Comfort Cooking

I'm trying another recipe for Pumpkin Muffins...one that uses both almond and coconut flour. Here is the blog I found the recipe on but I am going to post my recipe only. You can see the original recipe at that site.

Having been diagnosed as a pre-diabetic, I'm very serious about watching my carbs and keeping my blood sugar from spiking. The easiest way to do this is by eating primarily low glycemic foods, so I am always on the search for ingredients to bake or cook with.

These muffins have all healthy ingredients and the combination of them helps keep your blood sugar low. Coconut oil is one of the healthiest and most healing oil you can use. I purchase my coconut products at Tropical Traditions - oils and flour. I use the Gold label oil in things that I don't mind having a slight coconut flavor such as muffins, and the expeller pressed oil for things like frying eggs or veggies etc. I try to include it in my cooking every day. Coconut flour is high in protein and fiber. A little goes a long way. For one pan of muffins you would use about 1/2 cup of coconut flour. You can find a lot of recipes at www.elanaspantry.com. Cinnamon is a spice that helps lower your blood sugar according to some studies. For me, probably the biggest bugaboo in baking is what to use for sweetener. I haven't baked at all with stevia but there are recipes out there using it. I was using Agave Nectar for a while as there are studies about how it is lower on the glycemic index (GI) than other sweeteners. However, I have found a sweetener which I prefer to use that is lower than Agave and it is palm sugar. It comes from the sap of coconut palms. It has a GI of about 35. Anything less than 55 is considered low. It is also high in amino acids, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc and Iron and is a good natural source of the vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C. For this recipe I made it into a syrup because coconut flour requires quite a bit of liquid. You can find palm sugar online and also at Henry's and Whole Foods. You can even find it in some Asian stores in a solid form. The other flour used in this recipe is almond flour - ground almonds. So, there is a lot of protein and natural goodness in these muffins. Add in the orange goodness of pumpkin and the antioxidants of dark chocolate and you have a real treat - both for your mouth and your body! Here is the recipe as I made it.

Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 cup water and
1 1/2 cups palm sugar OR
1 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 15 oz. canned pumpkin
6 eggs
3/4 C coconut flour
1 C plus 3 T almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp (rounded) ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
2 cups Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix water and palm sugar together in saucepan and heat until dissolved. Add the coconut oil to this to melt it (OR you can just use 1 cup agave nectar). Mix eggs, pumpkin and palm sugar mixture together in large bowl.
Stir dry ingredients all together. You can use pumpkin pie spice in place of the spices. Adding the chocolate chips is optional but very yummy. I used Dagoba brand - but they are very strong and dark.
I like to use muffin liners for my muffins. This recipe filled 2 12 cup muffin tins plus a little extra I baked in a small glass dish.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

They are very yummy and no one will believe you when you tell them these aren't made with flour and sugar!! Enjoy!!

I love spanish omelettes - and have a couple of them posted or linked on this blog. I've used russet potatoes as well as yukon gold in the past. Russet potatoes have the highest glycemic count so I don't eat them anymore. I do enjoy red potatoes and yukon gold in moderation. The egg and meat in this "omelette" both help to bring down the glycemic load in this dish. The meat of choice in my house is bacon - so tasty. I have never cooked with chorizo - so it's going to be an adventure!! I may just stick with thick sliced natural bacon though. This recipe is from the Real Simple Food and Recipes site.

Source: By Kate Merker, May 2008

We had a taste of fall earlier this week with rain, cloudy skies and cool temps. Today we're back to summer with a temp of 94 but that's the way it goes in So. Cal. There isn't any question what the date shows though, and that's that we are in the fall season. So, along with my apple cider candles and a few pumpkins scattered around, I am making something that tastes fallish - Pumpkin muffins.

One thing about working with coconut flour is that there is a different texture as well as a lingering coconut taste to your baked goods. I like coconut so I don't mind this. Today though, making Pumpkin Coconut muffins, the coconut flavor is greatly diminished and only the texture tells you that this isn't "normal" high glycemic white flour.

Dr. Fife is a leading expert on coconut and the benefits of coconut oil, flour, milk etc. This is his recipe but I am posting my additions. There is a typo in his recipe - the second mashed pumpkin should be sugar I'm quite sure. I also thought it was pretty mildly flavored, so I kicked up the cinnamon and added a couple other spices and changed the type of sugar as well as cut the amount in half. I doubled the recipe since I want to make one full muffin pan (12) instead of just 6.

So here is my version:

Pumpkin Coconut Muffins

6 eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup organic mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup palm sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut flour sifted
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Turn the oven on to 400. Blend eggs through salt in a blender. Pour into a bowl and sift the coconut flour and baking powder into the bowl. Mix well. The longer you mix the thicker the muffin mix will become as the flour absorbs the moisture. Coconut flour is high in fiber.

Bake for 18 minutes and check with a toothpick to see if the muffins are done. Take out of the pan and cool on a rack. Enjoy.

I'm going to try some chopped up Dagoba chocolate in the next batch...I love pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.

The muffins are in the oven as I type - can't wait to try one!!

Yesterday I decided to make chicken broth from scratch as I use a lot during the fall and winter months. It would be really nice to have some in the freezer for a quick soup etc. My sisters both make chicken broth from scratch so following their recommendation, I used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (which by the way is a fantastic cookbook/reference book and education in itself). There's a link to it in my book list on the right side of the blog.

Here is the recipe:

1 whole free-range chicken or 2-3 lbs of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones and wings
gizzards and feet from chicken (optional). I added the gizzard since it came with the chicken.
4 qts. cold filtered water
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
1 bunch parsley

(I'm going to skip over the introductory part of the instructions).
Cut chicken into several pieces. (If you are using a whole chicken, remove the neck and wings and cut them into several pieces.) Place chicken or pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley. Let stand 30 min to 1 hour. Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add the parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.

Remove whole chicken or pieces with a slotted spoon. If you are using a whole chicken, let cool and remove meat from carcass. Reserve for other uses such as salads, enchiladas, sandwiches etc. Strain the stock into a large bowl and reserve in your refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off this fat and reserve stock in covered containers in your refrigerator or freezer. (End of instructions in book).

I didn't want the meat all mushy from too much cooking (per my sister Ruth's suggestion) so after the chicken had simmered for an hour and a half, I took out the large pieces and cut off the meat to save in the freezer for future meals and then put all the bones and skin back into the broth to continue cooking. I probably got about 3 or 4 cups of meat off this chicken.

The broth was sitting in a pan on the counter cooling down when disaster struck. The dishwasher du jour thought the broth was just "dirty cooking water" and poured the whole pan down the drain while the assistant of the evening watched in horror and was too dumbstruck to yell "Don't do that!!"

So, lessons learned on all sides. Before doing something drastic like pouring something down the drain, please ask. Assistants should find their voice before the whole thing is gone and Mom should put notes and labels on items indicating that this was indeed useful and eatable food.

I have the chicken meat safely in the freezer and hey - it wasn't that hard to do. I'll be making another batch before long with the other whole chicken in the freezer! People are more important than chicken broth and I DO love my kids! :)

As always, if you go into Trader Joes in the late afternoon, there's something really yummy cooking in the back of the store. Easy, nutritious and tasty. We really liked this quinoa dish they were serving today so we're making it for dinner to go with our TJ's Angus burgers. Kelsey needs the carbs for her running so this will be a good dish for her.

Quinoa is a seed - a complete protein - and it's gluten free. So, if you're going to eat carbs, quinoa is a great choice. Here is a link that tells a bit more about its profile and benefits.

Quinoa with Sundried Tomatoes & Chicken

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked in rice cooker with 2 cups of water or broth - can also be cooked on stovetop
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 sm. onion sliced
10-12 basil leaves, chopped
1 8 oz jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1 can chicken
Parmesan cheese

Saute onion and garlic until onion is softened. Add jar of sun dried tomatoes and chicken and mix together. Add cooked quinoa and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese.

After dinner: Everyone pronounced this good enough to make again. It would taste very good as a side dish without the chicken - or you could serve it cold as a salad. I would leave the basil out until just before serving it if I was going to serve it cold. We didn't add all the sun dried tomatoes to the dish either...seemed a bit of an overkill.

Yesterday my Vitamix came and after I read the instructions and got familiar with the controls I put it to the test. My first veggie smoothie didn't work out so well, but the second one did. I will need to perfect it - but it will be fun to do so.

My friend, Melinda, has a Vitamix and told me how she makes almond milk. So last night I soaked 1 lb. of raw almonds in filtered water and this morning made almond milk. I ordered a nut filtering bag which will remove some of the almond sediment. This is Melinda's recipe:

4 cups fresh water
1 1/2 cups soaked almonds (soaking water poured off)
3 dates (in the refrigerated section at Trader Joes)

Use the variable speed - start on 1 and go up to 10. Blend for approx 2 minutes.

I used the milk this morning for a smoothie for breakfast. I've been purchasing almond milk in the boxes at the store but I'm sure this is less expensive and doesn't have the additives that goes into the boxes.

Breakfast smoothie for 2 - this morning (it varies but this is approximately what I did)

1 cup fresh almond milk
1/2 cup kefir
1/4-1/2 cup coconut cream (I buy this at the oriental store locally but you can use coconut milk or some coconut oil
2-4 tbsp chia gel (I just tip the bottle over and pour some out)
2 scoops Quest Protein powder (scoop comes in the bottle)
1 tsp. Vit C powder (this is equal to 4000 mg Vit C - I'm a big believer in it's immune boosting power)
1-2 cups frozen berries (from the big bag at Costco - raspberries, marionberries and blueberries) 1 fresh nectarine - sliced - skin and all

Place all ingredients into Vitamix in this order and using the variable control, start at 1 and go up to 10. You may need to use the tamper to get the fruit into the milk mixture. Blend until smooth and enjoy!