Figgy Pear Scones (vegan)

Yummy scones to start the week off on a good foot. The cold/flu sickness is slowly leaving our house and we needed something special to wake up to this sunny Sunday morning. So, some scones it was. I love scones, mostly because they are not meant to be too sweet. Scones are kind of a mix between biscuits and cookies if you ask me. They are not meant to be a cakey muffin or a crispy cookie, they stand alone as a treat to be some what a mix of the two. That is how I like my scones at least. I know if you went to London-town and grabbed a quick tea and "crumpet" or "scone" you might be surprised at how dry they taste. And our commercialized and fast food nation has turned the scone into a modern dessert that can only be indulged with guilt. I must tell you, creating a vegan scone for the healthy soul is actually quite simple. Just a little coconut milk, coconut oil and some fresh fruit and you have a treat.

Since the birth of my son, I have stopped eating chocolate. I know, very sad. Very very sad. I love just a piece of extra dark chocolate to end almost any day. Perfect pieces of happiness if you ask me. Thankfully my adorable son makes up for the lack of chocolate with his cuteness, and knowing it will make him a happier nursed baby- it is really worth it. Still.... I mourn the lack of chocolate. So, I tell you all of this because I have been eating figs as a substitute. Not really a substitute for taste, but more as a little sweet pure treat to end a good meal with. I found a large bag of unsulphured, organic dried figs at a local market and I decided this was my "new" treat. I have loved them so much, and I feel sad that I have not tried them before. Unless fig newtons count... I used to loved those as a kids (hm, maybe a GF recipe in the future...) Anyways, this scone recipe was in need of some figgy-goodness, and I must say, turned out fabulous!

Pre-baked scones on parchment, ready for popping in the oven.

Figgy Pear Scone Recipe

1 cup of brown rice flour

1/2 cup of millet flour

1/2 cup of sweet sorghum flour

1/2 cup of tapioca flour

1/2 cup of sucanat or coconut palm sugar

1 ts. of xanthan gum

2 ts. of baking powder

1 ts. of baking soda

1/2 ts. of sea salt

1 ts. of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of coconut oil

1/4 cup of agave nectar

1 ts. of pure vanilla

1/3 cup of applesauce

2/3 cup of So Delicious coconut milk beverage (or other non-dairy milk) with 2 TB of fresh lemon juice *make buttermilk mixture* I recommend the coconut milk beverage because it is perfectly thick and creamy with lots of nutrients, much better than say a thin rice milk.

1 cup of diced dried, unsulphured organic figs

1 cup of diced fresh pear pieces

First, mix 2/3 cup of coconut milk beverage with 2 TB of fresh lemon juice in a small separate bowl. This mixture will make a buttermilk like mixture after sitting for 10 minutes. Then, mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the softened coconut oil to the dry ingredients and mix well like you are making a pie crust and have little pellets (or pea sized pieces of dough). Then, after mixing the dry and the oil together, add the rest of the wet ingredients, including the *buttermilk mixture* and mix well. Then lastly, add the dried figs and fresh pears. Mix well and let sit just a minute to thicken up and be ready for putting on the baking sheet.

For best baking results: Use a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Then use a large ice cream scoop with inside scraper to make little balls for the scones to bake as. Or if you do not have a special ice cream scooper, then oil your hands with just a touch of coconut oil and form 1/3 cup sized balls with your hands for the scones. Almost like rolling a big cookie in your hands. This recipe will make about 12 scones that are 1/3 cup sized. You can make more or less depending on how big you want them. The picture above is of the scones right after they were baked and pulled from the oven. As you can see they did not spread very much, so just be aware that you do not need to worry too much about space on your cookie sheet.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes depending on your oven and to your liking. Let cool for a few minutes before moving from pan.

Then comes the time for eating! The best part. If you would like a little sweetness added to your scones, then I suggest drizzling a little maple syrup or agave as a glaze over the top of a scone before serving. It would just add a taste of sweetness without the addition of refined sugars. I hope you enjoy and stay warm this cold winter day.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Much love-

Stephanie

Two Potato Soup (vegan)

This is no rocket-science gluten-free recipe, but it is one of simplicity and warmth. I needed that this week, when our house came down with the cold/flu virus. No fun. There has been a lot of tea drinking, honey sippin' and lemon squeezing around here. I think we are on the way out, but in the meantime I was in need of a one pot meal that would feel good on a sore throat. And because I would have to run out to the store if I was going to make a special pot of chicken noodle soup for the sick, I decided to whip something up that would be a hearty warm substitute with the ingredients I had in the house.
I made some quick millet biscuits to go with this soup and within less than an hour or so, we had a warm dinner served for the sickies. Which is just what you need when you are tending to the sick, and trying to stay well yourself. I haven't come down with the sickness yet...some things I have been doing to stay well and fight off the germs.

My top-10 list for fighting off the cold/flu germs:

1. Taking A LOT of vitamin C- 2000mg-6000mgs a day

2. Drinking a lot of Immunity Booster Tea

3. Washing hands and keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean

4. Light stretching to sweat out toxins and germs

5. Staying hydrated with pure clean water, or hot water with fresh lemon juice.

6. Avoiding the usual sugar, dairy and gluten (yes, all of these can cause your immune system to fail if you are trying to fight off sickness).

7. Using raw honey as a throat soother, swallow a spoonful at a time if needed.

8. Eating broths, soups, and simple foods. Nothing too complex, greasy or spicy.

9. Napping and resting as much as possible.

10. Use other natural remedies like nettie pot, humidifier, and herbal tonics

Now, to the quick recipe I have been tempting you with. Pure, simple and warm...what more do you want when you feel under the weather?!

Two Potato Soup Recipe

2 TB of olive oil

1 small yellow onion (around 1/2 cup diced)

2 cups of diced raw sweet potatoes

2 cups of diced raw white potatoes

4 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken broth works too)

2 cups of pure water

half of lemon freshly squeezed for juice

1 ts. of sea salt

1 ts. of black pepper

1 TB of minced garlic powder

1-2 ts. of ground ginger

1 ts. of ground paprika

1 ts. of dried marjoram or rosemary

1 ts. of dried basil

1 ts. of dried oregano

handful of chopped fresh parsley or chives

Saute the onion in a large pot with the olive oil for a few minutes, then add the broth, water and diced potatoes. Cook for a few more minutes and then add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil on high for 10-15 minutes and then turn down the heat and let cook until the potatoes start to fall apart in the broth. Use the back of a large ladle or spoon to help the potatoes break up and become a part of the broth. The soup will get much thicker if you do this after about 30 minutes or so. Then after the potatoes have broken down enough to your liking, add some fresh chives or parsley for serving a hot bowl of soup. Serve with your favorite bread or biscuit and viola you have a warm dinner.

Some other soups stews that I have made while sick to feel better:

Peanut Cabbage Quinoa Soup

Gingered Carrot Soup

Red Lentil Soup

This post is linked to the Pennywise Platter 1/27/2011 at The Nourishing Gourmet

I hope you are having a good week and staying away from the cold/flu virus, but if you are not...try this simple soup and stay home and rest! :)

Much love to you!

Stephanie

Millet "Buttermilk" Biscuits (gluten-free, vegan)

Today is a good day. I figured out how to make some vegan "buttermilk" biscuits that my family really likes. I know there probably are a few other GF/vegan biscuits on the market, but I really wanted to create one that I could make from scratch and that I really liked. I found it today. I am truly happy with this creation and know I will be making it again and again. I love how they are made with millet flour. They have good protein filled flour with no added junk. Millet is so nutty, yet not too strong or earthy, it is just right in my opinion. They have a perfect crusty crunchy skin, with a fluffy, almost flaky, middle. I guess in my mind, they are a gluten-free version of the Pillsbury Grands biscuit. They taste and smell just like them to me. It has been probably over 5 years since I have has a Grands biscuit, so my memory may be failing me, but really...who really cares. Don't burst my bubble. I'm on cloud nine.

Oh the crazy life of a gluten-free baker. We just dream up creations... thinking about all of the what ifs. It's crazy that a gluten-free "buttermilk" biscuit could make you feel like life has more possibilities than it did before. That there is hope for us and that eating gluten-free can be the 'bee's-knees'. OK, I'm going a bit overboard, but truly I believe that more excited you are about eating gluten-free the more content you will be with the lifestyle. There are so many possibilities that can happen with these delightful biscuits. A treat with any soup or stew...smothered in vegan butter with your favorite homemade jam, or other breakfast treats. My husband asked if I could try to make some pigs-in-a-blanket with this recipe... and that got my brain a spinning. Really... the new possibilities are wondrous. So many adventures to be had.

Millet "Buttermilk" Biscuits Recipe

1/2 cup of brown rice flour

1/2 cup of tapioca flour

1/2 cup of organic corn flour

1 cup of millet flour (+ handful more for rolling and dusting)

1 1/2 TB of flaxmeal

2 ts. of baking powder

1 ts. of baking soda

1 ts. of xanthan gum

1/2 ts. of sea salt

1/4 cup of homemade applesauce

1/4 cup of agave nectar (or raw honey, but won't be vegan)

1/3 cup of melted coconut oil

3/4 cup of So Delicious Coconut Milk (or other non-dairy milk) ***with 1 lemon freshly squeezed into the separate bowl. So about 2-3 TB of fresh lemon juice added to the milk and let sit for 10 minutes to make a cultured buttermilk-type of mixture.

First, pour the milk and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Wait for 10 minutes and it will be ready to mix with the rest of the batter. In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together first, and then add the wet including the milk/lemon mixture. Mix well with a spatula, but make sure not to over mix to make it too soft. Then wait a few minutes and the dry and wet will thicken a bit together.

If the batter is a bit too soft for some reason, then add just a dusting of millet flour so that you can handle it with your hands and roll out on a piece of parchment paper or on the floured counter.

Roll out a large log with the dough, and try to roll it out to 12 inches. Then take a serrated knife and cut 1 inch slices so that you end up with 12 biscuits circles. Put the biscuits on a parchment papered baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The picture above the recipe is of the pre-baked biscuits ready for baking.

You will know the biscuits are perfect when your kitchen smells heavenly and the tops of the biscuits should be golden brown and the bottoms brown as well. Wait a few minutes to cool before you serve with soup, salad or with a dollup of jam.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and save it for the best-of's for 2011. I know it's a 2011 fav and it's only January. I hope you have a warm and cozy day. I sit here by my kitchen window as another 5 inches of snow is being dropped. Beautiful of course... and bitterly cold. So, it's nice to be inside enjoying warm biscuits with my loves.

Have a good day!

Stephanie

Coconut Squash Curry (vegan)

I recently remembered a curry recipe my mom used to cook when I was a kid. I loved it for some reason, and she only made it every now and then because I don't think anyone else really liked it. It's funny how you all of a sudden remember a memory from when you were younger... I wonder if it is prompted by a smell, or taste, or an all-of-a-sudden need for comfort and the feeling of home. Whatever it is, I felt that I needed some comfort food for this cold January day. Comfort food doesn't have to be made with lots of butter, cheese and gluten, no...it can be made with coconut milk, warm spices and made with lots of love. This recipe is what my heart, and stomach were asking for and they didn't even know it. Delicious, and fulfilling.

The dish my mom made was a chicken curry dish with green beans, and rice...I think it probably had canned cream-of-something soup, mayo and maybe bread crumbs as a topping?! So, I couldn't reproduce that now and feel good about it, or have my body feeling good either. So, I came up with a better option for the gluten-free, dairy-free life... and it was fabulous. So good.

It was a perfect match to a cold snowy day. I had some winter squash frozen in the fridge, along with some frozen fresh organic green beans, so this was a simple put together meal... you just need a few minutes, and some curry powder. Also, a very budget friendly meal with a good serving of veggies and whole grains. If you want to cook some chicken or garbanzo beans to go along side of this meal to add a bit more protein, then go for it.

Coconut Squash Curry Recipe

1/2 cup of chopped yellow onion

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 TB of olive oil

Saute the onion, garlic and oil in a medium to large pot, after 2-3 minutes of sauteing, then add the rest of the blended ingredients...

In a blender or food processor add the following ingredients and blend well...

2 cups of cooked and pureed winter squash (butternut or buttercup are best)

1- 1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock (this depends on how watery/creamy you want the sauce)

1 cup of canned coconut milk (or So Delicious Coconut Beverage would work, just much thinner and less fat and creaminess from the full fat canned coconut milk)

1 TB of Italian Herb Blend (or 1 ts. of each: oregano, basil and marjoram)

1 ts. of poultry seasoning

1 ts. of lemon black pepper (or just black pepper works too)

1/2 ts. of sea salt

1 TB of curry powder

After you blend all of the above ingredients, pour into the pot where the onion and garlic have been cooking. Work the sauce up to a bowl, and then simmer on low... this is when you can add the green beans...

1-2 cups of lightly steamed green beans (either fresh or frozen works here)

If you want to add different or more veggies to this dish, then go for it... no one is stopping you :)

All the while of cooking the sauce, you can be boiling some brown rice pasta... this sauce will feed about 2-4 people, so if you are making a meal for 4 or more I suggest you double the sauce recipe above and make enough noodles for all servings.

So, this dish is my new favorite comfort food recipe! I just finished a plate for lunch, and now I can't wait till I can eat the leftovers for dinner or lunch tomorrow. It is so yummy and perfectly warming for a cold day. I hope you try this simple, healthy recipe out and enjoy the comfort of staying warm in your own kitchen.

Much love to you today!

Stephanie

This recipe is posted on the Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet