Half Spelt Drop Biscuits

Calling these biscuits half spelt is a misnomer....but I didn't want to do the math! You naturally use a little less liquid when working with spelt, so for ease, I just added an extra quarter cup of all purpose flour until the dough felt right, to keep everything else the same.

This recipe will make 12 drop biscuits, or 10 if you are me. :)

I adapted it from the Betty Crocker Cook Book

Ingredients: 

1 cup spelt flour

1.25 cups unbleached and unenriched all purpose flour (I buy mine organic)

One stick of salted butter (or half a cup)

1 TBSP sugar

.75 tsp baking soda (make sure it's very active)

2 tsp of apple cider vinegar (any vinegar will do)

1 cup of milk (I used whole)

Preheat oven to 450 F and butter a shiny cookie sheet.

Mix all dry ingredients together, then cut in butter until small pieces are achieved. Then slowly add milk and vinegar. When all ingredients are just combined enough, drop the dough onto buttered pan. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes. 11 minutes worked for me. 

Good and tasty! 

Nutrition for one biscuit:

166 calories

Total fat 8.6 grams

Carbs 18.5 grams

Fiber 1.8 grams

Sugars 2.1 grams

Protein 3.3 grams. 

Easy and delicious Alfredo

No pic, I'm sorry! But this sauce is so deliciously yummy, you won't need a picture to imagine it. 

3 cups of 2% (or your choice) milk

1.5 cups of Pecorino Romano and Parmesan blend, grated or shredded (I used Trader Joe's grated blend in the refrigerated section).

4 TBSP butter

2 tsp unmodified potato starch (or equivalent)

1 tsp onion flakes

.5 tsp garlic powder

Dash of black pepper

Directions:

Place everything into a large sauce pan, over almost medium heat. Whisk all together as the sauce heats up, taking care to blend the potato starch in thoroughly. As soon as there are below the surface bubbles and sauce thickens considerably, turn off and serve. 

That's it! We ate ours with sliced chicken and cooked broccoli over pasta. 

Fish and Bean Chowder

Hubby said he liked this recipe, and would probably want it once a month. I baked a cheese and beet sauced flat bread to go with it.

Quart and a half of any broth
2 cups of navy beans
4-8 oz cooked cod or any white fish
8 oz can of oysters, drained and rinsed
1 cup of corn
6 oz cream cheese
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt or more to taste
.5 tsp garlic powder
Sprinkle of dill

Warm broth up with beans and cream cheese until simmering, then use immersion blender or transfer to counter top blender. Blend well, then add everything else. Simmer for 20 minutes, then serve as desired.

Orange Salmon

Really tasty salmon recipe, to bring summer to mind during the cold citrus season of winter.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 navel orange, peeled and cut cross ways

2 rinsed salmon fillets, 8 oz total

Celtic gray sea salt

Other seasonings are optional

I used my great new pressure cooker, the Instant Pot. I set the P.C. to the meat/ stew setting, salted the rinsed salmon, put everything in the pot, saving the salmon for last. I turned the salmon over to get the juice and oil on, then set it skin side down. I cooked it for 5 minutes, using the quick release at the end. 

Serve over veggie of choice :) yum yum!

Best AIP Brownies

This brownie recipe has Carob instead of chocolate or cocoa, no white sugar and is made from a combination of food pastes and flours. This is out of order, as far as recipes go, but I find that okay at times. It reminds me of Oreos uncooked, and I'm pretty confident that I'll also use this batter to make truffles :). This is a treat, not to be eaten everyday, but only on occasion. Think birthday, holiday, etc. or freeze and eat a small piece every few days. Just don't eat the whole batch at once, even though you may be tempted to. ;)

1/2 cup sweet potato

1/2 cup date paste

2-4 TBSP organic honey (domestic, if possible)

3/4 cup toasted carob flour/powder

1/2 cup organic coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup arrowroot flour

1/2 cup coconut milk (I made my own for AIP, but you can choose whichever kind)

1/2 tsp fleur de sel or any fine ground sea salt

1/3 tsp baking soda

 

Mix powders together in a bowl or mixer bowl, then add everything else and combine well.

Bake at 300-325 F for 20-25 minutes, store in fridge after they cool for best keeping. They taste best room temp or slightly warm though.

*carob burns at a lower temp than chocolate, so watch your oven temperatures 

Cooking Ahead

Today is a Tuesday...you might be wondering so what, Kati?

Well tonight is our weekly trash night, so I have found it to be good day to cook ahead, since I will be producing more waste than normal. Recently I have gotten out of the weekly habit of cooking and prepping ahead, so I'm going to give it another chance, albeit slowly. 

I am starting with some simply boiled organic waxy red potatoes and parboiled rice. The potatoes were pretty straightforward, as I just rubbed clean under water and set in water to cook, but the rice took a little effort. I rinsed 4 cups of rice several times until the water ran clear, then gave it a good soak for an hour to cut down on cook time. I added a little less water than called for, due to the soaking and put salt and about a third cup of coconut oil in the cooking water. 

 

The rice looks pretty good! And it tastes perfectly al dente and chewy, with the right amount of give. 

I am planning on washing and chopping some additional food such as the veggies romaine lettuce, green onions,radishes and broccoli, plus whatever else I can find that needs using.

That's all for now! Not too exciting, but it will help me to not be in the kitchen with 3 hot pans on the stove every night this week. 

BBQ Beef Baked Beans

Instead of paying a huge price per pound for deli bbq beef baked beans, try this delicious and adaptable recipe. I came up with this recipe from adapting two recipes to suite what we had in the house already and our tastes, from  http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-pork-and-beans-slow-cook-method-gf-86381 and http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/the-best-baked-beans-ever/  .  

 

To cook together in a very large skillet:

4 tbsp butter or bacon grease

1 medium onion, diced 

.5-1 lb leftover cooked roast chopped small, with drippings (or alternately, use an equal weight of bacon)

Cook until onions are translucent and fragrant.

Mix together in bowl (or you could just do what I did and put in the pan while stirring a bunch!):

3/4 cup favorite bbq sauce

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup palm sugar (or brown)

6 oz can of tomato paste + one can water

2 tsp dry mustard powder

1 TBSP molasses

2 TBSP tamari sauce (which is gluten free soy sauce)

1 tsp liquid smoke 

1/2 tsp liquid stevia extract (or add more brown sugar to taste)

Few shakes of garlic salt

3 cans of half drained bean of choice *or an equal amount of home prepared beans with an additional 1 cup water

Add mix to skillet and stir a bunch, on medium high heat for 5-8 minutes. 

Transfer to buttered

baking dish, and bake for about an hour at 325 F, until the liquid is syrupy. 

These babies aren't the most low carb thing out there, but watch your portion if you're into that kind of thing and you'll come out all right.