Gluten and Sugar Free Brownies

I found this recipe, which I tweaked a little in a wonderful out of print cookbook, The Low Carb Gourmet by Karen Barnaby. You can make a half recipe in a 8” square pan as well. These were really good.

Ingredients

• 10 ounces organic cream cheese, at room temperature
• 16 tablespoons pastured/organic butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• Stevia liquid or powder to equal 1 cup of Sugar (I use 1 tablespoon powder)
• 4 large, organic and pastured eggs
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1 1/2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure chocolate extract (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups almond meal (finely ground almonds – I make ours from crispy almonds)
• 6 tablespoons organic Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoons Celtic sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and Butter until smooth. Beat in the chocolate and sweetener. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping the bowl well after each addition. Add the coffee and extracts. Beat until combined.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the almond meal, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Add to the chocolate mixture and beat well. Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is firm. Cool on a wire rack before cutting. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
4. Per Brownie, if cut into 24 servings: Effective carbohydrates: 3 grams each.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/10/monday-mania-10312011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-november-1-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/11/real-food-wednesday-1122011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/11/02/simple-lives-thursday-68/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-november-4th/

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Fantastic Grassfed Barbecue

It’s been just over two years since I first started using Mr. Fishman’s previous book, Tender Grassfed Meat. I still use it all the time and every recipe I have tried has been wonderful. To me this shows an author who truly tests their recipes and takes the best ones for their book.

I was so excited to get this new book and see what new recipes there were to try.  Cooking grassfed meat is very different then cooking corn fed meat. It’s much better for us and for the animals and the taste is truly wonderful, but learning to cook it can be challenging at first. Once you learn the methods it’s easy but you do need to learn the differences.

This book is broken into three sections. The first section is an overview of the benefits of traditional foods and traditional barbecue methods. There have been article about how it’s unhealthy to barbecue meat, and this book gives you how to barbecue healthfully, using real food ingredients.

In the second section there’s a great section on barbecue cookers, equipment and fuel – I learned a lot from this one. How to use indirecting cooking and traditional barbecue flavors and ingredients. There’s also a section on types of grassfed and pastured meat, how to prepare and finding and using grassfed and healthy fats.

The third and largest section is the recipes and there are a lot. Recipes for broth, Beef, Bison, Lamb and Pork. Also a section on Baste, Raw Vegetable Condiments and two sections on side dishes, one of them specifically for low carb side dishes. I’ve made a few recipes so far, the Shashlik Shoulder Roast, Basil Lamb burgers and the Chimichurri Sauce. They were all delicious and there are many more recipes I plan to try.

This book is great for everyone who wants to barbecue healthfully. If you are eating Low carb, Paleo, Primal/ Real Food it’ll give you many, new healthful recipes for you and your family. Highly recommended!

Click the image below to take you to the Amazon page:

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/10/monday-mania-10242011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-25-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/10/real-food-wednesday-10262011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/10/26/simple-lives-thursday-67/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-1027.html

Sunday, October 16^th is World Food Day!

There will be rallies and events all over the U.S.  Find one near you here:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm

Some great stories in the news this week:

Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm, on fighting GMOs

“What people need to understand with GE, or genetically engineered, [aka GMO] crops is that the seeds are owned by chemical companies. When we sanction the unrestricted use of GE crops, we’re sanctioning the unrestricted use of these chemicals, which are already making us sick.

I’m hopeful. As I travel the country, I hear that people want freedom of choice. Eighty-seven percent of Americans say that genetically modified foods should be labeled and that they don’t want to buy GE crops and food grown from GE seeds. Consumers care, farmers care, even nonorganic farmers care because they don’t want to be told what kind of seeds to grow and they don’t want to pay the higher costs demanded by these companies.

Read more here:  http://newhope360.com/non-gmo/know-your-gmos-hidden-ingredients-safe-labels-and-taking-action

In Free Market, No GMO

Jan 222011

Think. Should farmers & consumers in Vermont have as many rights as those in Europe, Australia and New Zealand?

The European Union (EU) countries implemented mandatory labeling requirements for genetically engineered soy and corn. By the end of 1998, nearly all the grocery chains and fast food restaurants in the EU had eliminated genetically engineered ingredients from their products.

Australian and New Zealand food manufacturers must label all processed food products that contain GMO (genetically engineered, or biotech) ingredients. As a result of this labeling requirement, Australia’s largest food conglomerate, Goodman Fielder, eliminated GMO from its product line. Other manufacturers and grocery chains are following suit.

In Vermont, however, we have a new governor who killed the 2000 GMO labelling act when he was a Senator. “…A measure mandating labels on genetically modified seeds and food, liability for the purveyors of the technology and registration of the location of transgenic crops with town clerks flew through the Senate Agriculture Committee. But its good fortunes ended in the Finance Committee. Democratic Sen. Peter Shumlin voted with Republicans to table the bill.”

“Shumlin told Sen. Cheryl Rivers (D), then chair of the Agriculture Committee, that he was “unwilling to support a bill requiring labeling of genetically modified foods because the Democrats had already lost the contributions of pharmaceutical companies, and he was not willing to sacrifice contributions from the food industry,” according to the Rutland Herald.

Read more here:  http://senatorwagner.com/2011/01/in-free-market-no-gmo/

Buy  No GMO t-shirts

This is the winning t-shirt from the contest sponsored by the Institute for Responsible Technology, 25% of the proceed go to them and it’s on sale until 10/11 for only $10.00 – I thought it was a great design!

http://www.threadless.com/product/3228/GMOS_OMG/

And one from Moms for Safe Food too!  This is the Men’s T – there are women’s too.

They say:

My husband came up with a great slogan and I made them up for café press. We are not making any money on these, just selling them at Café Press’s base price.

I just like them (we all have one) and wanted to offer them to others.

Link:

http://www.cafepress.com/momsforsafefood

So many good things in the news this week! 🙂

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/10/monday-mania-10102011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-11-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/10/real-food-wednesday-10122011.html

Read more, great Simples Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/10/12/simple-lives-thursday-65/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-1013.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-14th/

Easy Thai Curry Recipe

We love Thai food and I can make a pretty good Indian Curry but wasn’t having much luck with Thai curry until I found Mae Ploy brand curry pastes in our local Asian Market. They are inexpensive, $2.50 or so each and each container will make many curries as you only need a tablespoon or two if you like it really spicy.

They come in many varieties, Yellow, Panang, Green, Red and Massaman and are all natural. The ingredients in the Panang – one of our favorites – is: Dried red chillie, Lemongrass, Shallot, Salt, Garlic, Galangal, Mung beans, Shrimp paste, Kaffir lime peel, Coriander seeds, Cumin, Pepper

All the other varieties have similar ingredients.

You can make a super easy curry dinner. I just pour one can of Organic Coconut milk into a bowl and add one tablespoon of curry paste and whisk for a few minutes until blended.

Then I take a large sauté pan, and in 1 tablespoon or so of coconut oil I sauté whatever vegetables I have on hand. Onion, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, eggplant – any vegetable will work.  If you are using meat or chicken you can sauté it before the veggies to get it cooked, put it on a plate and then start the veggies. If you are using fish or beans or leftover cooked meat,  cook the veggies first and then add. I will sometimes add frozen shrimp as they’ll cook really fast.

So, once your veggies are partially cooked pour in the coconut milk/curry paste mixture and add  your cooked meat/raw fish/frozen shrimp/cooked beans – whatever you’re using and let it simmer until done, usually around 10-20 minutes.

Serve with organic brown rice if you’re eating grain. I just have mine with a heaping tablespoon of organic Greek yogurt on the side. Delicious!

Amazon carries the brand, a link is below, but if you have an Asian store near you, you can buy many varieties and they are very inexpensive. Stock up on Coconut Milk there as well. Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania Posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/10/monday-mania-1032011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-october-4-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/10/real-food-wednesday-1052011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/10/06/simple-lives-thursday-64/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-106.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-7th/

Organic Stevia Cheesecake  (gluten and grain free as well)

This is a very easy recipe and it lends itself to making a smaller recipe. The first time I made it I was figuring out the stevia amounts so I made a half recipe and it was great. The last time I made it I only had three packages of cream cheese so I cut the other ingredients accordingly and it also worked great. If you halve the recipe you can make it in six custard cups. It’s wonderful with a little fresh fruit or sugar free jam and it freezes really well too. The picture if from the first time I made this. Using all the cream cheese makes a thicker cheesecake, then pictured. It’s delicious too!

Ingredients:

32 ounces – 4 packages – organic cream cheese

1 tablespoon Stevia (use amount equal to 1 cup organic sugar)

1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

1 teaspoon organic lemon juice  (add lemon zest too)

4 organic, pastured eggs

3 tablespoons organic sour cream or organic Greek yogurt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and splenda at slow to medium speed, scraping sides often. Add all other ingredients except eggs. When completely mixed (with no lumps), add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating very slowly. When eggs are incorporated, do not mix any more

Pour the mixture into a 9” springform pan. I make an easier version of a water bath for my cheesecakes. I put a 9×13 inch pan on the oven shelf below the cheesecake and put an inch or so of water in it. This makes the oven nice and humid but you don’t have to worry about wrapping the cheesecake itself.

Place the pan of water on a lower shelf while you are preheating the oven.  Place the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. This is how you avoid cracks in your cheesecake.

It may be beneficial to run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake, separating it from the sides of the pan. If your goal is to serve the cheesecake on a different dish without the bottom of the spring form pan, then the pan can be lined with parchment paper before the batter is poured in. Make sure to grease both sides of the paper. This will make for easy removal of the cheesecake later. It works best if the cheesecake has been refrigerated fully before trying to remove it from the bottom pan. Cheesecake is even better the second day.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/09/monday-mania-9262011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/09/fat-tuesday-september-27-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/09/real-food-wednesday-9282011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/09/29/simple-lives-thursday-63/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-september-30th/

Read more, great Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival posts here: http://hartkeisonline.com/cooking/weekend-gourmet-blog-carnival-september-26-2011/

Asian Chicken Thighs

Found this recipe for Asian Chicken Thighs. I use either one or two packages of TJ’s boneless organic thighs. Usually two as I am feeding a teenager but even then we have some leftovers.

They’re easy to make and really good!

Ingredients:

10 boneless organic chicken thighs  (our TJ’s carries them)

2  organic garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup organic soy sauce (I use the Gluten Free variety)

2 tbsp organic olive oil

Organic Coconut oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except chicken thighs

2. Add chicken thighs to mixture, coat them completely and let them marinade for at least an hour. I usually make the marinade an hour or two before dinner and put the marinated in the refrigerator until I’m ready to cook.

3. Add about two tablespoons of coconut oil to a large pot and let it heat at medium temperature for about 5 minutes. You want a nice thick layer of oil on the bottom.

4. Add chicken thighs in batches to the pot and fry. I can fit around 5 in my pan at one time.

5. Cook the chicken thighs, turning them about every 5 minutes. Because of the marinade they have, they tend to get brown very quickly so please turn them often to prevent burning. It takes about twenty minutes for the batch of five thighs to be ready. Then I added the other batch of five and cooked them the same way.

I’ve made them a few times. Have served them with a salad, broccoli with butter and Sauerkraut.  They’d be good with rice as well. Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/09/monday-mania-9192011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/09/fat-tuesday-september-20-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/09/real-food-wednesday-9212011.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/09/22/simple-lives-thursday-62/

Read more, Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/09/pennywise-platter-thursday-922.html

GMOs in the News – Sept 2011 edition

Lots in the news about GMOs  this month. Share this post with your friends and families. The more people that learn about GMOs, the better!       Mom

Organic Versus Genetically Engineered Crops: Some Rays of Light

August 30, 2011

Recent court decisions may help. Plus, new research shows how dangerous Monsanto’s GMOs really are.

Natural organic crops need to be protected from potential contamination by synthetic, genetically engineered seeds—especially in the face of less government oversight of GMOs. Natural seeds face the same Catch-22 as supplements: they cannot be patented, whereas synthetic seeds (and drugs) can be—and are therefore huge profit centers for Big Agro and Big Pharma, not to mention the government agencies in bed with them. They also need protection from the increased use of pesticides used on GE crops, which are also carried by the winds.

Our colleagues at ANH International reported recently that two court cases in the US might be turning the tide in favor of organic farmers over GE crops:

• Last December, the California Court of Appeal found the Western Farm Service guilty of “negligence, trespass, and nuisance” against Jacobs Organic Farm and the Del Cabo Organic Cooperative. In 2006 Western Farm applied GE organophosphate (OP) pesticides to Brussels sprouts grown on land neighboring the organic farms. Winds carried these pesticides onto the organic produce and contaminated it—making it unsalable as organic. Even though Western Farm claimed to have taken precautions to avoid pesticide drift, it still happened—and fortunately the court found them guilty.
• Last month, after ten years of futile complaints to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Court of Appeals found the Paynesville Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Company guilty of negligence, trespass, and nuisance on Oluf and Debra Johnson’s organic farm. Once again the pesticides sprayed on the oil company’s farms spread to the Johnsons’ land.

One of the big problems with GE crops is that they are responsible for the greatly increased use of pesticides which can easily contaminate organic crops. Now organic farms have legal precedents to sue conventional farms (and those using GMOs) for pesticide contamination.

Read the rest of the article here:  http://www.anh-usa.org/organic-v-ge-crops-rays-of-light/

Monsanto GM Corn in Peril: Beetle develops Bt-resistance

Rady Ananda, Contributing Writer
Nature herself may be the best opponent of genetically modified crops and pesticides.  Not only plants, but insects are also developing resistance.  The Western rootworm beetle – one of the most serious threats to corn – has developed resistance to Monsanto’s Bt-corn, and entire crops are being lost.

Farmers from several Midwest states began reporting root damage to corn that was specifically engineered with a toxin to kill the rootworm.  Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann recently confirmed that the beetle, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, has developed resistance to the Bt protein, Cry3Bb1.

Bacillus thuringiensis – Bt – is a bacterium that kills insects.  Different proteins are engineered into cotton as well as corn plants.
Two-thirds of all US corn is genetically modified per the USDA, and the bulk of that is Bt-corn. Monsanto has the biggest market share in the US, reporting about 35% in 2009.

In response to the July 2011 study, Monsanto said only the “YieldGard® VT Triple and Genuity® VT Triple PRO™ corn products” are affected.

“It appears he has demonstrated a difference in survival in the lab, but it is too early to tell whether there are implications for growers in the field.”

However, Kansas State researchers summarized the study, indicating that the specimens tested came from fields suffering severe rootworm damage and compared them to those from unaffected fields.  In other words, it was a field study.

Resistance developed where the same Bt corn had been grown at least three years in a row.  Gassmann found “a significant positive correlation between the number of years Cry3Bb1 maize had been grown in a field and the survival of rootworm populations on Cry3Bb1 maize in bioassays.”

Ag Professional’s Colleen Scherer explains that “the Cry3Bb1 toxin is the major one deployed against rootworms. There is no ‘putting the genie back in the bottle,’ and resistance in these areas is a problem that won’t go away.”

Read the rest here:  http://www.activistpost.com/2011/08/monsanto-gm-corn-in-peril-beetle.html

EU bans GM-contaminated honey from general sale

Bavarian beekeepers forced to declare their honey as genetically modified because of contamination from nearby Monsanto crops

• Leigh Phillips
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 September 2011 11.28 BST

Honey bees on a honeycomb in Germany. A European court has ruled that honey which contains traces of pollen from genetically modified crops needs special authorisation before it can be sold. Photograph: Heribert Proepper/AP

The European Union’s highest court on Tuesday ruled that honey which contains trace amounts of pollen from genetically modified (GM) corn must be labelled as GM produce and undergo full safety authorisation before it can be sold as food.

In what green groups are calling a “groundbreaking” ruling, the decision could force the EU to strengthen its already near-zero tolerance policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Bavarian beekeepers, some 500m from a test field for a modified maize crop developed by Monsanto – one of only two GM crops authorised as safe to be cultivated in Europe – claimed their honey had been “contaminated” by pollen from the plant.

The European court of justice found in their favour, a ruling that should offer grounds for the beekeepers to claim compensation in a German court.

But the court’s finding also potentially threatens recent EU legislation, introduced in July this year, that permits traces of GMOs in animal feed without a safety review.

Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said that the ruling “would confirm that existing laws allowing traces of unauthorised GM contamination are insufficient and would need revising.”

French Green MEP José Bové, an ex-farmer well-known for his destruction of a McDonald’s franchise in the south of France and the uprooting of GM crops in Brazil, said that the only protection farmers can have is for a complete ban on GMOs in Europe. “Beekeepers are powerless to prevent the contamination of their honey by GM pollen, as farmers are for their crops, and thus powerless to prevent the tainting of the foodstuffs they produce and the integrity of their product.

“The only sure way to prevent this is by precluding the cultivation of GMOs.”

Greenpeace, describing the traces of pollen in the honey as “genetic pollution” said that Monsanto and the Bavarian state should be held liable for the beekeepers’ losses as a result of their product having to be labelled as containing GMOs.

However, agricultural specialists criticised the ruling, saying that the decision has no grounding in science.

Guy Poppy, the director of the centre for biological sciences at the University of Southampton, told the Guardian: “There is no safety issue. This honey is as safe as any other.”

(Note from Mom – if you read the rest of the article the Biotech ’employee’ says “they’ve been judged safe” – actually they haven’t…)

Read the rest here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/07/europe-honey-gm/print

And don’t forget:

It’s Our Right to Know

If you live in California (and forward this to those you know who do!)

There is a GMO Labeling 2012 Ballot Initiative in the works.

Go to the site, and sign up to help and/or give a donation.

http://labelgmos.org/

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/09/monday-mania-9122011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/09/fat-tuesday-september-13-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/09/real-food-wednesday-9142001.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/09/14/simple-lives-thursday-61/

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-september-16th/

This is brilliant Ted video about GMOs and food allergies. Robyn doesn’t call them that but that’s what she’s talking about.  This food is hurting our children!  It’s time to stand up and take action. If you live in California go to LabelGMOs.org and sign up to collect signature. It’s time to tell everyone you know about GMOs. With the planting of GMO alfalfa there is going to be crop contamination and even organics won’t be safe anymore…

Mom

If you live in CA (or anywhere else in the world 🙂 go visit LabelGMOs.org – sign up to help or donate. Even a few dollars will make a difference!

Read more great, Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/09/monday-mania-952011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/09/real-food-wednesday-9711.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/09/08/simple-lives-thursday-60/

Read more great, Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/09/pennywise-platter-thursday-98.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday post here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-september-9th/

This recipe is my version of one I found in Eating Stella Style by George Stella. Every recipe I’ve tried from this book has been excellent. These cookies were great. They are a bit crunchy the first day, and once you put them in the refrigerator – if you have leftovers – they get softer and keep for days. Very filling and wonderful with a little pastured butter on top.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup organic Almond Flour (made from grinding organic almonds – I soak and dehydrate mine first)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon Celtic salt
3 organic and pastured egg whites (see note about what I do with my yolks)
1 1/2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure orange extract (optional)
27 drops of liquid Stevia  (or 1/3 cup organic sugar/sucanat)

1 1/2 teaspoons organic/pastured butter, softened, at room temperature
1 1/3 tightly packed cups organic shredded unsweetened coconut (use fresh or unsweetened shredded)

Special Equipment

optional: 1-ounce ice cream scoop
parchment paper or silicone mat-lined cookie sheet

Directions:

Place the baking rack in the center of the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and extracts until foamy, then stir in the stevia and butter until well blended.

Add the mixed dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in the coconut until everything is combined. Wet your fingers and form 16 equal balls of the mix, about 4 teaspoons each, or use a 1-ounce ice cream scoop tightly packed with the mix. Place the macaroons on the lined sheet pan and bake for approximately 15 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown all over.

Remove the macaroons from the oven and let cool completely, about 15 minutes, before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers in a covered container. (Macaroons will soften greatly after being covered and refrigerated.)  One net carb per cookie.  Enjoy!  Note: I use this recipe for the yolks – 3 yolks and 1 egg and lately have been using 27 drops of Stevia instead of the sugar – same oven temp so I make the custard right after the cookies http://momsforsafefood.net/2010/03/15/easy-egg-custard/

We’re on FB now!  Look for Moms for Safe Food.

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/08/monday-mania-8292011/

Read more, great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/08/fat-tuesday-august-30-2011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/08/real-food-wednesday-8312011.html

Read more great, Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/08/31/simple-lives-thursday-59/

Read more great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here:http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/08/pennywise-platter-thursday-91.html

Read more great, Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-september-2nd/

Read more great, grain free recipes here: http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/grain-free-real-food-linky-carnival/

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

We recently started getting beautiful eggplants from our CSA  (community supported agriculture).  I have to admit I’m not the biggest eggplant fan, so I started looking for eggplant Parmesan recipes. I found some that you didn’t have to fry the eggplant first – just broil them for a few minutes per side.

This turned out really well. Even one of our picky teenagers went back for seconds. Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 organic eggplants, around 1 pound each

¼ cup organic olive oil (or coconut oil)

½ tsp. Celtic or sea salt

2 – 3 tablespoons fresh basil, sliced thinly

2 – 3 cups organic marinara or pasta Sauce

16 ounces organic shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Trim the ends off the eggplants and slice lengthwise into 1/2″ slices. You should

get around 6 – 8 slices from each eggplant. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil or coconut oil to coat. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Broil about 5 minutes per side until tender and a little browned. Watch them closely because they can burn quickly. Lightly sprinkle them with celtic salt after removing from the oven.

Layer everything in a greased 9×13 baking dish in this order: 6 – 8 eggplant slices,

½ of the sauce, , ½ of the basil, ½ of the mozzarella. Repeat the layering again then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350º about 30 minute or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly brown.  Enjoy!

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here:  http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/08/monday-mania-8222011/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/08/real-food-wednesday-8242011.html

Read more, great Workshop Wednesday posts here: http://goodbyecityhellosuburbs.blogspot.com/2011/08/workshop-wednesday-21.html

Read more, great Simple Lives Thursday posts here: http://gnowfglins.com/2011/08/25/simple-lives-thursday-58/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/08/pennywise-platter-thursday-825.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-august-26th/