Delicious Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 Cup Cooked and Cooled Quinoa
1/3 Vanilla Almond Milk
4 Eggs
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/4 Cup  Coconut Oil, Melted (Extra Virgin Coconut Oil Organic - 32 fl oz (Google Affiliate Ad)
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter, Melted
1 Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour (Bobs Red Mill 21192 All Purpose Baking Flour Gluten Free (Google Affiliate Ad)
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1 Cup Blueberries (a few extra never hurt!)
___________________________________________________________________

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2, 12-count cupcake tins with cooking spray. Then, combine eggs, vanilla and almond milk in a food processor. Add in quinoa, blended until well combined. Finally, add melted coconut oil and butter and blend well.

In a separate bowl (preferably the one connected to your stand mixer), combine gluten free flour, baking powder and salt. Once combined, pour in food processor mixture. Mix on a low setting until well combined. Finally, very carefully fold in blueberries with a spatula. Scoop batter into cupcake tins. (You will probably yield 15-24 muffins depending on how large you make them).

Place in oven and cook for 16-18 minutes. They are done when they slightly bounce back when you poke them. Remove from oven and cook for about 5-10 minutes in the pan, after remove and cool on a wire rack.

They store very well and although I recommend eating as many as possible right away (because they are SO delicious), you should wrap the ones you do not plan to consume within the next 2 days and putting them in the freezer. Definitely take the time to wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap, it makes a difference!


Original recipe from http://groovyfoody.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/moist-and-fluffy-blueberry-muffins-gluten-free/ - I made a couple alterations in my version though.

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

Recently Rob and I have been trying to broaden the types of fish we eat. Typically we just eat cod but we have trying to add in salmon as of late. I am not a picky eater, in fact, I cannot think of many foods I despise. However, in the past I have steered clear of salmon. I tended to find it too "fishy" tasting. Now I realize, it is all in the type of salmon you buy and how it is prepared. Tonight we had salmon burgers with homemade cilantro mayo, corn on the cob and zucchini (well, I had zucchini, Rob had the guacamole I made earlier today). Below I will tell you how the burgers with cilantro mayo were made.

Ingredients:

Burger-
2 Salmon Burgers (we used frozen from Whole Foods)
2 Slices gluten free bread (or regular bread or bun)
Cooking Spray (Spectrum Naturals 23460 Canola Oil Spray With Butter Flavor)

Cilantro Mayo-
1/3 Cup Mayo (I used light)
1 Cup Cilantro (fresh and chopped, stems & leaves)
1 Clove Garlic (fresh, minced)
2 Tsp. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper (Simply Organic 28644 Organic Black Pepper)

How To Make the Cilantro Mayo:

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap until burgers are ready.

How To Make Burgers:

Remove frozen burgers from freezer. Cook in a skillet on medium heat, cooking 5 minutes on each side.

Assembly:

Spread one (or both!!) sides of the bread with the cilantro mayo, place burger on top and enjoy! You can obviously add other toppings to the burger. I had mine with chopped red onion & a little yellow mustard (in addition to the cilantro mayo), Rob has his with lettuce, red onion & yellow mustard. Whatever tickles your fancy!

As always, leave comments or questions if you have them. Enjoy!!!

Homemade Granola Bars

Do you ever find you are too busy to make yourself a healthy breakfast or even make breakfast at all? Well, this recipe will solve all your problems! Not only are these homemade granola bars nutritious and delicious they are super easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Oatmeal ( I used quick cook)

1 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Cup Shredded Coconut

1/4 Cup Flax Seeds

3 TB Unsalted Butter

2/3 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)

1-2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Dried Fruit, chopped (I used strawberries)

How To:

Preheat your oven to 325. Then butter an 8x12 or 9x13 inch glass baking dish and sprinkle a little flour in it. Set this aside for later. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oatmeal, coconut and almonds. Spread onto a baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes,  stirring occasionally. Coconut should start to brown a little. After 10-12 minutes, transfer bake into mixing bowl and stir in flax seeds; set aside.

Into a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar, honey, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir for 1 minute. Pour  over oatmeal mixture; add fruit. Mix well.

Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Press mixture evenly into the pan with your fingers or a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let your creation cool for at least 2 hours, preferably 3 hours before cutting. Cut into individual bars, wrap in plastic wrap and store in pantry.

Enjoy!

Notes:

I used dried strawberries, but if your want a cheaper option you can substitute strawberries for raisins or cranberries.

Homemade Apple Pie (with gluten free crust!)

For months Rob has been wanting us to make a homemade apple pie and we just never got around to it. Yesterday we gave in and made not only 1 but 2 apple pies! And... lets just say, it has been less than 24 hours and only 1 pie is left. Check them out:

As you can see, we did not use a top crust for the apple pie, instead we created a crumbling topping to cover it. Now, I am not going to lie to you--we bought the gluten free crust premade at Whole Foods (it came 2 to a pack) BUT every other part of this pie is homemade! See below how you too can make your own delicious apple pie! NOTE: Ingredient list below is for 1 pie


Ingredients:


1 Premade, gluten free pie crust
5 Peeled granny smith apples, diced into thin pieces
Cinnamon (Frontier Cinnamon Powder Certified Organic (3% Oil), 16 Ounce Bags (Pack of 2))
Nutmeg (Cole and Mason H277130 Classic Nutmeg Grinder)
Vanilla extract (Simply Organic Vanilla Extract Certified Organic, 4-Ounce Glass Bottles (Pack of 2))
1 Egg, beaten with 2 Tb of cold water and set aside
________________________
1 Stick unsalted butter
3 Tb Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Water
________________________
1/2 Stick of butter, partially melted
1 Cup of granola (we used vanilla almond from Whole Foods)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Brown Sugar
White Sugar

Process:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. First, take all of your diced apples and place them in a large bowl (you need to be able to mix them). Then, sprinkle about 1-2 tsp vanilla extract and some cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples; mix until it looks like the cinnamon and nutmeg have spread out/no clumps. Each apple should have a little bit of spice on it. Note: You should use more cinnamon than nutmeg. Once the apples are coated, set them aside.

Now, in a medium skillet melt the unsalted butter over medium heat. Once melted, add flour. Whisk until smooth. Then add in both sugars and water; turn heat to medium high and whisk until smooth. Once smooth, turn down to low and let it simmer for about 5 minutes; whisk occasionally.

While the mixture on the stove is cooking, lets make the topping for the pie. With a fork, mix the butter with the granola. Once combined, mix in both sugars, a small amount of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. Mix until well combined. This mixture should be crumbly.

Now lets assemble the pie! Take your apple mixture and pour them into the bottom of the pie. Then, take the stove mixture and pour over the apples. Finally, carefully spread the crumb mixture over the top of the entire pie-taking the time to cover the top and the sides. Once the top of the pie is coated bake the pie for about 40-50 minutes on 325. After 40-50 minutes, take the pie out and lightly brush the visible crust with the egg & water mixture. Once you are done with that, put the pie back in the oven at 350 degrees for about another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take out the pie and voila! Complete! Let the pie sit for at least 15 minutes before you serve it.

This picture was taken after I made my first helping! YUMMY!

Homemade Fresh Salsa

I have obviously not written in awhile... not because I have not been cooking, but because I have been a little too lazy to post.  Over the next few days I am going to post about the meals/side dishes I have cooked over the past month or so starting with one of my favorites, my homemade fresh salsa!

Ingredients:

1 Package of cocktail tomatoes (10 oz.) (NOTE-- you can use cherry tomatoes too, if you use cherry tomatoes, use a whole package)
1/3 of a Red Onion (that is an approximation... go with what seems like enough onion for you... I like a lot!)
3 Cloves of fresh minced garlic (again, that is an approximation)
Lime -- The juice from 1/2 a lime
Cilantro -- About 1/3 of a bunch (sold at Whole Foods)
Dash of Salt (Morton Iodized Table Salt - 4lb. box)
Dash of Pepper (NoMU Just Pepper Black Pepper Grinder, 2.1-Ounce Grinders (Pack of 4))

Process:

Literally, all you need to do is dice up all of the ingredients. Mix them together, add salt and pepper, mix again. Done!

You can eat it right away or if you can let it set for a few hours and then eat, it is all preference. The most important thing is that you dice the ingredients so you get nice chunks of fresh cut veggies; the color scheme is beautiful. If you used a food processor to dice the ingredients it is just not the same, although it is easier... it is worth taking the time to cut all the veggies yourself.

Enjoy!