Almond Flour Muffins (GAPS)

These are introduced on Stage 4 of the GAPS diet.

GAPS Almond Flour Muffins

1 1/2 cups almond flour/meal

3 tablespoons coconut oil

2 eggs

Mix all together, spoon into muffin pans until about 1/2 full, and bake at 300F for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until done. This makes about 7 regular sized muffins.

~ Hanunyah

Instant Oatmeal Packets

~ This is my 100th post on this blog! ~

This is a good substitute for the packets in the store. To be sure this is gluten-free, use gluten-free oats and read the labels of the variations you use.

Instant Oatmeal Packets (Gluten-free, and Dairy-free if not using some of the variations below)
From: The Dollar Stretcher Family


3 cups quick oats
salt (optional)
small sized zip bags



Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip bag: 1/4 cup quick oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats (or oat flour), and 1/8 tsp. salt. Store in an airtight container.


~ To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water. ~

Variations:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples.
Sweetened Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Oatmeal w/ Raisins & Brown Sugar: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar and 1 Tbsp. raisins.
Fruit and Cream Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit
Fun Fruit Oatmeal: To each packet add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.
Confetti Oatmeal: To each packet add 1 tsp. decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.
S'More Oatmeal: 

To each packet 

add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 Tbsp. chocolate chips.

Exploding Oatmeal: 

To each packet 

add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. 'Pop Rocks' candy to each packet. This one is fun for celebration days, such as birthdays.

Update - July 27, 2011: Here is what I have come up with the last 2 times I made this. I may add more if I make up more.

~ My Variations ~

These are flavors I've come up with. Since it is eaten up so fast, I mix it in a big bowl and put it back in the oatmeal container. My brothers and sisters like it in cold milk, so they just scoop out what they want out of the container.

Seeds and Spices Oatmeal: Add poppy seeds, flaxseeds, a little nutmeg, a little ginger, and cinnamon. I made up this flavor and my sister who has been eating my Instant Oatmeal for breakfast every morning said it was really good. She likes this one better than the Maple Nut/Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavor I made today (below).

Maple Nut/Brown Sugar Cinnamon: Add brown sugar, cinnamon, finely ground walnuts and maple extract. I can't taste this since I'm on the GAPS diet, but it smells really good!

~ Hanunyah

Link Parties:
Gluten-Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker
Food on Friday @ Carole's Chatter

July 4th Pictures

Some pictures from yesterday -

Click here for pictures from when we went fishing

A goodie tray I brought - red, white and blue Neopolatin Cookies, and in the middle, Fondant - blue is flavored maple, white lemon, and red peppermint. Almost all of the cookies were gone, and the candy was well liked.

Freshly caught catfish!

Homemade goat milk blackberry and vanilla ice-cream

Blackberry cobbler

Fireworks

~ Hanunyah

Happy July 4th!

I hope you have a happy July 4th!

     We are going to a soccer game today (which we must win to be in the playoffs!), and have a busy but, fun day planned tomorrow . . . do all the chores in the morning, go fishing and maybe swimming, then going to a party/barbecue at the neighbor's place!

These are some Neapolatin Cookies, colored for the 4th of July. I'm planning on bringing them to the party.

Have a nice weekend!

~ Hanunyah

Black Gold Cookies

Note: Even though I am on the GAPS diet, I still bake for everyone else who's not on the diet (there's only me, my brother and dad on the diet). It's not really a big deal for me, because I like doing it and they like to eat what I make. That said, I'll still be posting recipes here, Lord willing.


Thursday I made some Chocolate Chip Cookies (I baked most of them as bars, spread on a cookie sheet - they baked way better, browned beautifully and looked more chewy) , Gingersnap Cookies, Gingerbread (it was a creation, but a success - I made it from some of the Gingersnap cookie dough with another egg, a chopped apple and milk), Neapolitan Cookie dough for the 4th of July (without the food coloring because my sister forgot it Thursday in town, I finished those this morning), and Flourless Oatmeal Cookies (that me and my little 6 year old sister went crazy on - we added a shredded carrot, chopped banana, ginger, poppy and flax seeds. Why did we add all that? We were having fun ;-) ).


     Anyway, a couple of months ago, my grandma brought us some Gluten-free Black Gold Cookies (with the ingredient list) that she bought somewhere (I think the brand was BriarPatch) so we could taste them and create a copycat recipe for them. I found a couple Black Gold Cookie recipes online. With the amount of chocolate chips in the recipe, it seemed like you couldn't go wrong. So I gave it a shot.
    They were a big hit here at our house, but I haven't ran them by grandma yet (I'll probably do that tomorrow after a soccer game when we go to her house). The only difference I think there was (without tasting them ;-) ) was that they weren't as thick as the ones she bought. I may need to add a little more flour, or bake them as bars in a pan (so they can't spread, only rise).

*Update - July 28, 2011: A couple weeks ago Grandma came to our house . . . and I was baking these cookies. She tasted one, and REALLY liked them! She and everybody else gave lots of compliments. They went over very well!
     But I experimented some and was able to make them thicker (the first batch I changed things on turned out great). So, I have changed the recipe to what worked.

Black Gold Cookies (Gluten-free, Corn-free)
Adapted from Food.com

6 tablespoons (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) GF flour (I use rice or oat)

1/2 teaspoon guar gum (xanthan gum, if not corn-free)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder (or 3 to 4 tablespoons regular cocoa)

2 cups safe chocolate chips, divided

6 tablespoons (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) lard

2 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)

1 1/2 cups walnuts (optional)

1. Mix together flour, gum, baking powder and cocoa, set aside. Melt 1 1/4 cups of the chocolate chips in the microwave (you could use a double boiler) for 1 minute, just until melted. Stir until smooth.

2. Beat the lard, eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until well combined and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and beat. Add the dry ingredients, remaining chocolate chips, and walnuts. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place heaping tablespoons of the dough on greased cookie sheets (do not flatten them). Bake for about 9 minutes (do not overbake). Cool on wire rack.

~ Hanunyah


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