Dutch Baby

We like Dutch Babies or German pancakes at our house. We have made them ever since we were first married. It is a weekend tradition. But now we have adapted the ingredients to fit our new health landscape.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, melt 1 T of coconut oil in a medium baking dish. The one we use is made of stoneware.

Then in a large bowl mix together well:

• 1 C of alternative flour, like brown rice flour
• 1 C of alternative milk, such as rice or almond milk
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 t of pure vanilla

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Remove from oven and slice into quarters. Serve hot.

We like ours with sweetened lemon juice on the top. In a small bowl combine:

• Juice of one lemon
• 4 or 5 drops of liquid stevia extract

Spoon the lemon juice mixture evenly over the top of the pancake.

Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

This little gem comes from a freebie publication from Sunflower Market.  I've had chocolate mousse made from avocados before, but this had the parfait twist, and it was DELISH! I've tweaked it a little to fit our needs.

Chocolate Mousse Parfaits

2 large ripe avocados
1/2 C. raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
1/4 C. agave or brown rice syrup
1/4 C. ground flaxseed
1/4 C. chopped walnuts, toasted (or other nut)
2 dates, pitted and chopped (didn't have any)
2 T. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
Fresh (or frozen) fruit

Mousse
Puree the avocado, cacao powder, agave, and vanilla in food processor or high powered blender. (This can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.)

Topping
Combine flaxseed, nuts, dates, coconut, cinnamon and salt. Use food processor on pulse until mixture is crumbly.  (can be refrigerated for up to 7 days)

To serve
Layer 1 T. mousse at the bottom of parfait glasses. Layer in fruit and sprinkle with 1 T. topping. Divide remaining mousse among glasses, top with more fruit and 1 T. topping mixture.

Serves 6 (or so it says. Ha! We served 3.)

Tahini Ginger Dressing

I eat a lot of salads. One dressing I like is made from tahini or sesame seed butter. Tahini is a little bitter to the taste, but mixed with other flavors, it gives foods a rich, almost smokey flavor. I love the stuff.

Place the following ingredients in a blender:

• 1 C tahini
• 1 C olive oil
• 1 C water
• 1/4 red wine vinegar (used pomegranate red wine vinegar today)
• 1/2 C tamari or soy sauce
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• 3/4 inch ginger, peeled
• 1 clove of garlic clove, crushed
• Black pepper to taste

Mix at high speed for about 30 seconds, then pour on your favorite salad. Store the rest of the dressing in a container in the fridge. It makes a large batch, double the original recipe (which is here).

Rice Flour Pancakes

Here is a recipe my wife found (I am not sure where), adapted to our family. These pancakes are little on the fragile side, but they are delicious.

In a large mixing bowl, combine:

• 1 C rice flour
• 2 T low-glycemic sweetener (I used xylitol today)
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt (we use Real Salt)
• 1 egg, beaten lighten
• 1 C rice, coconut or almond milk (I used canned coconut milk today, water down)
• 2 t coconut oil

Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly, then add milk and beat together. Add the egg and oil until the mixture is smooth.

We like to add frozen fruit in the pancakes while the are on the griddle. We cook them on our griddle at 350 degrees.

Today I used frozen blueberries in about half the batch, and sunflower seed butter on my plain ones.

I hope you like them!

Healthy Frozen Coconut Limeade

For New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, we enjoyed a new smoothie recipe which we adapted to our culinary standards. (I admit I lowered them a bit over the holidays.) Here is our recipe for Frozen Coconut Limeade.

In a high-powered blender (we have a VitaMix TurboBlend 4500), combine these ingredients.

• 5 cups of ice
• 3/4 cup of canned organic coconut milk
• The fresh-squeezed juice of two limes
• 1/4 cup of a low glycemic sweetener (we used xylitol yesterday) 
• 1/2 cup of water (you may want to add more if you want your smoothie a little smoother)

Blend on high until the ice is thoroughly crushed. This only takes a few seconds with a good blender. (We have a good one but we are nearing the time when we need to replace it.)

Give it a taste to see if it is sweet enough. The original recipe calls for canned limeade, but when you eat less and less sugar, you develop a less-sweet taste—and commercially sweetened drinks and foods become overpowering.

I hope you'll give it a try, but watch out for a brain freeze!