Marvelous Mocha Fudge

1 1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. evaporated milk

3 T instant coffee granules

2 T. butter

1/4 t. salt

2 c. mini marshmallows

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine first 5 ingredients in a heavy saucepan; bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 3 to 4 minutes; remove from heat. Mix in remaining ingredients; stir until marshmallows are melted. Spread into an 8X8" baking pan lined with aluminum foil; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours until firm. Lift fudge from pan, remove foil and cut into one-inch pieces. Makes about 4 dozen pcs.

(For a double recipe, I decrease the amount of coffee granules, of which I only put 4 T into a double batch. Pour onto 9X13 foil lined pan to chill.)

My son-in-law sent a note that said, "This is absolutely, hands-down the best fudge I have ever had."  I think he might have liked it. ;)

Molasses Sugar Cookies

These cookies won the best tasting cookie at this year's cookie exchange!!  They really are quite delectable!


Molasses Sugar Cookies
Makes 30 cookies

3/4 cup vegetable oil  (I use coconut oil, but NOT olive oil!)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour (can mix 1/2 white and 1/2 whole grain)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix oil, sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. If dough is too soft to handle, refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Form into 1" balls (I use a scoop); roll in granulated sugar. Place 2" apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Do not flatten balls. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Potato Soup- The Ultimate Comfort Food!

Potato Soup

6-7 pieces of bacon, chopped up to about 1/2 inch pieces

2 ribs of celery, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

3 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (about 3/4" cubes)

3 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup frozen sweet corn

1/4 tsp. dill weed

dash of marjoram

1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste-my broth was low sodium, so it needed a bit of salt)

2 cups whole raw milk

4 T whole wheat flour

1/2 stick of butter

Put the bacon in the bottom of a dutch-oven size pan on the stove and begin cooking. When some of the fat is tried out into the pan, add the celery and onion. Stir until tender, then add broth, potatoes, corn and seasonings. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are not crispy any more. Don't overcook or they turn to mush (unless that is what you want)

While the soup is cooking, make a white sauce with the butter flour and milk. Lightly brown the flour in the butter, then stir in the milk and heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add 3 oz. cream cheese and continue stirring until it is all mixed in. By this time, the potatoes should be just right, so stir in the white sauce and mix in thoroughly. When the soup is boiling again, it is ready--serve immediately.

This makes quite a big batch- at least six servings I think.  We served it for Christmas dinner this year, and it was a huge hit!

Cranberry Bread

Normally, the cranberry bread is one of the last to get eaten, but this year I made it a bit differently.  We chopped the cranberries fairly small (used the food chopper from Pampered Chef), and I used coconut oil for the shortening.  It was really the best cranberry bread I have ever had, and even Ornery, who has never liked it before, went for this before the pumpkin or banana bread!

Cranberry Bread

1 cup chopped cranberries

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 T grated orange peel (zest)

2 cups all purpose flour (can mix 1/2 and 1/2--white and whole grain)

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 T shortening (or coconut oil)

3/4 cup orange juice (juice the oranges used for peel)

1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pan or line muffin cups. Prepare cranberries, nuts and orange peel; set aside. Mix dry ingredients; cut in shortening. Stir in juice, egg and orange peel until moist. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pan. Bake 60 minutes or until pick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove loaf after 15 minutes cooling on rack.

No Sugar Glazed Pecans

I had to delete the maple syrup due to the high fructose content, so I increased the cinnamon and used some English Toffee flavored liquid stevia for the sweetener. I overdosed on the cinnamon... I think less than half would have been plenty! BUT they are tasty, and sugar free, so I am happy!

1 lb. pecans

3 T. coconut oil

2 to 3 tsp. cinnamon (I used two TABLEspoons! wow, that was a lot of cinnamon!)

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla

about 1 full dropper of English Toffee stevia (or to taste)

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through to prevent burning, and to coat the nuts again. While they are cooling, continue to stir it occasionally to keep the "glaze" on the nuts.

My Favorite Egg Dish

I am a huge fan of scr-omelets. They are basically eggs scrambled with all the fillings of an omelet mixed in and cooked together. This is the general list of ingredients, although it varies from time to time depending on what I have on hand.

Scr-omelet

Serves 2

1 T organic extra virgin coconut oil, olive oil or butter

1/2 cup of fried sausage crumbles 

3-4 green onions, chopped with tops

1/4 red pepper, chopped fine

4 baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1/2 -3/4 cup chopped yellow summer squash OR grated zucchini

1 slice tomato

4 whole pasture raised eggs

1/4 cup shredded cheese (my favorite is havarti...)

Heat oil in a medium skillet until hot. Add all the veggies except the tomato. (I have even added green peas!) When the onion and pepper are soft, whisk the eggs and cheese into the veggie mix and cook until the eggs are cooked through, stirring fairly often.

Coconut Treat

These are a great sweet treat for programs that limit sugar intake.

1 T Coconut oil

2 t ground flax seeds

1 T finely chopped walnuts

1 T finely shredded unsweetened coconut

2-3 drops liquid stevia (any flavor)

1/4 t vanilla

1/8 t cinnamon

dash sea salt

dash nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together and chill till coconut oil hardens. You can shape into a flat "cookie" or just eat like dry cereal. Makes one serving.

Spaghetti Squash Dinner

No gluten means no pasta. Good thing there is spaghetti squash to fill in! Here is a new recipe I concocted last night--very tasty, filling, and healthy!

Prepare squash: pierce one end of a small spaghetti squash with a sharp knife. Bake at 375 degrees (I placed it in a loaf pan, but any shallow pan would work) for about 1 hour. Test with a knife to see if it is tender.

While the squash is cooking, prepare the sauce.

1 lb. ground bison

1-3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup grated zucchini

4-5 chopped fresh mushrooms

1 T olive oil

Brown the meat mixed with the veggies in oil, and add seasonings to taste. (Kosher salt, Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, bay leaf etc.)

Add 1 small (4 oz) jar organic tomato paste and 2 cups distilled water. (the jar is the only way I have ever liked tomato paste as it does not have a tinny flavor to it. If you can find it you will be really pleased with the results.) Stir until well mixed, reduce heat to simmer until the squash is done. The longer it simmers the better the flavor. You can add a little more water if you prefer a runnier sauce, but taste to see if it needs more salt.

When the squash is done, carefully remove it from the pan to a cutting board and slice off the stem end. Cut in half length wise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon; discard seeds. Using a fork, scrape the meat of the squash away from the peeling and place into a bowl. Add a little butter and salt. Serve the sauce over the squash. (serves 4)

Peachy Pancakes

I wanted waffles, but the recipe I needed was online and I wasn't. So, I made pancakes instead from the recipe below. However, I was not yet fully awake thus somewhat bumbling in the kitchen. This is probably how many delightful dishes are created...

Pancakes

(from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife, ND)

2 eggs

2 T coconut oil

2 T coconut milk (I used fermented)

1 tsp. sugar 

1/8 tsp. Kosher salt

2 T sifted coconut flour

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking poweder and thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2.5 - 3 inches in diameter. Batter will be thick but will flatten out when cooking. Makes 6-8 small pancakes.

Seeing the small amount of batter in the bowl had me a little worried, but I figured if the pancakes didn't satisfy our hunger, we could have some eggs later. Or something. I followed the directions and had some of the pancakes cooking when I realized I had maple syrup in the refrigerator, which meant that when I put it on the pancakes they would turn instantly cold. Yuk. So, I poured some syrup into a small pan, set it on the back burner and turned it on. Then promptly forgot about it. :(

I thought about the pecans and decided they would be good, so I chopped those up. Meanwhile I am still cooking the pancakes and managing to keep them from burning (although I am not sure HOW!). I ended up chopping a few extra pecans (I failed to read the suggested amount, and just guessed as to how many to put in) and decided to toast them in the now empty pancake skillet in just a few more drops of coconut oil. I started those and then I happen to glance at the maple syrup and realize it is almost to boil over. So I whipped that off the burner and raced over to the counter to chop up a peach. By the time I had the peach chopped up, the pecans were starting to burn, so I tossed the peach in to heat it up and take some of the heat off the pecans.

I arranged the pancakes on the plates, spooned on the peach mixture and drizzled hot syrup over the top. They were very tasty--different than the normal pancake of course, but certainly much more nutritious. We both enjoyed them and other than the disaster I left behind in the kitchen, I dub it a success!

Peachy Keen Pancakes

Chicken Sausage

This is SOOOO Good!! I couldn't find the savory, but I made it as directed and cooked it all at once and froze it in serving portion size bags. It doesn't taste like pork sausage, but it is very close, and so much better for you!

1 1/2 lbs. ground chicken, half white, half dark (Whole Foods will grind for you)
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 Tbsp. powdered, not rubbed, sage
1 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
3/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. savory
1/8 tsp. garam masala
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Before adding ground chicken, put all the other ingredients into a large bowl. Mix and add the chicken. Use your hands or a large spoon to knead the mixture long enough to distribute the spices evenly.

Form into small patties or crumble and fry until brown, using some olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

Cowboy Cookies

I used to make these cookies when the kids were young, and Elizabeth mentioned them to her husband who said, "What are Cowboy Cookies??" So, in the interest of son-in-law education and appeasement, I made them. Here is the recipe!


1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour (can mix 1/2 white with 1/2 whole grain)

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 cups rolled oats

6 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (or raisins if you prefer)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Sift dry ingredients and stir in. Add oatmeal, chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by a teaspoonful on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Makes 8-9 dozen cookies.

(Note: for RBTI, use Kosher salt, raisins and no nuts.)

Maple Pecans

Whole Paycheck sells the most delicious maple pecans in their bulk section. I love the taste but not the price. So, I decided to try my own. For inspiration, I used this recipe.

16 oz. shelled pecan halves

3 T. coconut oil, melted

1 T. vanilla extract

3 T. maple syrup

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. sea salt.

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and spread out on baking stone. Bake for about 25 minutes in 300 degree convection oven (or 30 minutes at 325 degrees in a regular oven), stirring often to prevent burning. They will be slightly brown. Watch closely so they don't burn!

I used a stoneware bar pan and sprayed it with coconut oil to prevent sticking. The glaze was fairly liquid, even when the pecans were browned, but once they cooled, they were only slightly sticky--they sort of dried out once they cooled. The flavor reminds me a lot of the Valdosta Pecans I have bought in the past--only without the pepper flavor and cranberries. :) They are very tasty--not too sweet.

Trail Mix a la Ornery

I don't really measure the amounts for this so amounts vary from batch to batch--here are the ingredients of the trail mix Ornery packs in his lunch every day. I admit, I like this too. :)

Walnuts

Raw Cashews

Roasted/salted Pumpkin seeds

coconut flakes (large flakes)

raisins

dried papaya

chocolate chips

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup organic extra virgin coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup organic sucanat (evap. cane juice)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
4 whole pasture raised eggs
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1 cup organic coconut flour
1/2 cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup organic chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs and salt. Then add flour, coconut and chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls (I use a small scoop for uniform size) onto slightly greased stone or parchment lined pan and bake for 14-15 minutes or until slightly browned. They do not spread out, so you can put them fairly close together. Makes about 36 cookies.

Amaranth w/ Apples

Amaranth with Apples and Walnuts

1 cup amaranth

3 cups milk (any variety--I prefer skim cow's milk, but have made it with soy, hemp, coconut and almond milk before with good results)

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black strap molasses

1 tsp. ground cinnamon (or more-- I like a lot!)

1 or 2 apples cored and chopped (with skin on)

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low for 30 to 35 minutes, until amaranth is soft and milk is all absorbed. Sweeten to taste with maple syrup or agave nectar. Sprinkle ground flax seed over it if you like, and serve with a little milk or yogurt.

GF Pizza on Zucchini Crust

I tried making a gluten free pizza crust recipe a while back and was not impressed. At all. So, my sister mentioned in passing that she used to make a crust out of zucchini, and I thought I would see what I could come up with. I researched several sites and found some recipes for zucchini crusts, but they were not all gluten free, nor were they as simple as I wanted to make mine. Here is what I ended up with:

Zucchini Crust:

about 2 cups grated zucchini w/ peel (I had 4-5 small squash)

about 1 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

2 whole eggs

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. garlic powder or a pressed clove of garlic (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and spread thin on an oiled (olive oil) pizza stone--I used a stoneware bar pan by Pampered Chef, but I suppose you could use another type of pan. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Watch it carefully as you don't want to burn it, but you do want it cooked well so it will hold its shape.

Remove from oven and top with:

Marinara sauce*

slices of uncured turkey pepperoni

diced chicken sausage

pieces of red onion

sliced fresh mushrooms

grated cheese (try different types of cheese and grate them together including raw cheddar, more Parmigiano Reggiano, and other Italian flavored cheeses. There is one at Whole foods made with sun dried tomatoes and garlic that is fabulous!)

(or your favorite toppings--this was just what I had on hand)

(*I used a jar of organic tomato paste mixed with a whole large clove of garlic and some Italian seasoning--heat through on the stove and allow to set while making the rest of the pizza. The tinny taste that often comes with canned tomato paste was absent, and the sauce was just enough for one large pizza.)

Return to oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

This pizza does not reheat well so only make as much as you will eat. This was a really REALLY good pizza, and I will certainly make it again!

Not Yo Momma's Brownie

Not Yo Momma's Brownie
Makes 12 servings

1 c. hazelnut meal (can sub. pecan or almond, but hazelnut is very tasty!)
6 T. extra virgin coconut oil, plus extra for the baking pan
1/2 c. agave nectar
2 whole omega-3 eggs
1/2 c. raw cocoa powder
1/4 c. arrowroot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Mix together all ingredients. Stir to blend. Pour into an oiled 8x8x2 baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut into 12 bars. These are really good warm, but if you have leftovers and want to keep them awhile, wrap each one in a piece of waxed paper and freeze.

Homemade Brownies

Nut Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Nut Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
(no wheat or sugar)

Beat two eggs in bottom of mixing bowl. Beat in 1/2 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup milk (1/2 and 1/2, almond, hemp, etc.) and 1 cup fresh ground nut butter (this time I mixed cashew and almond. Mmm.) Stir into egg/honey mixture 1 -1/4 cups almond meal, hazelnut meal, or other nut flour.

Cut up 3.5 oz of 70% dark chocolate into approx.1/4 inch chips (or 1/2 bag dark chocolate chips), Stir into mixture.

In blender, blend three cups of oats into flour. Sift two cups of this flour with one tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir into mixture until mixture can keep it's shape (not runny). Add more oat flour if you need to.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls (scoop works great) onto buttered cookie sheet and flatten slightly with moist fingertips. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350. Makes about 4 dozen.