Rooty Fruity Hotdog Hash - GF, Grain-Free, Nightshade-Free

Today I made lunch like I do almost every day. Begin with a cast-iron skillet and a fridge of leftovers and end with something that no one in the world has ever eaten before. Sometimes it is quite tasty - today, tasty enough to write down the recipe.

We had leftover roasted parsnips in the fridge - not everyone has those, but they should since they make things so tasty. Just add some extra scrubbed and olive-oil slathered parsnips to the bottom of your next meat roast and see if you are fortunate enough to have any left for yummy hashes.

So here is the recipe...

Rooty Fruity Hotdog Hash - 1 serving

Add to well-buttered skillet:

- 1/4 cup sliced cooked parsnips
- 1/2 cup cooked beans (I used azuki beans. One could use cooked navy, northern or red beans)
- Nitrite-free turkey hotdogs - 1 or 2 sliced (I buy these for a reasonable price)
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground fennel seed
- dash of black pepper and salt to taste

Saute on med-high until hotdogs begin to sizzle and warm through. Add a splash of chicken broth or unsweetened coconut milk if mixture begins to stick or become too brown. Peel and slice a mango. When mixture is done, turn off burner and chop desired amount of fresh mango into the mixture. Stir slightly, serve and eat.  (Any remaining mango may be eaten for dessert with fresh yogurt or coconut milk.)

I found that the spicy sweet tastes of parsnip and mango go very well together and complement the saltiness of hotdogs and blandness of the beans wonderfully. The fennel and ginger just give it more spicy delight. Try it sometime - try it with variations. It's great for people who like the convenience of hotdogs but can't eat buns or ketchup!

Flogurt & Berries

This breakfast/snack/dessert recipe is extremely adventurous, so only recommended for like-minded palates. But it is free of sugar (except minimal amount in natural berries), dairy, grains, soy, and starches - and it has a texture identical to yogurt.

Here it is.

Cook in saucepan over medium heat until vegetable pieces are tender:
2 cups chopped fresh cauliflower (1/2 small head)
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 T white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 T sunflower, coconut or grapeseed oil


Pour cauliflower mixture into blender and add
1/2 cup unsweetened almond (and/or coconut) milk 
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
Stevia glycerite drops to taste


Blend until very smooth. If cauliflower pieces are tender enough, this should not take more than a minute.

Pour 'flogurt' over fresh or frozen mixed berries. To serve as a dessert, the flogurt can be poured into a dish which has frozen berries on the bottom and allowed to sit in the refrigerator a couple hours before serving so the berries thaw.

Pureed cooked cauliflower is also delicious as a vanilla smoothie without the vinegar/lemon juice and with a little extra liquid. Try it with cinnamon or nutmeg.

Beans & Cabbage on a Trip

Cooked navy beans and steamed cabbage. Combining these does not produce culinary delight - more like a bland mush, and maybe other issues later. But it's what I had to work with, and I was determined to make it delightful, or at least interesting. So in the skillet they went.

A cup of cooked cabbage

A half cup of beans

Then it got interesting, and here is the recipe. 

Add to cabbage and beans in a cast-iron skillet:

1 tsp. butter
1/2 tsp. whole caraway seed

Stir and sautee` briefly. Then add:

1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

1/4 tsp. ground coriander 

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/3 cup coconut milk (we keep So Delicious refrigerated on hand)

1/2 tsp onion powder

Dash of black pepper

Salt to taste


Cook on med-high, stirring occasionally until thick and bubbly.
Remove heat and stir in
1 tsp. coconut oil

 Serve piping hot, topped with additional coconut milk, butter, or coconut oil if desired.  

(This could also be made with fresh onion, sauteed from the beginning with the caraway seed, instead of adding onion powder later.)

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup

I invented this recipe as I was making some quick pumpkin soup and found this sitting on the counter...

Sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free GAPS-safe and completely yummy! If you have the pumpkin cooked ahead of time (half and de-seed the pumpkin; put face-down on a cookie sheet with 1/2" water and bake at 350 till soft; scrape cooked pumpkin into a dish) and in the fridge, it's also fast and easy. The peanut butter adds a hearty dose of protein.

1 cup coconut milk
2 cups cooked pumpkin or butternut squash
1/2 c. natural peanut butter
1 T butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt to taste

Combine in pan over medium heat and cook till bubbling. Turn off. Pour carefully into blender (do several small batches if necessary to avoid explosions) and puree till smooth. Serve with a spoon. I could definitely eat this for breakfast.

Grainless Pumpkin Snacking Squares - Gluten and Sugar Free, GAPS friendly

The best thing about these bars is that they travel marvelously, and for someone on a sugar and grain-free diet, snacks on the go can become rather limited. They're a welcome supplement to my the usual starchless fare of nuts and raw veggies! I admit, they taste somewhat healthy. You won't imagine that you're eating a soft cookie made with white flour -- but they are chewy, flavorful and satisfying.  They key is the spices!

1 cup pumpkin seeds, freshly toasted

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup soft butter or coconut oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

Stevia to taste (8 drops or so of liquid stevia) or xylitol

Grind toasted pumpkin seeds (still hot) and seasonings in blender or food processor until powdery or starting to clump. Add remaining ingredients, blend until smooth (may need to scrape down sides with a knife or wooden spoon) Scrape dough out of the blender jar onto a well-greased cookie sheet and spread to about 1/2" thickness. (Does not need to reach sides) Sprinkle with more cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes (I've actually never timed it!) or until puffy* and lightly browned on the edges. Cut into squares on cookie sheet. Allow to sit 5-10 minutes and remove with metal spatula. Store as you would cookies - about a week in airtight container at room temperature, and for ages in the freezer. I like to keep them in the freezer and eat them cold with a generous topping of butter. 

*These bars have made bubbles for me without fail, despite attempts to prick holes, etc. If anyone tries these and discovers a way to get rid of the bubbles, let me know. On the positive side, the bubbles do make the texture more interesting.

Savory Snacking Squares recipe should appear in a future post.

Simple Chicken Seanoodle Soup - GF, GAPS Safe

Dried seaweed is a great bang-for-your-buck food source.  A small amount expands considerably in liquid and is nutritious and filling. It keeps for months in air-tight storage, so is easy to grab for adding extra grain-free food-ness to your soup, or scrambled eggs. There are numerous varieties, many of which I've not even tried, but all the ones I've had are just fun to eat - noodly texture without the noodly starch - and full of flavor.
This recipe makes one serving but can easily be stretched by just adding more of everything, exact amounts not necessary. It's a great breakfast or snack for when you're under the weather or just want some slurpy comfort food with lots of healing properties.

• 1 cup real chicken or turkey broth (If it has fat on top, use it)
• 2 T dried seaweed leaves (I used hijiki, a dark, small-leaved, chewy seaweed with a shrimp-like aroma)
• 1/4" slice of fresh ginger root, pressed through garlic press
• 1 clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook broth, seaweed, ginger and garlic in small saucepan over med heat till broth boils and seaweed expands. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low. Crack egg into the soup, swirling the egg white into the broth, but leaving the yolk unbroken. Cover and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowl. Sprinkle with milled flax seed if desired.

Sweet Burger Skillet Dinner

(re-post from my non-cooking blog) This recipe is gluten-free, and absolutely delicious. Make sure to give enough time for the sweet potato cubes to cook to soft, sticky yummy blobs (unless you like your sweet potatoes crunchy).

I made this skillet supper for dinner tonight. It was so yummy that I wanted to put down the recipe somewhere.

You will need

1 large-2 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pared

1 sweet onion

1 bell pepper

Chop all on a cutting board and add to

2 T coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Cook and stir until onions begin to soften. Cover and cook on low for 10 minutes. Remove temporarily to separate dish. Add to skillet:

3/4 lb. hamburger

2-3 cloves garlic

Cook until meat is brown and add sweet potato mixture back into skillet, stirring all together.

Add

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 tsp. salt

fresh basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme - chopped, or 1 tsp. each dried if no fresh available.

Add a Tbsp or so of beef or vegetable stock as needed to prevent sticking. Cover and simmer on low half an hour, stirring occasionally until sweet potatoes are soft.

Serve over this base:

Cook millet or rice in half beef or vegetable stock/broth, and half coconut milk with cinnamon, salt and black pepper, till dry and fluffy.