Cleanse, Cleanse, Cleanse!!!

“Try for the next 24 [hours] to say yes to whatever lessons life is handing you.”
Today’s “Little Bird” message from the Brave Girls Club

Well, this morning (before even reading the BGC message) I finally said “YES” to the “Green Smoothie”.

Green Smoothie in Glass

I apologize for not posting in quite a while . . . some projects I’ve been putting off finally needed to be tackled, some health issues came up that I’m not yet ready to blog about, my few attempts at new GFDF recipes were frustrating failures that didn’t seem worth sharing . . . BUT, for the past week or so I’ve been “cleansing” on many levels and am starting to feel a bit better.

SO, this morning I decided . . . “time to try that Spring Green Smoothie you’ve been resisting”.

I used the Spring Green Smoothie recipe found here. (BTW, The Whole Life Nutrition® Kitchen site has LOTS of good info about cleansing and elimination diets . . . plus recipes!)

Also looked at this Parsley Juice introduction to “Hero Foods” after seeing Seamus Mullen on the Rachael Ray Show yesterday.

I don’t have a VitaMix, just a rather wimpy blender, so I halved the original Spring Green Smoothie recipe:

  • 1 pear
  • 1 apple
  • 1 kiwi
  • splash of lemon juice
  • 1″ piece of ginger
  • several handfuls of spring mix greens
  • water
  • dash of honey

I peeled the fruit, then cored and diced it.  I know the “smoothie gurus” would say to leave the peels on, but (1) the fruit I had wasn’t organic, so peeling makes me think I’m removing some of the pesticides, and (2) even the organic fruit is usually coated with “corn-based vegetable spray” (I have a corn allergy) . . . SO, I peel my fruit.

I peeled the ginger and cut it into four small pieces.

The fruit goes into the blender first . . . wasn’t sure this  blender was going to handle it, but eventually it worked.  Once the fruit was blended I added the greens and some water . . . and with a little patience and occasional mashing down . . . I ended up with this:

Green Smoothie in Blender

Had a small glass and was rather pleasantly surprised . . . The green slime didn’t feel as slimy as it looks . . . and though it tasted rather like grass clippings (no, I’ve never eaten grass clippings, but you know what I mean) . . . it was rather refreshing!

And I know, mine didn’t turn out the “Spring Green” color of the smoothie on the recipe page . . . probably because my Spring Mix contained some red/purple lettuce and I decided not to bother separating it out in order to use only “greens”.

Still not convinced it wouldn’t be easier to just eat a big bowl of salad  . . . but can see how making a big pitcher of this stuff and then drinking it throughout the day will be cleansing.

My “Life Cleansing Inspirational Quotation” is:

In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired.
In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.
—Lao Tzu

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Use your Tools!

Yesterday I added a page on Cooking with CFS.  Later I realized that I didn’t mention how tools & equipment can simplify cooking.  Of course this is probably because I don’t have much fancy equipment (bread machine, stand mixer—mine broke trying to knead GF Bread Dough) and what I do have (food processor, mini-choppers, blender) I often don’t use because all those parts add more cleanup time . . .

But this morning I made some Carrot Ginger Soup and realized (given that everything gets puréed at the end) I could slice/shred all the veggies in the food processor and reduce my prep time.  It worked pretty well.  In fact, shredding the potatoes (I used one red and one sweet potato this time) also reduced the purée time at the end . . . so a double time/energy saver!

In addition, this recipe uses my favorite little ginger grater:

AND my immersion blender:

So always remember to use your tools!

Enjoy!

© 2012, Highly Sensitive Girl

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B is for Baseball, Brats, Buns

Thursday was the start of the baseball season (at least for Chicago Cubs fans).  I knew I was going to have to figure out a GF, DF, and corn-syrup-free alternative to Hot Dogs/Brats . . . turned out to be trickier than I expected.  According to the guy at my local meat counter, in order to be a “brat,” and not some other kind of sausage, the sausage must contain milk . . . who knew?  Not me.  Seward Co-op has a great meat department where they make their own sausages, most of which I can eat . . . my favorite are Umbrian (with raisins & pine nuts) and Lime-Mango Chicken Sausage, but neither of those will do as a substitute for a baseball brat, and no-go on dairy-free brats  . . . so I ended up buying Polish Sausages instead.

I sautéed some onions and peppers and served the sausage over rice with the onions & peppers . . . but it wasn’t quite what you want to accompany a ball game.  So this morning I decided to try to bake some Gluten-Free Hot Dog Buns.  I used Annalise Roberts’ recipe from Gluten-Free Baking Classics.  The pan I have is an Italian Bread pan (rather than the thinner baguette pan recommended in the recipe) . . . so the buns were a bit flat . . . but they worked!!

So this afternoon I had sausage/onions/peppers on a GF bun while listening to the Twins game on the radio . . .

Sausage on a GF Bun

To paraphrase Field of Dreams:
Is this heaven?
No, it’s baseball.
No contradiction intended.

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High Fiber GF Bread Made by Hand

I’ve just added this recipe to the “Bread Diary” but I’m also giving it its own post because it proves that you do not need a stand mixer OR bread machine to bake GF bread.  My stand mixer broke on the last batch of GF bread dough (and I’ve never owned a bread machine) so I decided to throw caution to the wind and see how it would work to mix the dough by hand.  I think one of the keys is that you need to allow the “gums” time to absorb moisture.  In most recipes this is accomplished by mixing/kneading the dough (using a machine) for 5-10 minutes.  I don’t have the strength to mix that long by hand, but gradually adding the ingredients and then mixing and waiting a bit and mixing some more seemed to work!

Baked on March 13, 2012
High Fiber Bread—gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free

adapted from
Beth and Jen’s High Fiber Bread [p. 36 in Gluten-Free Makeovers by Beth Hillson (2011, DaCapo/LifeLong/Perseus Book Group, Cambridge, MA)]

I only recently discovered amaranth and have yet to try baking with amaranth flour . . . this bread is my first attempt. It definitely has that distinctive “amaranth odor/taste” combined with the equally distinctive “teff odor/taste”. Certainly hearty, like a good whole wheat bread.

The original recipe says: “Makes One 2-pound loaf or 16 slices” which is a bit confusing because it also says to use an 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ loaf pan (which is usually thought of as a 1 pound loaf pan). One more of the many confusing aspects of GF baking. I was tempted to use my 10″x5″ loaf pan, but followed the directions and was glad I did.

The ingredients were given in cups and grams. Due to all the substituting I was doing, I used the weights (because the same quantity of a different flour will weigh a different amount, it is generally recommended to use weight rather than volume, especially when substituting) . . . but took note of the volumes that resulted and listed them as well.

The final complication came from no longer having a stand mixer (broke it making the previous loaf of thick gluten-free bread batter) . . . SO, I went back to my old knowledge of mixing bread dough by hand and added a bit of gluten-free common sense (e.g., you do NOT want to try to “knead” GF “dough” by hand . . . much too sticky!). Here’s what I did:

Equipment you will need:

  • 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ loaf pan
  • several mixing bowls of various sizes
  • a VERY sturdy wooden spoon or “Danish Dough Whisk”

Sturdy Bowl and Dough Whisk

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup millet flour (54 grams)
  • 2/3 cup amaranth flour (65 grams)
  • 1/3 cup teff flour (48 grams)
  • 2/3 cup sorghum flour (80 grams)
  • 1/2 cup arrowroot starch (65 grams)
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour (70 grams)
  • 3-1/2 tsp guar gum
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 3 Tbls brown sugar, packed, divided (46 grams)
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 Tbls vegetable oil
  • 1-1/8 cups warm water (110°F), divided
  • 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions

  1. Lightly oil an 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ sandwich loaf pan.
  2. Measure/weigh the six “flours” (first 6 ingredients) and combine in a medium bowl. Add guar gum, salt, and cream of tartar. Stir/whisk to mix. Measure the brown sugar, reserving 1 tsp in a small bowl for use in proofing the yeast. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar 2-2/3 Tbls) over the other dry ingredients.
  3. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm water over the brown sugar in the small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the sugar water. Stir to dissolve. Allow to rest for 10 minutes or until foamy. Reserve the remaining 5/8 cup water.
  4. Lightly beat the eggs and oil in a separate medium bowl.
  5. Once the yeast is ready, put about 1 cup of the dry ingredients into a large sturdy bowl. Add the yeast mixture and stir with a heavy wooden spoon or “dough whisk”. Add the egg/oil mixture and stir. Alternately (and gradually) add the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining water (dry-water-dry-water-dry) stirring after each addition. The dough/batter will be VERY thick.
  6. Allow to rest for a few minutes (the gum needs to absorb water) and then stir again.
  7. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place to rise for 40-60 minutes, or just until the dough has risen nearly to the top of the pan. Remove the plastic wrap. [Here in Minnesota this always takes longer than the recipes indicate! Be patient!]
  8. Preheat the oven to 350°F while the dough makes its final rise to the top of the pan (if you’ve been letting it rise in the oven, here’s where you take it out!! 🙂 ). Bake the dough on the center rack for 40-50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the loaf reads 200°F. [I rotate the loaf halfway through the baking time.]
  9. Remove the pan to a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Turn out and allow to cool completely.

See additional Notes below the pictures


Yes, the dough needs to be THIS thick, or it will collapse.

Left: half way through baking; Right: end of baking, already dipping in the center.


On the left is the millet-oat bread I made last week in the 10″x5″ pan; on the right is today’s bread made in the 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ sandwich bread pan. Goal: a 10″x5″ loaf that rises as high as today’s smaller loaf . . . I’m not really into “dainty” sandwiches! Still, this loaf didn’t taste bad . . . but definitely amaranth-y.

Notes

  • I baked mine for 50 minutes, but even though the internal temp was 205°F, the center didn’t look/feel “done” and looked like it would collapse. I tried turning off the oven and allowing it to cool for about 15 minutes in the still-warm oven. Won’t know how mushy the middle is until I cut into it some more. There has already been some collapsing a few hours later. [Note: the interior texture is a bit on the moist/tender side, but toasting takes care of that. No major raw or mushiness inside. Still looking for the GFBread Recipe that I can eat without toasting first!]
  • After much searching on the interwebs (and reading contradictory information in various cookbooks). I’ve decided that even if some people believe you no longer need to “proof” yeast, if I’m using active dry yeast, I will proof it. If I don’t want to bother with proofing, I will use RapidRise or “instant” yeast mixed in with the dry ingredients and slightly warmer water (120°-130°F).
  • BTW—getting GF bread dough to rise and then not collapse after baking are the two biggest challenges I’ve run into so far.
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GF Chocolate Chip Cookes

First a little venting . . . this morning I pull out two different GF cookbooks to compare Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes.  They were almost identical, except for completely OPPOSITE WARNINGS about butter vs. vegetable shortening!!  One said “Don’t use butter or the cookies will spread all over the pan!” and the other said “If you use margarine or shortening instead of butter your cookies will spread more.”

This is what drives me NUTS about cookbooks in general, but GF cookbooks in particular . . . I don’t believe any of these people knows what they are talking about!  Often the authors will actually disagree with THEMSELVES, providing opposite advice in different parts of the cookbook!

In any case, I will be trying to make GF Chocolate Chip Cookies sometime soon.  Most likely I’ll use the same recipe I used several months ago.  They were very yummy!  In any case I’ll be using palm oil shortening (because I’ve given up dairy).

BTW, in trying to research which of the cookbooks was actually correct, I found yet another source who claimed it was the baking soda that makes cookies spread . . . e-gads!

More later . . .

Later: another source says it’s HYDROGENATED shortening that spreads more (and the article assumes all shortening is hydrogenated) . . . but the stuff I use is NON-HYDROGENATED . . . so the plot thickens.  At this point I’m will to give up and just enjoy the cookies! 🙂

My verdict . . . they’re good, but I’m not wild about the special gluten-free mini chocolate chips made of “evaporated cane juice, ‘natural’ non-alcoholic chocolate liquor, and non-dairy cocoa butter”.  I also added walnuts this time.  Other than those updates (I used regular chocolate chips before) same recipe as a few months ago, but they seem greasier to me . . . almost like less fat and more GF flour might be better.  Though that might strain my hand mixer (now that the stand mixer is broken 🙁  ).

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