Tomorrow - 31 for 21 Blog Challenge!!!

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Remember in October last year, the challenge to do a post everyday in October for someone with Down Syndrome (as my little brother)?

October is Down Syndrome Awareness month. The challenge is to post everyday in the 31 days of October to raise awareness about Trisomy 21. So, 31 for 21!

Here is why I am planning on doing it (it starts tomorrow!):
My little 5yo brother with DS is really why I have this blog. He has gluten and dairy allergies, and I bake for his allergies. Being gluten and cow dairy free (he lives on goat milk!) he is a very happy, funny little boy.

I'm not sure all I'm going to post . . . I have a few ready, but other than that . . . I'll have to take it day by day.


Soooooo, are you doing it? Do you know someone with Trisomy 21? If you do, good for you, because I know my little brother is such a joy to have around!!!


~ Hanunyah

PS. I hope you'll have a good fall! I'm looking forward to this fall baking season.

Divinity

Since I made divinity last time (first time I made divinity) my sister said she likes it and wants me to make it again. So I just finished making it today - and it was a hit just like last time (but it is a different flavor this time).

Divinity (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free)
Adapted from FoodNetwork.com

2 1/2 cups sugar, divided*

3/4 cups water, divided

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring 1/4 cup water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the remaining sugar, water and the cream of tartar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil, undisturbed, until the mixture reaches the hard ball stage, 265 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

2. In a standing electric mixer, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Working very slowly, add the sugar syrup in a thin, steady stream, and continue beating on high speed until the candy begins to lose its shine - this can take as long as 10 or 15 minutes, depending on your mixer. (When adding the hot sugar syrup to the egg whites, make sure to stop occasionally to scrape down the bowl if any syrup has collected on the sides. When the beaters are lifted out of the candy mixture, it should fall in a smooth thick ribbon that mounds on itself.

3. Working quickly, fold in the vanilla if desired, and drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cool completely before serving. The candies should firm up as they cool. Store in an airtight container.

Notes:

*I used brown sugar because we don't have any vanilla - they said it tasted like caramel.

This is best made on a low-humidity day or in a dry location; damp conditions will prevent divinity from firming up.

~ Hanunyah

21st Birthday Party for my Sister

About a week ago was my 2nd oldest sister's birthday. We surprised her the day before her birthday and took her out to eat. The day of her birthday she had to go to town (actually for her broken arm . . . but that's a different story), so we got everything ready while she was gone. We usually go over to the neighbor's (friends) for dinner on Monday nights anyway . . . but this time all of our friends came and surprised her.

Here is the cake I made for her ~

. . . AFTER I frosted the entire thing I realized I forgot to put filling in . . . oh well.

Here are some pictures of other goodies from the party

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Oatmeal cookies with some kind of glaze that Suriyah made

~ Hanunyah

Multi-Grain Quick Bread

Happy Fall!


I am excited how my recent bread creations have come out. I am finding that the recipe Quick {Sandwich} Bread can be tweaked in many ways. It is a very good basic recipe.


     Since my Grandma (aka Granny) who is coming next month to visit, likes multi-grain, healthy type bread, we wanted to make her something that she could make into toast. So we experimented some. My sister (Suriyah) tried a few recipes, but they needed tweaked a bit more. Before she tried again, I came up with this.

Multi Grain Quickbread (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free, Sugar-free, Gum-free)

Hanunyah Creation

2 eggs, separated

3/4 cups oat flour

1/2 cup oats

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking soda + 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (or 4 teaspoons baking powder, if not corn-free)

1/4 cup oil*

1 small mashed banana (about 1/4 cup) + about 1 1/4 cups milk or water*

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease well a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with oil or cooking spray and sprinkle oats and/or oat flour. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently scrape the egg whites into a medium sized bowl and set the bowl aside.

3. Combine all of the remaining ingredients. Add one third of the egg whites to the dough, and slowly mix until the egg whites are incorporated into the batter. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until nearly no white streaks remain. It is more important that the egg whites not get deflated than it is to rid the batter of every white streak, so if a few white streaks remain so be it.

4. Scrape the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 35 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and a fork or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. If not using right away, wrap in plastic wrap to keep moist and soft.

Notes:

*Applesauce would probably work instead of the oil.

**The banana is used for sweetener. I wanted to make it sugar-free, so that's what I decided to use. But, you may substitute other pureed ripe fruit. To measure the banana and liquid - mash the banana, put in the measuring cup then fill the measuring cup up to 1 1/2 cups with milk or water.

~ Hanunyah

Banana (or fruit) Ice-Cream

This soft-serve type ice-cream/shake is a very quick, easy, healthy and refreshing snack, breakfast or dessert.

I know I am sort of late in posting this since the weather is cooling off, but we usually don't stop drinking cold shakes in cold weather :) - just bundle up!

And, this idea is very versatile - add peanut butter, cocoa powder, use different frozen fruit, and you can use whatever liquid you want just to get the blender going - milk, kefir, fruit juice, etc. Now, if you use different fruit you will get different results - I like to use bananas because they are very sweet, and if I use kefir the sweetness of the bananas cover up the tart kefir.

Banana Ice-Cream (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free, Sugar-free, Grain-free GAPS legal with kefir)
Hanunyah Creation


2 or 3 frozen bananas (skinned and frozen)
a little milk, kefir or other desired liquid (just a little, you don't need much at all. It's better to use less and add more later)

Blend in a blender (or Vitamix?) until thick and smooth. You may have to stop the blender and move the bananas around a bit to get it going again. If you want it thick, don't add more liquid unless you really have to. Sometimes I think I may have to add more, but end up being fine.


~ Hanunyah

This post is featured on: ABC Series: B for Banana

BBQ pictures

Here are some pictures from a BBQ we had on Labor Day.

~ Hanunyah

Bagels

Gluten-free, homemade bagels. And they smell, taste and look like bagels. Not crumbly, the dough is nice and easy to work with (and gum-free!).

I've been experimenting with yeast breads the last few days, and just in time Carrie @ Ginger Lemon Girl reposted her Bagel recipe.

Bagels (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free)
Adapted from Ginger Lemon Girl

2/3 cup warm milk, or milk substitute (120F.)
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar (or agave nectar)
½ tsp. apple cider vinegar (ONLY if using xanthan gum)

2 ½ cups gluten-free flour (I use rice)
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder1 teaspoon salt

2 tsp. xanthan gum
-OR-
1 tablespoon chia seed meal (I only used the flax)
2 tablespoons flax seed meal

1 egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water
Toppings (such as - poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic granules, dried onion, parsley, etc)

1. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a small mixing bowl whisk together warmed milk, 2 tbsp. yeast, and 2 tsp. sugar. Set this mixture aside to proof.

3. In a medium bowl add the binder you prefer (either xanthan gum or chia seed meal and flax seed meal). Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour, and whisk mixture together thoroughly. Set aside.

5. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, to proofed yeast. Add sugar, and if you are using xanthan gum as your binder, add apple cider vinegar as a dough enhancer. (If you are using chia seed meal and flax seed meal as your binder LEAVE OUT the apple cider vinegar, as it can lesson the gelling and binding properties of both these seeds!!)

6. In your kitchen mixer bowl, add the egg and yeast mixture. Start mixing with your paddle attachment on medium speed. Continuing with the paddle on medium speed, add the flour mixture 1/3 cup at a time to the wet mixture, until you have added all the flour. Continue to mix on medium speed until well combined and a thick dough is formed. If you used xanthan gum as your binder, this dough will be extremely sticky! I used flax seed meal, and it was really easy to work with.

7. Put water on to boil and add several tsp. of salt.

8. Dust your hands with rice flour and place the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Continuing to use your hands, gently shape the dough into a large ball. Gently pull off a small handful of dough and shape it into a disk. Then using your finger, push a hole up through the middle of the disk. Continue to shape the disk until it looks like a bagel. Place the shaped bagel back on the floured surface.

9. At this point, you can preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Once it has preheated, turn the oven OFF immediately. We will let the bagels rise in the warmed oven after we have boiled them.

10. Make sure your water is still at a rolling boil. Working with ONE bagel at a time, using a slotted spoon (a spatula to works), gently place the bagel into the boiling water bath.

11. Boil the bagel for 20 seconds, gently holding it under the water. Be careful, as they easily fall apart if you boil them too long.

12. Pull out the boiled bagel and place it on your prepared baking pan. When you pull the bagel out of the water, be extra gentle! The bagel is very fragile now that it has been boiled and almost looks like wrinkled hands after a long warm bath!

13. Brush the boiled bagels with an egg wash (a mixture of one egg white with 1 tablespoon of water). Add the toppings you desire. Place the bagels in the oven to rise for 40 minutes. Take bagels out of the oven after 40 minutes of rising. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bagels back in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. They should appear golden and crisp when finished baking.

~ The flavors I made ~

(Oh, and sorry there are no goats as a background in these pictures, it was not very good picture-taking conditions outside :) )

Flax seeds, poppyseeds and onion powder - like an "Everything" bagel

Since this was the first batch I made, the bagels were harder and smaller. The next batches I made them bigger and taller so they are softer.

Plain

Carrot, Coconut and Cinnamon

And, surely not the least (these disappeared pretty quickly) - Chocolate Chip

~ Hanunyah

Quick {Sandwich} Bread

Yes I took these pictures outside, and that is a goat in the background :).

A beautiful rise, nice crust and a soft inside are all combined in this simple and quick loaf (that also stays together even without gums!). I think this bread would work very well for sandwiches. We haven't tried that yet, but my brothers and sisters have been toasting it and eating it with homemade goat butter - YUM!!

But, of course, I had to change something in the recipe :). So, you can click the link below to see Nicole's recipe, or my version typed up below.

I've been working on my photography skills lately, and found that taking pictures outside is a good idea.

Quick {Sandwich} Bread (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free, Gum-free)
Adapted from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring

2 eggs, separated

3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (I use rice)

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking soda + 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (or 4 teaspoons baking powder, if not corn-free)

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups milk or water

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease well a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with oil or cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently scrape the egg whites into a medium sized bowl and set the bowl aside.

3. Again in the bowl of your stand mixer, now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, salt, soda and cream of tartar. Add the oil, sugar, vinegar, the egg yolks, and milk to the dry ingredients one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat until the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients begin to come together. Turn up the speed, and beat until the mixture becomes smooth. (It will be somewhat thick. Mine was like a cake batter.) 

4. Add one third of the egg whites to the dough, and slowly mix using the paddle attachment until the egg whites are incorporated into the batter. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until nearly no white streaks remain. It is more important that the egg whites not get deflated than it is to rid the batter of every white streak, so if a few white streaks remain so be it.

5. With a silicone spatula, scrape the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and a fork or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

~ Hanunyah


This post is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap

Fruit & Carrot Spice Cake

This is why I named this blog what I did. This cake is a creation . . . . fruit, carrots and spices, topped with a cream cheese frosting, flax and poppyseeds seeds. After I baked it, I realized that I forgot to put sugar in it! It really doesn't need it anyway, with 3 cups of fruit.

    Since there are only a few things that aren't GAPS-legal in it I might make it again using almond flour.

Not everybody tasted this yet, but those who did liked it.

Fruit and Carrot Spice Cake (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Corn-free, Sugar-free)

Hanunyah Creation

2 1/2 cups carrots, boiled and pureed*

3 cups fruit, pureed**

1/2 cup flaked coconut

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1/2 cup lard

4 eggs

3 cups rice flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together the carrots, fruit, coconut, spices, extracts, lard and eggs. Add the flour and baking soda. Pour the vinegar over the baking soda. Beat well.

2. Pour into two greased 11 inch round baking pans, and bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes:
*For the carrots - I used about 5 carrots. Cut both ends off of the carrots, and cut into thirds. Put in a pot and cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Boil until you can stick a fork all the way through. Strain and puree the carrots in the food processor. You may need to add some water to get it going.
**For the 3 cups fruit - I used 1 large apple, 1 large peach, 1 banana and 2 plums. I peeled the fruit, but I'm sure you could leave the skin on. Cut into chunks and puree in the food processor.

This was easy to make, and these were the only dishes I used (below).

~ Hanunyah

Featured on - Gluten-Free Wednesdays (by The Gluten-Free Homemaker)

Ricotta Cookies

These were a big hit today. I baked about 1/2 the batch, and put them on a plate on the table, and they disappeared!

Ricotta Cookies (Gluten-free, Cow Dairy-free, Corn-free)
Adapted from: Better Homes and Gardens Dessert Cookbook


2 cups sugar
1 cup lard
2 teaspoons extract (I used lemon)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups rice flour
2 cups goat ricotta cheese
cream cheese, for frosting (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the sugar and lard. Add the eggs and flavoring, and beat until creamy. Add the salt, baking soda and half of the flour. Add the remaining flour and the ricotta.

2. Drop the dough by tablespoons on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.


~ Hanunyah