Monster Cookies for Breakfast | a gluten-free, vegan, soy-free recipe

The first night that I arrived in Kamloops, I had an empty apartment and a NEED to bake. I needed to create something, to feel balanced and normal in the midst of a situation that was anything but. That night I make chocolate chip cookies; they were delicious and I ate them for a week, even when they got crumbly and stale.

Since that first night, I've been cooking, but I haven't really felt the urge to bake again until last night. I found myself leisurely perusing the pages of the few chosen cookbooks that aren't in storage but everything I felt even remotely inspired to make wasn't possible. I'm lacking much of my simple equipment from muffin pans to spatulas and my ingredient list is sparse to say the least.

Before the frustration kicked in however,  I remembered how simple and satisfying my monster cookies are to make and devour. A quick dig through the cupboards and I found all my little bags of goodies that I packed precisely for making these breakfast cookies.

This recipe comes together in a flash, requires only bowls, spoons and measuring cups and its completely customizable to your tastes and what you have on hand in your home.  

It's an adaptation from the ever fabulous Meghan Telpner's Breakfast Cookies that I have tweaked to suit my needs. I change up my add-ins depending on my mood but I always add the hemp hearts. They are a great boost of omega fats that will keep you (and your kids) full and I find when I eat a regular dose hemp hearts, my skin is happier and it plays a role in controlling my eczema. 

RESIST the temptation to add chocolate chips, I always want to, but never do, because I know they don't need them. Substitute what you have in your kitchen and what meets your dietary needs, these cookies will be fine if you use vegetable oil instead of coconut oil, if you don't have pure maple syrup, throw in some honey (that's what I did yesterday) and if you don't keep coconut sugar on hand, try a little bit of brown sugar. These cookies will be a little bit crumbly if you don't use the xantham gum, but I couldn't find mine yesterday and none of my coworkers complained when I brought them to our morning meeting. In fact, more than one of them asked for the recipe.

Be brave, go ahead and experiment a little, these cookies can handle it.

My kids dubbed these MONSTER COOKIES because they are so big and honestly, who doesn't want to eat a giant cookie for breakfast?

Monster Cookies

adapted from Meghan Telpner's Breakfast Cookies

gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, vegan (can be nut free)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup of gluten free oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts
• 1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
• 1/4 cup raw pepitas
• 1/4 cup cocoa nibs
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large bowl mix together brown rice flour, xantham gum, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a seperate bowl mix together (or you can blend this to disperse the coconut oil more evenly) coconut oil, chia, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
4. In a third bowl place the oats, quinoa flakes, hemp hearts, almonds, pepitas, cocoa nubs and cranberries and set aside. You don't need to mix this.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and use a wooden spoon to stir thoroughly. This will be thick, do NOT add more fluids.
6. Add the bowl of oats and add in goodies. Stir, stir, stir. The batter should be thick and a little sticky.
7. Scoop batter a 1/4 cup at a time and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press down lightly with the back of a spoon, or use moist hands to shape.
8. Bake your cookies for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
9. Allow to cool completely (or they will fall apart).
10. Eat COOKIES for BREAKFAST!

YIELD: 8 monster cookies

Other add-in ideas: goji berries, raisins, chopped dried apricots, sunflower seeds, chopped dates, sesame seeds.

Quinoa Curry Soup | A gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free recipe

Although making the decision to accept a job in Kamloops, has thrown our entire life into a tailspin of the unknown, it also seems to have brought me some peace. I know this is true, because I've been cooking.

The day after I accepted the job, I baked cookies and yesterday as I chopped, stirred and simmered while listening to the words of Mackelmore I found a sense of serenity in the process that I haven't felt in ages. And this, despite the fact that I was creating food, to take with me, when I leave my family behind, albeit temporarily.

This soup is delightful. It's only slightly adapted from Janet and Greta Podleski's Multigutawnski soup and despite the presence of a slightly curry flavour, quinoa and apples my husband loves it, as does everyone whom I've ever fed it to. This soup is flavourful but not overwhelming, light but filling and the smell is delectable.

After over four years of cooking for children, I tend to chop my vegetables small so that its easy to eat, and in this particular case I don't find it has any negative effect on texture. The quinoa, chicken and apples add complexity; there's no need to worry about cutting all your veggies around the same size. I actually cut my celery as small as possible because the hubs dislikes it, but I know it adds a lot of flavour that I don't want to lose out on.

Quinoa Curry Soup

(Slightly Adapted from The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet and Greta Podleski)
gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (approx 6)
• 1.5 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1- 540ml can diced tomatoes (I like Alymers accents, olive oil and garlic)
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 large apple peeled and chopped
• 1 - 400ml can coconut milk*

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat, and sautee vegetables and garlic until tender and softened. About 6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice (approximately 5mm) the chicken thighs lengthwise. You should end up with strips of chicken thigh.
3. Add chicken to the softened vegetables and cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
4. Add ginger and spices and cook until fragrant and the chicken, vegetables are well coated. (2-3 minutes)
5. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, quinoa, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add chopped apple and simmer 5 more minutes, until the apple is tender but not mushy.
7. Add coconut milk and simmer 1 more minute.
8. ENJOY!

*The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup of light coconut milk, so feel free to reduce the amount or fat content to your liking, but I use a whole can of regular coconut milk.

Loving 'Love Child Organics'

My kids love, squeezy, squirty fruit snacks and I love whole, natural, minimally processed foods; fortunately Love Child Organics satisfies everyone. I admit the very first time I saw soft pouches of applesauce I worried about sticky spills in diaper bags if the kids didn't finish eating them; that was in vain however since neither Bolt or Simba ever has leftovers.  When presented with Love Child Organics, my boys gobbled them up before I could even grab my camera.

I love that EVERY pouch contains one of my all time favourite super grains, Quinoa as well as acerola fruit which provides a natural source of vitamin c.  Add to that nutritional powerhouse a variety of organic fruits and veggies and local Whistler residents John and Leah Garrad-Cole have finally created a packaged food that I want to feed my children.

And perhaps more importantly, my kids can't get enough. The second I showed the boys' the squeezy pouches of goodness they were begging to eat them and surprisingly neither of them expressed a preference among the flavours. We tried out three of the six flavours; 'Mangoes and Apples', 'Blueberries, Apples and Bananas' and the 'Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Apples and Blueberries' and I promise you, not one single drop was spilled.

For all of us living an allergy-friendly life, I love that Love Child Organics are produced in a nut-free facility and are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and kosher. I remember travelling around Asia looking for gluten-free, dairy-free baby food for Bolt when he was eight months old, it was a total nightmare. You'd be amazed how many of the non-fruit baby foods include at least one of the two.

Just in case you're worried, the packaging is all BPA-free and although only the cap is recyclable, the packaging is still a sound environmental choice.

Our pouches use 80% less material than many alternative forms of packaging. An independent audit of the life cycle of our pouches has shown that the energy used, and the environmental impact made, when making, transporting and destroying them is significantly less than PET plastic bottles, Tetra packs and glass. When compared to the glass jars commonly used for baby food, our pouches can use as little as 8% of the energy requirements.

You can find Love Child Organics in Wal Mart Stores and you can also check them out on their Website, Like them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter and Pinterest.

Have you checked Love Child Organics out? What did your kids think?

I received three packages of Love Child Organics products for the purposes of this review; all opinions are my own.

Quinoa Minestrone Soup | gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free recipe

As much as I try to feed my children healthy, nutritious food, I admit that sometime its hard.  Like when its the holiday season, you have one son with mono and another whose teething like crazy and you're up far more than you want to admit in the night.  Sadly one of the things that tends to slide in those tough motherhood moments is the food and as of late the boy has had more lunches consisting of hot dogs or grilled Daiya cheese and ham sandwiches than I'd care to admit.

That said when I got my act together and made him some homemade fish sticks, yam fries and kale chips for lunch the other day he eagerly gobbled it all up.  This simply reminded me that his tastes are tailored to healthy, delicious foods because that's what I feed him and so I realized its time to get back on track; poor food choices should never really be an option.

So I pulled out my Quinoa 365 book and made one of my favourites, Quinoa Minestrone.  It's fairly thick and I consider it a stoup (thanks Rachael Ray for coining the term), in fact I like to use a scant measurement for the quinoa just to keep it a little thinner.  This stoup is delicious fresh and although the flavours are still great the next day, the quinoa just keeps absorbing the liquid and it gets quite thick the next day, so this time around I opted to make a half batch, which was more than enough for the three of us with one bowlful leftover.  This soup takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, veggies chopping included, so its more than possible to decide to make it at 11am and have it on the table in time for lunch.

This is a great meal for the entire family, the baby happily enjoyed this stoup with us for lunch; he's moving to chunkier foods and I was surprised to find that he was happy to eat it without any pureeing.  You could try making it without cheese and pureeing for younger babies, but the cheese (Daiya in our case) really gives the soup a creamy texture and taste.  The original recipe calls for parmesean, so if your family eats dairy please feel free to re-substitute it back in for the Daiya).

Quinoa Minestrone Soup

Adapted from Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming
(Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free & Soy-Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 can of diced tomatoes, including liquid
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• 1/2 cup Daiya vegan cheese
• 1 cup thinly sliced spinach

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and saute the onion, carrots, potatoes and salt until the onion is tender, about 7 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes and liquid, stock, quinoa and garlic, bring to a boil. 
3. Simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, until quinoa and vegetables are tender, about 18 minutes.
4. Add the zucchini and half of the the Daiya cheese.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the spinach and cook for an additional minute.
6. Ladle into bowls, top with remaining Daiya cheese and enjoy!

Eating Gluten Free: Are you getting all your nutrients? | Guest Post

If you're wondering what nutrient deficiencies arise by following a gluten-free diet, I'll let you in on a big secret.

There isn't a nutrient found in a gluten-filled grain or food product that you can't obtain elsewhere. In other words, you ain't missing out on nothin'.

Like Amber, I avoid gluten and dairy and am often questioned by well-meaning friends and strangers about how I get enough of certain vitamins and minerals. When it comes to allergen-free diets, there's an erroneous perception that you must deprive yourself of vital nourishment (and tasty food, too). 

Let's talk about gluten for a moment. Gluten is a protein found in grains like whole wheat, barley, spelt, kamut and rye. Of all the gluten-containing grains, wheat is the most ubiquitous in our food culture, found in everything from soups and sauces to shampoo and medications.

I won't deny that whole wheat has its benefits. It can promote digestive health, heart health and blood sugar balance. Wheat is also a good source of important nutrients like fibre, amino acids, B vitamins (which are essential for energy and nerve function), vitamin E, magnesium, iron and zinc.

Unfortunately, most of the whole wheat on the market has been so processed, hybridized and refined that many of these nutrients have been stripped away.  Dr. William Davis, author of the new book 'Wheat Belly', says another downside of wheat is it makes you fat.

However, gluten-free grains have fibre, amino acids, B vitamins and the rest of the gang, too.

Let's do a little comparison shopping. A cup of quinoa has more than double the iron, four times the vitamin E, four and a half times the essential fatty acids and significantly higher amounts of zinc, mangnesium, calcium and potassium than a cup of whole wheat.

Brown rice has nearly 20 times the amount of selenium - a potent cancer-fighting antioxidant - than whole wheat. Buckwheat (despite the name, it's gluten-free) has more vitamin K, magnesium and potassium than whole wheat, along with 35 percent less sodium.

But you know what else has plenty of vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential fats and fibre? Fruits and vegetables. Beans and legumes. Nuts and seeds. Lean meat and fish.

A diet rich in these foods (especially the fruits and veggies) is what will keep you in good stead. Wheat has only been cultivated for about 12,000 years – yet us humans have been around far longer than that. It's estimated that 300,000 Canadians and two million Americans have celiac disease, and yet there haven't been reports of these people dropping like flies. So I think it's safe to say that gluten isn't essential to our survival.

I believe that the biggest challenge of shifting to a gluten-free diet is making the commitment to cook at home. Gluten-free diets, or any alternative diets for that matter, propel us to forgo pre-prepared, processed convenience foods in favour of old-fashioned home cooking.

Eating a gluten-free diet of freshly-cooked, whole foods is simple and delicious once you learn the basics, and it definitely provides you with all of the nutrients you need to thrive. So please don't let anyone guilt you into thinking you or your child cannot be healthy because you choose to eliminate gluten. 

Sondi Bruner is a Vancouver-based food blogger, freelance writer and holistic nutrition student who believes that fresh, whole foods contain tremendous power. Explore gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian recipes on her blog, The Copycat Cook. 

Quinoa for Baby | Starting Solids v2

I love Quinoa, granted I don't just eat it plain by the bucketful, but its so hearty mixed into salads and soups, adds extra nutrition, protein and fibre to baked goods and is amazing for breakfast as a hot cereal.  When the boy moved onto textured foods, quinoa was one of his favourites; if he wasn't feeling well he would almost always eat a bowl of quinoa and applesauce, perhaps with a little bit of chicken mixed in.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with that; quinoa is naturally gluten-free and has 2.5 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein in a half a cup.  This superfood also contains iron, calcium and magnesium, it truly is both nutritious and delicious for adults and children alike..

After a bit of research, I decided that this time around I would introduce the baby boy to Quinoa much earlier in the game.  As I mentioned previously, I decided to use the Quinoa 365 method of cooking quinoa for baby since I've loved nearly everything I've made out of the cookbook.

Quinoa 365 provides easy instructions for using quinoa seeds, flakes or flour to make baby food, but I'm using the seeds as they are the least processed and therefore the most nutritious for baby.  If you are interested in the other methods, send me an email.

Quinoa baby food is super easy to make and I was impressed with the smooth texture after pureeing.  It freezes beautifully, but is a little denser than some of the fruit/vegetable purees and thus takes a little bit longer to defrost and warm up.  Since the flavour of quinoa is relatively strong, I recommend mixing it with another food that your little one is already accustomed to.  My baby boy has been happily eating his quinoa for breakfast with pureed pears and for dinner with yams and chicken.

Quinoa Baby Food

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1-1/4 cup water
• additional water for blending

Directions:

• Place quinoa and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
• Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes; do not remove the lid.
• Turn off heat, but leave covered pot on the burner for an additional 25 minutes.
• Fluff with a fork and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Blend with additional water to create a smooth texture.
• Feed to your baby or freeze for future feedings.

If you haven't already, check out: Starting Solids v1

GF/DF/SF Quinoa Zucchini Mini Muffins

I like to think that even if we could eat store bought, processed foods (which we can't) that I would still take the time to make our baked goods at home, at least most of the time.  First off, I love to bake, I always have.  Second, if I make it, I know whats in it.  There's nothing worse than reading a list of ingredients and not being entirely sure what the purpose of each strange sounding thing on the list is.  Finally, I love that in making my own goodies, I can adapt the flavours to my own tastes, or as is the case as of late, the boys' tastes.

The boy doesn't care all that much for sweet things, in fact I made chocolate chip banana bread (gluten and dairy free of course) and he touched it to his mouth ever so briefly before refusing it.  Baked goods with quinoa on the other hand?  He loves them.  Strange kid, I know, he loves healthy snacks so long as they are flavourful.

I've been making him mini muffins of various varieties for quite some time now and as you can see from his picture, I think I finally found just the right combination to appease his taste buds.  These Quinoa zucchini muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free and I'm pretty sure that with the use of a flax gel, they could easily be egg-free too. 

 

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free
Quinoa Zucchini Mini Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Sorghum flour

1/2 cup Sweet Rice flour

1/2 cup Quinoa flakes

1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup brown sugar*

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup rice milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 generous cup)

1/3 cup cranberries

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400F and prepare your mini muffin tin (I use the mini muffin liners)
• In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients by hand.  (A whisk will mix the ingredients and add air to your flour mixture)
• Blend together your egg, oil and rice milk.  Stir in the vanilla.
• Add the zucchini and cranberries to the wet mixture and mix until combined.
• Mix the dry ingredients into the wet (its ok to blend this more than traditional muffin recipes).
• Drop by large tablespoons into the mini muffin tin.
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes until firm to touch, lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
• Cool and enjoy.

 Yield 2 dozen mini muffins.

*I used brown sugar and sweetened craisins, since that was what I had on hand, and actually found these a little bit sweet.  I might try substituting agave next time, or reducing the sugar to 1/3 cup.