Pancakes and Waffles

Do you prefer pancakes, or are you a waffle fanatic? Did you think that going gluten-free marked the end of these delicious breakfasts? Even if you don't want to fiddle with all of the gluten-free flours and xanthan gum in the morning you can still have a hot breakfast topped with fruit and maple syrup.


I've been making my pancakes and waffles using mixes from Bob's Red Mill. For the pancakes, I use the Gluten Free Pancake Mix (are you surprised?). The waffle batter is less obvious -- I get excellent results with the Gluten Free Biscuit and Baking Mix.

For the pancakes you need:

• 1/2 Tbsp egg replacer whisked together with 2 Tbsp water
• 3/4 cup rice milk
• 1 Tbsp safflower oil
• 1 1/2 cups pancake mix

1. Whisk all the ingredients together and drop in various sized puddles onto a medium-hot nonstick griddle (I use a bit of oil in the pan).
2. The batter may not bubble when it is time to flip. Keep an eye on how brown the first side is getting and flip when it is a medium golden colour.
   

For the waffles I use:

• 1/2 Tbsp egg replacer whisked together with 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp sugar
  
• 1/4 cup safflower oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups biscuit mix

1. Whisk everything together and make according to your waffle-maker's instructions. (I use 1/2 cup batter per waffle and cook for 4 minutes.)
2. You can triple the recipe and make a large amount of waffles at a time (20 waffles in my waffle maker). Use 5 3/4 cups water (instead of 6) and use the whole biscuit mix package (no need to measure).
   

I let the leftovers cool completely and then freeze them in Ziploc bags. Whenever I need a quick breakfast or snack I pop them in the toaster oven to heat. I also use the pancakes as hamburger buns, so it is very convenient to have them on hand.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

A couple of months ago I decided I needed an ice cream maker. Not "wanted"... neeeeded. After perusing the different options, I decided to purchase the ice cream maker attachment kit for my Kitchenaid stand mixer. Being summer, one would think this would be easy to find. But no! In our town there was not a single place that stocked this item. Thus began an ice cream maker journey that involved online shopping, shipping to friends-of-friends in another country, my parents meeting up with those friends while both parties were on vacation, and their efforts to cram it in the car to drive it home.

This story is told to highlight just how special this ice cream is. Aside from the fact that I didn't think I could eat ice cream again. After all, I can't eat cream... not even soy cream. And now I don't need to, because this ice cream is spectacular without it!

This recipe is inspired by one in the new cookbook Lick It!: Creamy, Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love. It is the first ice cream I've made that doesn't taste like the coconut milk that it contains. I am excited to try many more of the recipes from this book.

• 1 14oz can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cups non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)
• 1/2 cup agave or granulated sugar (I used 1/4 cup of each)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. Put first 4 ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Freeze in ice cream maker following the directions for your machine (I processed mine for 25 minutes).
4. Add cherries and chocolate chips and process a further 5 minutes.
5. Transfer ice cream to freezer-proof container and freeze 4 hours or more to obtain a hard ice cream consistency.
   

Morning Glory Muffins

These yummy breakfast muffins were inspired by a recipe for Carrot Cupcakes at Speedbump Kitchen. I adjusted the recipe to make them gluten-free (they were already dairy/egg free).

I made them in my new silicone tall muffin pan, so they are shaped like mini-cakes! This recipe makes about 16 muffins.

Wet ingredients:

• 2 cups carrots, grated
• 1 apple, cored and grated
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup safflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 Tbsp Ener-G egg replacer + 4 Tbsp water

Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 3/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk egg replacers and water together in medium bowl. Add all other wet ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Whisk dry ingredients together in large bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
5. Fill silicone or paper-lined muffin pans almost to the top.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, until set on top.
   

Thai Chicken Curry

This colourful dish is full of rich Thai flavours: coconut, lemongrass, lime leaves. If you are unfamiliar with Thai cooking, this may appear daunting at first. It took me awhile the first time, but it is now easy since I am more familiar with the ingredients. I adapted the recipe from one in The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook.

• 2 14oz cans coconut milk (be careful not to shake)
  
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
  
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2-3 red, orange or yellow sweet bell peppers, sliced
• 1 Tbsp safflower oil
  
• 1 inch ginger root, diced
• 1 stalk lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and remainder cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  
• 2 Tbsp Thai green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
• 3 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 tsp natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
• 3/4 cup snowpeas (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or Thai basil

1. Separate the thick coconut cream from the thin coconut milk by spooning the cream off of the top of each can of coconut milk. Put the cream into a medium saucepan and reserve the milk for later in the recipe.
2. Cook the chicken over medium-high heat in the coconut cream along with 2 of the whole kaffir lime leaves. After 10 minutes, remove chicken to a medium bowl and keep warm by covering with foil.
3. Boil the coconut cream until it thickens and starts to look curdled. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, fry the peppers in the vegetable oil in a wok for 3 minutes. Remove peppers, adding to bowl with chicken.
5. Combine curry paste with 1 Tbsp of the reserved coconut milk and fry in the wok for 1-2 minutes. Add fish sauce and sugar and stir together.
6. Stir in remaining coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, and snowpeas. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
7. Add peppers, chicken, and curdled coconut cream and cook another 5 minutes until chicken is heated through. Remove lemongrass pieces.
   
8. Sliver the remaining 2 kaffir lime leaves very thinly and stir into the wok along with the cilantro/basil immediately before serving.
9. Serve over Thai jasmine rice.
   

BBQ Pork Tenderloin

This is a favourite at our house so we have it fairly often. Excuse the cutting board photo, but it was so tasty that I forgot to take a picture of my plate and had to take one instead of the leftovers waiting to be carved.

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp green curry paste
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• zest of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp ground Chinese ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large Ziplock bag (or a bowl with a lid).
2. Add one pork tenderloin and coat with marinade.
3. Let marinate in refrigerator minimum one hour (overnight works really well).
4. Grill on barbeque until cooked but still slightly pink on the inside (15-20 minutes on medium heat), basting several times with the marinade.
   

Spiced Teff Cookie Bars

Looking at this photo, don't you think of a dense chocolate brownie? What if I told you there was no chocolate in this bar? Nope, not cocoa powder either. These surprisingly light-textured cookies are dark due to the nutrient-rich ingredients of teff flour and blackstrap molasses. And no, they don't taste one bit healthy. They are super delicious!

This recipe was created by Ali of Whole Life Nutrition in order to accommodate our allergies (I'm so honoured!). And they couldn't be more perfect -- I love them! Thank you Ali!!

Rhubarb Crisp with Rhubarb Tea

I never know what to do with rhubarb except bake it in a pie. I still haven't found a piecrust recipe that fits our allergies, although I have a few recipes I am waiting to try. But I had some fresh rhubarb waiting to be used and not enough time to experiment with pastry. So I decided to stew the rhubarb on the cooktop and mix in some tapioca. Mmmmmm.



As a byproduct of the cooking process, you also get a nice cup of rhubarb tea to enjoy.

• 3-4 stalks fresh rhubarb, chopped
  
• 1/4 cup small tapioca pearls
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup agave syrup + extra to sweeten tea
  
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• sprinkling of granola for each serving (I use Enjoy Life granola)
  

1. Combine tapioca and 3/4 cup of water in a small bowl. Let sit 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put rhubarb in a medium saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.
   
3. Simmer 10 more minutes, then drain water. This rhubarb water is the tea, so pour into a nice cup and sweeten with some agave syrup to taste.
   
4. Add tapioca/water mixture to rhubarb. Stir in the coconut milk and agave syrup.
5. Simmer 5-8 minutes, until tapioca is transparent.
6. Stir in blueberries and simmer 1-2 minutes.
7. Pour into 3-4 serving dishes and top with granola.
   

Caramel Popcorn

Snacks have always been a tricky thing for me to think about in our allergen-free living. Everything seems to take a long time to prepare from scratch. It is so much easier to open a bag or a box and have an instant (and unhealthy) snack. What is odd is that I was never much of a snacker before I started the limited diet. We almost never ate dessert, and snacks were more likely to be cheese and pepperoni than potato chips or cookies. Nowadays though, I'm always foraging in the cupboards looking for a quick nibble.

My mother suggested I purchase a popcorn maker so I could whip up a yummy bowl of popcorn for a healthy snack. This turned out to be a great idea, and for the last week I've been enjoying popcorn with salt and Becel RSF. But today I have a new favourite -- caramel popcorn! And it was easy and quick to make.

My recipe inspiration came from a spiced popcorn and nut recipe in Super Natural Cooking. I have adapted the recipe to fit with our allergies:

• 10 cups popped popcorn (1/3 to 1/2 cup unpopped, popped any way you choose)
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your counter (or on a baking sheet).
   
2. In a large pot over medium heat, mix the syrups and salt and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, swirl the pan over the burner for about 5 minutes, until the mixture starts to reduce. On my gas cooktop, I tipped the pan a little then let it rest again on the burner. Then I tipped it another direction and brought it to rest again. This was more gentle on my grills than a swirling motion. After 5 minutes of the swirling or tipping motion, remove pan from heat.
   
4. Add popcorn to the pot and stir gently to thoroughly coat.
5. Spread coated popcorn onto the parchment paper and allow to cool and firm (or not!).

This recipe will serve two only if my husband gets home soon.