Carrot Banana Muffins

When I saw this recipe for a purely fruit sweetened carrot cake from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com I just knew I would want to make it into some sort of gluten free version.  So I did.

Last weekend our friends Chris and Larry came over to sit out on our porch and read the Sunday New York Times with us while soaking in some good Colorado sunshine and we enjoyed these descendants of Heidi's carrot, banana, date yumminess.  Here it is for all of you.

Gluten Free Carrot Banana Muffinsprint friendly recipe
2 cups blanched almond flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ cup coconut oil
1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
2. In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil
3. Transfer mixture to a large bowl
4. Blend dry mixture into wet until thoroughly combined
5. Fold in carrots and walnuts
6. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins
7. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes

Makes 18 muffins

Yesterday, I was happy to find that The Philadelphia Inquirer included my own little gluten free cookbook,  The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook in an article called "Gluten-free but still tasty."  Way cool.

In Friday Freebie news, this week I am giving away a copy of a fabulous book written by the founder of Tropical Traditions, Brian Shilhavy.  It is called Virgin Coconut Oil and was provided by the wonderful folks over at Tropical Traditions for this giveaway.  Thanks Brian! Go ahead and leave a comment for your chance to win.

The winner of last week's Friday Freebie, a Luminarc Baby Loaf Pan from the amazing Courtney at Benefit Your Life, is Lydia.

Finally, don't forget to submit your grain free cake post to the "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free" Blog Carnival I'm hosting this month. For more details view my grain free cupcakes post.

Pumpkin Ginger Soup

Soup mania continues.  And this dairy free creamy pumpkin coconut ginger soup hits the spot.  I decided I had to make something pumpkin today after making pumpkin pies from my gluten free cookbook (The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook) and finding myself with a bunch of leftover roasted pumpkin.  Of course soup was the easiest thing to make after making one too many pumpkin pies for family and friends.

We're having nice weather here, in the 60's and sunny, however with a chill in the air, I can't get enough soup.  And this one is a rich, filling and nourishing treat.

Everything has calmed down a bit since Halloween and the boys and I are settling into a good routine, other than those late night World Series games --come on Yankees, get the job done already!

In any event, I'll be serving this warming soup to the boys for dinner tonight with salad greens from the garden (which currently exists in our cold frame).  They'll finish their chores and then we'll eat dinner while we listen to the game playing on the radio.

You may want to add more stevia to your soup than the recipe calls for to make it just a bit sweeter.  I sometimes add a couple of drops of stevia to the individual bowls of soup.  If you use a different type of stevia than the recipe calls for you may need to adjust your amounts, since different brands and types of stevia have different levels of sweetness.

The lovely Karina of Karina's Kitchen also has a recipe for a yummy looking gluten free pumpkin coconut soup.  I think that's where I first got the idea to combine pumpkin with coconut in a soup, though I know I also saw something similar on one of my gluten free yahoo groups as well.

Chicken “Noodle” Soup

It's a gray day here in Boulder and I decided some soup would be in order.  Chicken Noodle Soup to be exact.  So what's a gluten free grain free girl to do for noodles?  Zucchini.  Yes, DIY zucchini noodles.

This recipe is super easy if you have chicken stock on hand.  I keep several jars in the freezer and try to have one in the fridge ready to go as well.  Just dice up some carrots, celery and other veggies of your choice and throw in those yummy zucchini noodles and you've got some good old fashioned, yet healthy modern chicken soup.

I've been sipping this soup all day long to stay warm and am looking forward to serving it to the boys when they return home from school this afternoon.

Bon Appétit is having a "virtual bake-off" in which they're collecting holiday dessert recipes from food bloggers.  I've entered my Tart and Tangy Cranberry Bars into the officially titled Bon Appétit Magazine Blog Envy Bake-Off.

Voting began yesterday, November 1st, and ends December 13th. If you like my Cranberry Bars, head on over and give them a vote by clicking on the picture of them on the Bon Appetite website.  The Cranberry Bars are in a category called COOKIES, BARS and BROWNIES.

I spent a lot of time this past weekend making recipes from my gluten free cookbook and had great fun with it.  We turned the holiday cookie recipe into Halloween themed treats using our spooky cookie cutters instead of the Christmas ones.  It's odd to me that a year after I wrote it, my children and I are still enjoying the recipes from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

Gluten Free Candy Lists for Halloween

My son and some of the other boys from the neighborhood in their "Go Green" cheerleading uniforms.

I'm posting links to some gluten free candy lists for parents who might be digging through piles of Halloween candy right about now.

My children are still out trick-or-treating and I'm sure they will eat quite a lot of candy tonight, though I have a whole table full of organic turkey, lettuce, strawberries and raspberries sitting here for them.  Thankfully, every time they've come home for a pit stop they (and all of their friends) have filled up on the real food I put out for them.

Later tonight I will buy as much of their candy from them as they wish to sell --I pay them 10 cents for every piece they give up, and then I give that candy to some poor soul.  My children will eat their fair share as well and then they'll tire of it and give the rest away.

I especially like to let my boys partake in the rituals of Halloween since both of them are gluten free and are required to sit out (or eat something separate) when it comes to cake at birthday parties, blue cupcakes at the end of baseball season, etc.

The other day my older son was chatting with me about his school Halloween party that was to take place later in the week.  I asked him if I could make some treats for the party and he nonchalantly responded, "no, Mom, there'll be a bunch of fruit plates, I'll be fine."  Wow, was all I could think, the boy still not only likes fruit, he thinks of it as a treat --hooray!

Anyway, tonight, like the rest of America, my children will eat some candy.  And I'll make sure it's gluten free.  Here are some of the gluten free candy lists that lists that I'll be referencing:

As always, these lists are only for guidance as product formulations can change; for definite information about products, contact manufacturers directly.

Happy Halloween, from the cheerleaders!

Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! Cupcakes

I am more than happy to be hosting this month's Go Ahead Honey, it's Gluten Free!, blog carnival!

For this month's theme, I've chosen grain free cakes and cupcakes.  I'm really looking forward to all of the delectable gluten free, grain free treats that people will submit for November.

And of course, I want to take a moment to thank the lovely Naomi from milkforthemorningcake.blogspot.com for asking me to do this.  I think we all will have a lot of fun with this slightly unusual theme.

To participate, all you need to do is send me a link to your post with a gluten free, grain free cake or cupcake by November 25th. It doesn't need to be a new post, you can use one that is already up.

If you are going to participate, send your information to me via the contact link on the upper right side of my site and put the words "grain free cake" in the subject line.  I will then post a round up of all the entries at the end of the month.

I don't usually highlight the fact that this is a grain-free  blog, though Naomi, being sharp as a tack of course picked up on this.

Why am I grain free?  Well, my celiac symptoms were not alleviated by the standard gluten free diet (call it refractory celiac), so I turned to the SCD for several years which helped tremendously.  While I am not strictly SCD any longer, I still do not eat any grains (that would also include potatoes, corn and soy).

Of course, if you are looking for a plethora of grain free cakes and other treats, you may want to check out my gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, for more on that --it has 99 grain free recipes.

I often receive hundreds of emails a day and this one from a woman who made her own wedding cake using the recipe below, really stood out.

Elana,

I just wanted to thank you for your site and for the vanilla cupcake recipe. I long ago found that I could make it in one layer in my 9" round, so when I could not find a single baker in all of South Florida to make me a GF wedding cake, I made my own with your recipe.

We had five cakes total, my two GF ones and three other cakes made by family using old old recipes. At the end of our reception, only a tiny bit of original red velvet and cocoa pound cake were left. The first to go? The GF ones. I made one with coconut, also using the old family way, and the other with a chocolate mascarpone cream center and chocolate ganache. I know you are also CF, but since I am not I could pile on the heavy cream! So many people commented to me about the wonderful cakes, but especially the GF ones.

I simply could not have done it without you! And the thought of having no cake at all--often the suggestion of many friends and family--was just too painful to consider. You made my having wedding cake at my own wedding possible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All the best,
Jacqueline

Thanks so much Jacqueline for letting me know about your wedding success. Congratulations are in order for your can do spirit, adventurousness and nuptials!

If vanilla isn't your thing, check out my Gluten Free and Grain Free Chocolate Cupcake recipe.

The winner of last weeks Friday Freebie for the Magic Line loaf pan is Lenee! Let's continue the same theme for this weeks Friday Freebie. Leave a comment below to win this lovely Luminarc baby loaf pan from Courtney's, Benefit your Life store.