Fresh Pumpkin Pie (gluten and dairy free)

The Thanksgiving holiday is over and Christmas cheer is in full blast. Parties, gifts, and special treats. This recipe I created this past week for Thanksgiving, but it can be made again and again this holiday season to enjoy the cheer and flavors. I understand. I get it. It's hard to sit by during the holidays and say "no" to so many desserts and comfort foods. My drive behind finding a wholesome and delicious recipe is out of my own selfish desire to indulge in the results. I love when I can make a favorite dessert without guilt and know that this dessert is not going to make me sick or manifest regrets in any way. It is a beautiful masterpieces of great flavors and holiday charm.

I created this recipe out of love for wanting to use my fresh pureed pumpkin. So many pumpkin pie recipes call for the canned pumpkin (no offense to "the can" intended). Yet, there is just something special about using fresh pumpkin in your baking and cooking. It is fresher, has so much flavor and can go a long way. Once you dive in and bake the pumpkin, I guarantee you won't go back to the can. And, not to mention you can get around 8 cups of blended pumpkin after just baking two medium pumpkins. It goes a long way, and it's fun to find ways to use and enjoy it. I think some pumpkin scones are in my near future!

The gluten-free crust is one that you do not need to put a ton of time into and can be made on an individual pie basis. It turns out crispy and flaky in it's own gluten-free way. It is the perfect amount of sweet and crispy to be paired with such a rich and cool pumpkin pie.

This pie can be made vegan if you omit the egg. I did you an egg on this one, but if you are trying to follow a vegan diet, then just forget the egg and the pie will turn out fine. The egg is really just added as a "binding" agent and to help the pie rise a little bit more. Without the egg it will just settle a little more and stick be thick and creamy.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Crust:

1/2 cup of white rice flour (or I have used fresh ground buckwheat flour as well)

1 cup of sweet sorghum flour

1/2 cup of tapioca flour

3 TB of sucanat (unrefined sugar cane juice)

2 TB of apple cider vinegar
(may need 1 TB of pure water if the dough is too dry)

1/2 ts. of sea salt

6 TB of organic coconut oil or Spectrum organic palm oil shortening

Mix all of the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and then roll into a ball. Place between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out so that you have about a 9-10 inch circle. Un-peel the parchment paper back and press the crust into a standard glass pie baking pan and then press into the sides. Design a crust edge and poke a fork into the bottom and sides for the crust to bake and breath comfortably. Bake for about 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Or until your crust is golden brown. Pull from the oven and let completely cool before adding the pumpkin mixture.

Pumpkin Mixture:

2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cup of coconut milk beverage or hemp milk

1 ts. of pure vanilla (or add 12 drops of Nu Naturals pure vanilla stevia liquid)

1/3 cup of fresh buckwheat flour

3 TB of pure maple syrup

2 TB of baking oil (light olive oil or coconut oil)

1/2 cup of sucanat (unrefined sugar cane juice)

2 TB of tapioca flour

2 ts. of baking powder

1 farm fresh egg or water-flax mixture (optional, because it can be cooked without an egg if you desire)

1 TB of pumpkin pie spice (or 1 ts. of each: ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg)

Mix all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the mix is blended completely and lusciously smooth. Pour all of the mixture into the cooled pie crust and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. It will be baking above the crust in the oven and when you pull it form the oven. Wait about 10-15 minutes and the pie will settle and cool and shrink about 2-3 inches down. This photo below was taken right after it was pulled from the oven and as you can see it is a bit puffy still from being baked. Let pie cool and chill in the fridge to attain the desired pumpkin pie texture and taste.

This was the pie I served my gluten-free family and friends over Thanksgiving. It was enjoyed and devoured. I must say that I myself enjoy a piece for a leftover breakfast with a hot cup of tea. It is perfect. And totally ok if you are waking before the crack of dawn to reach all of the mall-sales. Why not? You are working over-time to keep up with all the holiday fun, so indulge for a moment and let yourself truly enjoy.

Much love and seasonal cheer to you today!

Sweet Potato Cornbread

It's time to enjoy some fresh bread! An exciting and fun idea to the gluten-free friend. We do not eat bread very often, and if we do it had been specially prepared and it is kinda a science experiment all by itself. This bread recipe is not difficult, and yes it is not a loaf of sandwich bread or anything like that, but it is a great "bread" to serve with any soup or salad if you craving something beyond the gluten-free cracker. This recipe I made to go with a nice pot of soup I had bubbling a few days ago, my fresh pumpkin soup. This bread paired perfectly with it, but really this bread is so yummy and moist you could pair it with almost any soup or salad meal. 

You can really sink you teeth into this one, it is moist, crumbly and kinda sweet really. Well, yes those sweet potatoes will sweeten almost anything up, not to mention warming your insides. One of my favorite foods this time of year. And a potato that has less the carbs and starchy content so I feel like I am eating more of my vegetables. Sweet potatoes come from the ground, beneath the dirt because they are a root. These kind of vegetables have a way of rooting our beings as well. They come from the ground and have a way of "grounding" us this time of year when we start to settle into the warm rooms of our home. It is symbolic to where our hearts are. We find ourselves not in the flighty fully fresh and green produce of summer, but in the warm, grounding and settling sweet potato of early winter. 

This is where I find my heart this time of year...

Sweet Potato Corn Bread:

1 cup of organic cornmeal

1 cup of organic corn flour

1/2 cup of sweet sorghum flour

1 ts. of aluminum free baking powder

1 ts. of baking soda

1/3 cup of olive oil, or other baking oil

1/3 cup of fresh local honey

1 cup of cooked, smashed sweet potato

2 farm fresh eggs

1 cup of non-dairy milk (almond or coconut milk beverage is best)

***1 TB of apple cider vinegar, add this TB to a separate bowl with the milk above and let sit for 10 minutes to curdle***

1/2 ts. of paprika

1/2 ts. of ground cumin

1 ts of pumpkin pie spice ( or 1/2 cinnamon/nutmeg will work too)

1/2 ts of ground black pepper

1 ts of sea salt

Mix all of the dry ingredients separately in a bowl, and then separately mix the milk and apple cider vinegar together to let sit for 10 minutes to help curdle. Then mix the dry and the wet together, and add the eggs, oil and honey. Lastly add the mashed sweet potato and mix all together to get a smooth and thick consistency. 

Grease up a 9x13 pan with a little olive oil, and then pour the batter in and let sit just a second before placing in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Bake until it is browning on the tops and the center is cooked all the way through. Make sure not to over cook because it will be dry, but if you undercook too it will be too wet and start to ferment after baking. 30 minutes should be enough baking time, but in my oven I had to go a few minutes over that to just make sure it was completely done. 

Serve warm from the oven, or when it is completely cool. Enjoy with some fresh pasture organic butter, ghee, or even a nut butter.

To be honest, it is quite alright without even any butter or ghee. It is so moist, and yummy you will want to lick your plate. It is a bit crumbly, if you want to try an avoid that more for some reason you could add a dash or so of some xanthan gum to bind it just bit. I actually like it just a bit crumbly so I can eat all the pieces...

Maybe this is a way to use up some leftover baked sweet potatoes if you have those around from the holiday. I love sweet potatoes and could eat them at every meal. Yes, I am serious. They are so filling and warming. What a great foods from the earth this time of year!

Have a great weekend and enjoy some good company with some good food.

Much love to you all!

Fresh Pumpkin Soup

It's Thanksgiving Day, and the smells coming from the kitchen start before the sun rises. Yesterday was full of prep for the pies, the corn bread stuffing, sauces, and appetizers. I am not in charge of the turkey this year at all, so I just have to worry about some of the fixin's. To be honest, the bird kind of intimidates me a bit, so to not have a "shot" at it this year is ok with me. Maybe next year is what I am thinking... or maybe even later this winter...

One of my favorite dishes for Thanksgiving, is actually a soup. Pumpkin soup so it is completely festive and flavorful. This soup is pre-dinner, and pre-dessert, but really I would be satisfied with just a big bowl of this delectable soup and call it good. It is perfectly pumpkin. Perfectly sweet and savory in it's own perfect way. This is the perfect holiday to serve such a perfect soup. 

I made a huge pot of it to share with the family meal and it was simple to make ahead and have simmering in the crock pot to have with appetizers and even with dinner. The hardest part to the soup is really just the prep time and blending on the fresh pumpkin. I baked 2 large pumpkins yesterday, and it made about 8 cups of pumpkin puree. Other than that step, this soup is a piece of cake, or maybe pie in this case.

To roast or bake a pumpkin, you have to cut it open, de-seed it, rinse, then put in the oven on 450 degrees for about 1 hour or until soft enough to slice through with a butter knife. I pull it out of the oven, and then it cool almost completely and then peal the skin off, and put all the soft pieces in the blender or food processor so that that you can puree it. Sometimes you need a few splashes of water to get it moving, but then after a while you will have about 4 cups of fresh pureed pumpkin per baked medium pumpkin. You don't even have to bake the "pie" pumpkin if you do not want to. All pumpkins can be roasted, the pie pumpkins have a little more flavor and thickness to them so that is why they are specifically used to pumpkin pies. 

Fresh Pumpkin Soup Recipe:

1 cup of diced yellow onion

4 minced garlic cloves

2 TB of olive oil

4 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of pure water

4 cups of fresh pumpkin puree

1 ts of pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)

1/2 ts. of paprika

1/2 ts. of ground cumin

1 ts. of ground black pepper, or more to taste

1 ts. of sea salt

handful of mixed fresh herbs finely chopped (parsley, sage, thyme)

1 can of whole-fat coconut milk

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes until soft. Then add the water, broth, pumpkin, and spices. Let that start to cook and boil, then turn the heat down just a bit and add the fresh herbs and coconut milk. Continuing stirring and watch it start to bubble and foam. Turn down the heat and let it stay warm to serve, or this is when you can transfer to the crock pot to stay warm for hours to serve before or with dinner. 

Then, the most important part is to serve with love. Also, I like to make a corn bread to go with this soup. Yesterday I made some sweet potato cornbread....recipe coming soon. Really though, this soup is so thick and full of flavor you will not feel like you are missing any nutrients or sides. Just enjoy!

This is one of the dishes I will be sharing with family this Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorites, so even if everyone is more concerned with all the other side dishes or whether or not the turkey is done... I don't really care because this soup is comfort and warmth in a bowl.

I hope you enjoy and have a blessed holiday with family and friends.  There is always so much to be thankful for, and to have a day to set aside and share love and gratefulness is such a blessed tradition. Enjoy!

Much love to you friends!

Cranberry-Apple Sauce (refined sugar-free)

Can you believe it is Thanksgiving week already? Seems impossible, but it is true. This time of year can be one of the most wonderful times of the year for delicious and nutritious food. With so many plentiful fall veggies, mixing that with the savory flavors of thanksgiving it is just a wonderful time to indulge in good homemade creations.

I just recently found out that we can buy local cranberries in Michigan. There is a farm just south of Grand Rapids in Holland, Michigan area. They are a blueberry and other fruit farm, and they have just recently decided to try out producing cranberries. This is quite exciting! Here is a local newspaper article about the farm they come from. Most cranberries are produced on the east coast of the US, or in Wisconsin or Washington State, so to have some of our very own Michigan cranberries is a treat. They are not super expensive either, just about 2 dollars for 12 ounces. So, really, if you want to try and make your own refined sugar- free cranberry sauce and you hate it, it was only 2 dollars wasted :) Ok, but I know you will love it. It is a fun little experiment and the colors and smells are delicious.

Cranberry Sauce:4 cups of fresh, cleaned cranberries
2 cups of pure water
juice of one lemon or organic orange
1/2 cup of raw honey
1/2 cup of pure maple syrup

4 pealed and diced apples
2 ts. of ground cinnamon

*** You could easily half this recipe in half if you want to make less***

***You could substitute the lemon juice for either apple cider or orange juice***

***If you need to add more syrup/honey to sweeten more, do so for your own taste***

First of all, you will want to wash and pour the washed, whole cranberries into a large pot. Then pour in the water, syrup, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. Let this start getting warm, which will produce a popping noise... almost like popcorn, except it's a louder pop. They will cook for about 10 minutes and you will start to produce some red cranberry juices and foam.

Keep stirring and allowing the juices and berries to mix and start to mush together. This is when you add in the diced and pealed apple pieces. Continue to cook for about 5-10 more minutes on a lower heat, just until the apples are soft enough to eat. The cranberries and apples will gel together without the use of gelatin and the sweet and tart flavor will be just perfect.

There is nothing real special about this recipe except that it shows you that you can make something like cranberry sauce on your own, and that you do not have to use table sugar or refined sweeteners. It can be done without adding anything unhealthy and it is just as yummy.

Cranberries are very healthy for you. Especially in the fall, they help cleanse your blood and make your kidneys and bladder stronger for the winter months of less fresh foods and vitamin D. They are full of antioxidants that can help build your immune system to stay well and strong.

Cranberry sauce could be a great side to your Thanksgiving dinner, or topped on top of some baked salmon, chicken, or turkey. Or, you could add it to the top of a piece of some pumpkin cheesecake, or to the tops of some pumpkin pancakes. Really you can get pretty creative with this sauce. It's a nice thing to have around this time of year.

I hope you find rest and joy this week, and are able to truly find thankfulness for life and all of it's gifts!

Much love to you!