half and half. Yet, here I sit today enjoying black coffee. I know I can do it! You can too.

But... before we start, let me share this Paleo-tized version of a beloved dessert. It is Fat Tuesday after all.  Eat your cookies today, and then don't look back!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup agave nectar
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacao

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.
Mix wet ingredients into dry.
Form ½ inch balls, and press onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes.
Cool and serve.

Makes 24 cookies

 
Recipe from Elana's Pantry.  Elana Amsterdam of Elana's Pantry doesn't like Bob's Red Mill almond flour which I used in my batch of cookies.  It was all I had at the time.  Now, as you know, I have a 5 lb bag of almond flour from Nuts Online.  My cookies didn't look very pretty, but they tasted good!

Listen Up!

A family from mainstream society invited my little CrossFit family to dinner tonight. Our hostess suggested I bring a salad or dessert. Get this – I chose dessert! Wacky, I know, but I had a plan. You see, I tricked Amy Hall into making gluten free brownies from Elana’s Pantry, and even better, I tricked her into letting me try one. If you didn’t know, Amy Hall is a baking machine. She rocks generally, and her gluten free brownies rock too. Long story longer, I made a pan today after school.

 
Double Chocolate Walnut Brownies
1/2C dark chocolate chips 73% cacao (I had to use 60% because of supply issues!)
1/4C coconut flour (Healthy Life)
1/2t Celtic sea salt (Kroger or Healthy Life)
1/2t baking soda
2 eggs
1/2C agave nectar (Healthy Life)
1/4C grapeseed oil (Kroger)
1T vanilla extract
1/2C chopped walnuts
1/3C dark chocolate chips 73% cacao

First, I already told you that you can find coconut flour at Healthy Life Market in the refrigerator section near the milk, eggs, etc. Pay attention, and don’t ask me, “Where do I get coconut flour?” I mean it.

Second, sorry for that outburst. Down to business. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place 1/2C chocolate chips in your food processor and pulse until it reaches the consistency of coarse sand.

 
Pulse in coconut flour, salt and baking soda until combined.

 
 Pulse in eggs, agave nectar, grapeseed oil and vanilla.

 
Pour batter into a greased 8 x 8 Pyrex dish. I greased my pan with coconut oil. You can get coconut oil at Kroger, Wal-Mart or Healthy Life Market.

Sprinkle walnuts and remaining chocolate chips over batter.

 
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

 
Cool completely and serve.  I feel compelled to mention that these are cakey, rather than fudgey, brownies.

Recipe from Elana's Pantry.

the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL

 
But EatPood is soooooooooooooooooooooo delightful.
And since you’ve no place to go
Make cocoa
Make cocoa
Make cocoa

Hot Cocoa

Go find a smallish mug. Listen to me.  Don’t use a huge, honking one because your cocoa will taste watery. Do you have your smallish mug? Good, then we shall proceed.

 
1 rounded teaspoon Dutch process cocoa
2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream (really let’s just go with 4)
Hot water, not quite boiling
Grade B maple syrup, 1-2 teaspoons

Put the cocoa powder in your mug and break up any little lumps with a spoon. Stir in a little bit of the water to dissolve the powder. Then, stir in the cream and syrup. Now fill you smallish mug with some more of the hottish water.  Voila!  Hot cocoa for the crossfitter.

 

This is primal cocoa from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook. Mark says you can use heavy cream or full fat coconut milk.  I went with the heavy cream option.  Heavy cream...mmmmmmmm.

P.S.  EatPood is going on holiday and will return in January.  See you next year!

the skinny on the pie

I made the pie, and I have some observations to share with you.  First of all, I like pie - a lot.  I especially like pie crust.  Please do not expect this almond flour pie crust to fulfill your pie crust longings.  It won't. 

In making the crust, I found that I had to add more flour than called for in the recipe.  I mixed the almond flour and salt in bowl and then added the coconut oil.  Next, I used my fingers to toss and combine the flour with the oil.  It was very moist so I added more almond flour until I got to something looking like coarse meal.  I only used 3T of ice water after that.  The dough was still very moist.  I formed it into a disk and refrigerated for an hour or two.  I tried to roll it out using coconut flour.  That didn't work so I just put it into my pie plate and made the crust by forming the dough to the plate with my fingers.  Then I prebaked it according to the instructions.

I usually make my pie crusts in the food processor.  I'm going to try this method next time and chill the coconut oil first.  That is if there is a next time.  I might just stick with the filling and try to make pumpkin custards in individual ramekins.  You know, 86 the crust because... the filling was really good.  It was so much better than the crust.  The crust did not deserve this filling. 

One other note - my pie looks a little dark because I used hubbard squash puree instead of pumpkin.  I had a hubbard squash hanging around so there you go.

Photos of a real pie from a real kitchen without any real chef involvement or fancy California photo-shopping...

 

 

I also made a topping for the pie by whisking together mascarpone cheese, half and half, some maple syrup and the seeds of 1/2 a vanilla bean.  It was good, but not really necessary.  The pie was creamy enough and sweet enough on its own.  But Cliff got to use the cream in his coffee today so it worked out well for him.

Talking Turkey, Part Deux

You may notice that there is no Spinach Salad with Ginger-Curry Dressing on this page. Well, I hadn’t made that dish for a long time. Years I tell you. At least five. So we had it with dinner last night, and I decided that it just wasn’t right for Thanksgiving dinner. Now you get this one instead. It’s much better for the occasion. I promise.

Harvest Salad with Honey-Thyme Balsamic Vinaigrette

I don’t have an actual recipe for this salad, but for sure, you’ve had a variation on this theme. Just go with it. Put your stuff in a bowl until it looks good. Taste the dressing and adjust the flavors as necessary.

The Vinaigrette

Start with about 1/4C balsamic vinegar and about 1.5 T honey. Next, slowly whisk in about 2/3 C extra virgin olive oil. Taste dressing to see how you like the balance of flavors and adjust if you want. Finally, when you like how things are tasting, drop in a few sprigs of fresh thyme and add a few twists of black pepper from the pepper mill.  If you don't have fresh thyme, use about 1/2 t dried thyme.  Set the dressing aside for at least an hour.

The Salad

 
A goodly amount of mixed baby greens or spinach
thinly sliced red onions
a big log of plain chevre
2 large apples, unpeeled and thinly sliced lengthwise and tossed with some a small amount of the vinaigrette to prevent browning
golden raisins
roughly chopped, toasted pecan halves

Put the greens in a large salad bowl. Arrange the onions on top. Next arrange the apples in a fan-like pattern. Don’t forget to toss the apples in a little vinaigrette before you put them on the salad. Crumble the chevre over the apples. Sprinkle with raisins and pecans. Just before serving toss salad with vinaigrette.

Primal Pumpkin Pie

Again, an untested Mark’s Daily Apple recipe.  If you make it, let me know how it turns out.  I'll do the same for you.  In the meantime, take a look at this here pie from the MDA website.  I think I could eat the photo - Yum!

 
The Crust

1 1/4 cups almond meal
2/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp (approximately) of icy water

Combine almond flour and salt in a mixing bowl, stir in coconut oil and mix until mixture resembles course crumbs. Mix in water, 1 tbsp at a time, until a dough is formed. Refrigerate until ready to use. When ready, roll out and place in a pie dish. Fill your favorite fruit (we recommend apples, but blueberries are also delicious) and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until crust turns a rich golden brown.

The Filling

1.5 cups fresh or canned pumpkin (do not use pre-sweetened pumpkin pie filling)
3 eggs
3/4 cup maple sugar flakes *

3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a lightly pre-cooked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until golden.

If you are so inclined, add a dollop of freshly whipped cream to the pie. If I find out you used Cool Whip, I will come after you. You know I’ll do it so don’t risk it.

*I haven't tried to find maple syrup flakes.  If you need to make them, I did the research:  

Boil maple syrup over low to medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour a thin layer onto a flat sheet and let cool. Then, use a rolling pin to break into sugar flakes.

Honey-Poached Pears with Mascarpone

Click here for this recipe which I posted back in February.  This makes an elegant dessert (not that I know anything about elegance).

Jeweled Dark Chocolate Disks

 
12 oz. bag bittersweet chocolate chips
1/3 C dried cranberries
1/3 C golden raisins
1/3 C shelled pistachios

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line 3 baking sheets with wax or parchment paper. In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips on high power, stirring every 20 seconds, until smooth. It will take 90 seconds to 2 minutes for the chips to melt. (Be sure to heat only 20 seconds at a time. Chocolate gets lumpy and yucky if you overheat it.)

Working with 1 baking sheet at a time drop tablespoons of melted chocolate onto the parchment paper, staggering the drops if necessary. Spread the chocolate with the back of the spoon to make 24, 2 ½ inch disks. (To be honest with you, I only got 15 disks.) Decorate each circle with cranberries, raisins and pistachios. If the chocolate sets too quickly, place baking sheet in the oven to rewarm as needed.

Refrigerate the baking sheets until the chocolate hardens, about 5 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

I'm all worn out now just from thinking about cooking a meal like this.  I'm glad I don't have to cook a turkey next week!

What inspires you in life? What makes you want to reach for the stars and do something truly extraordinary?

Who said anything about brownies?

Anything with almond flour is a bit dry!!!  There you go.  I put that out there, up front, because I'm honest like that.  I'm not trying to trick you into thinking that these bars taste like pre-packaged protein or energy bars.  But, if you can get past the dryness factor, you'll like these little numbers.  They're tasty - especially the chocolate version, if chocolate is your thing.  Also, it doesn't hurt that everything on the list of ingredients is something you can pronounce and identify as real food.  I'm just saying...

 

Primal Energy Bars
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup coconut oil (it’s solid like Crisco and you can get it at Kroger or Healthy Life Market)
1/4 cup almond meal (make your own by pulsing approximately 1/4 cup of almonds in food processor until it creates a coarse flour)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of raw honey
1/2 cup unsweetened whey protein powder
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top

1. On a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown (300 degrees oven). Shake up the tray at least once during cooking or you will burn the coconut and you will be sorry and I'll just say I told you so. 

2. Once toasted, pour mixture into a food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped and the mixture becomes coarsely ground.  Turn the oven up to 325 to preheat it for the bars.

3. In a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.

4. To the bowl with coconut oil and almond butter, add vanilla extract, honey and sea salt. Mix thoroughly.

5. Fold in nut mixture, almond meal and protein powder until mixed thoroughly.

6. Add whole egg and mix thoroughly.

7. Fold in blueberriesor cranberries or both. Live it up!

8. Press mixture into an 8 x 8 pan. The kind you used to use when you made brownies long, long ago, I'm sure. Not that I miss brownies. Really…Almonds are very satisfying. Sigh…

9. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

10. Remove from oven, sprinkle a ¼ cup of shredded coconut on top and place under broiler until top begins to brown.

11. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Cut into 12 pieces/bars.

12. Enjoy immediately or stack on wax paper/parchment and store in an airtight container.

Note: You can also add dark chocolate chips instead of the dried berries. If you add the chips while the mixing bowl is warm (from the coconut oil/almond butter mixture), they will melt into the mixture. I liked the chocolate version better, and I’m sure that is completely unrelated to the aformentioned subject of brownies.