Jennifer's Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

My co-worker and friend Jennifer won't claim to be a "chef" or a "cook"... but I think she's quite good as both! She's made many accomplishments over the past year including losing over 60 lbs. by changing her diet and exercising. I am very, very proud of her!

One thing she has learned in the past year is how to cook more things from scratch. I think now she secretly enjoys spending time in the kitchen!

She recently shared this super easy and delicious recipe with me and I had to brag on her. It's too delicious and simple to keep all to myself. Jennifer's family is 100% pure Italian. She grew up eating Italian for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Pasta, pasta, pasta, and a huge vat of spaghetti/tomato sauce were always in the kitchen.

Since Jennifer has followed Weight Watchers to learn about portion control, healthy foods, and how to eat for good health, she's learned new ways to make recipes. Her recipe for an easy marinara sauce is simple, delicious, and packed with real Italian flavor. Jennifer said that the best tomatoes to use for this sauce are imported from Italy and have a natural sweetness that really makes the sauce special.

Jennifer's Easy Marinara Sauce
(Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

1 (28 oz) can cooked whole peeled roma tomatoes with basil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 sweet onion, finely minced

In a medium sized saucepan heat oil to sizzling. Add garlic and onions and saute until golden. Pour in can of tomatoes with liquid. As tomatoes heat through, take a potato masher and crush tomotoes until they are the consistancy you desire for a sauce. I prefer them chunky and thick. If you want your sauce more smooth you could certainly use an immersion blender or add the sauce to your counter blender and blend until smooth. Simmer sauce for 30 minutes or more before serving. This is also great in the crock pot for an all day simmer.

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Just in case you were wondering about those meatballs in the picture above... here is my go-to recipe for gluten free meatballs!! I generally use Tinkyada pasta or spaghetti squash for my "spaghetti and meatballs" base.

Enjoy!

Carrie's Emeril-Inspired Baked Meatballs
(Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1/2 sweet onion, very finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, very finely minced
1 egg
1/4 cup almond meal
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil
1 1/2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and roll into shape with hands into about 15-20 medium sized meatballs.
Place in a greased glass baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Add baked meatballs to heated sauce of your choice and serve over glutenfree pasta or spaghetti squash.

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My husband and I are in Florida for the week, so forgive me for not adding printer-friendly PDF's of these recipes! I will add them as soon as we return home! Pray for good weather, as we will hopefullly be watching the the launching of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at 5:40am Wednesday morning!!

Banana Spice Muffins Recipe (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

I'm not always a fan of bananas... they usually end up getting frozen simply because we can't eat them all before they get super ripe.

Yesterday's batch of super ripe bananas were added to these breakfast muffins. After cleaning the kitchen yesterday it was time to bake. Originally I wanted to make a pound cake. My dad called me on Saturday thanking me for sending him my great-grandma's pound cake recipe. And after that conversation I seriously wanted pound cake. (Here's a GREAT gluten free pound cake... just in case you have a craving now!)

But in the interest of something a bit healthier with fewer carbohydrates... and my constant need to have something quick for breakfast, I came up with these banana muffins.

These are simple muffins. No added nuts or chocolate (such a pity...), but they are delicious by themselves. Feel free to indulge on the recipe as you see fit. I chose to use almond flour in this recipe for convenience, and because it's such a fantastic naturally gluten free, low carbohydrate flour to use. For a great selection of the best gluten free almond flour recipes, please visit Elana's Pantry. I've already pre-ordered her new cookbook and I can't wait until it's published!

Please share your variations of these simple banana muffins in the comments below!

Banana Spice Muffins
Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free
Created by: Carrie @ http://www.gingerlemongirl.com

Dry Ingredients
3 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar -or- sugar
2 large bananas, mashed
3 eggs, whisked
3 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spritz with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mash bananas. Add agave nectar or sugar. Mix in eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spoon batter into lined muffin pans until they are at least 3/4 full. Makes 12-14 large muffins. Bake for 18-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. These are moist muffins.

Printer friendly recipe.

"Reese's" Peanut Butter Cupcakes (Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free)

Pardon the sweet indulgence.

Sometimes I just need to BAKE sweet and thankfully I have a meeting so co-workers can help me eat the rest of these lovely cakes.

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"Reese's" peanut butter cups are one of my favorite candies. I've always loved peanut butter. During summers when I was a little girl, my parents would drive us to a state park in southwest Virginia called Dougthat. On the way to Dougthat was a small shop that sold camping supplies, fishing lures, and Hershey's handscooped icecream for .25 cents a scoop.

These people knew how to serve ice cream. They didn't give you little scoops, they were big whoppin' bowl-size scoops right there in your waffle cone. I always ordered either mint chocolate or peanut butter cup. My favorite was the latter because it had huge frozen peices of peanut butter swirled in the chocolate ice-cream. A perfect sweet and savory combination.

Yesterday my co-worker Jennifer and I were discussing a recent television birthday party. The cake served at the party was a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. And I immediately started wondering why I hadn't thought of this before.

I had the perfect opportunity to get creative last night and whip up a batch of my favorite chocolate cupcakes and I came up with this delicious peanut butter frosting.

Michael and I tried the cupcakes with the new frosting last night and we sat in pure peanut butter heaven. Michael said, "Do ALL of these cupcakes have to go to work with you tomorrow?" ;-)

You be the judge... and tell me what you think! Are you a peanut butter fan too?? If you are, you'll love these cupcakes!



"Reese's" Peanut Butter Cupcakes
(Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free)

1 batch prepared ** everyday chocolate cupcakes **
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Chocolate Glaze:
1/2 cup allergen free chocolate chips
1 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed oil)
3-4 tablespoons water


In a large bowl mix peanut butter with powdered sugar. Add vanilla and non-dairy milk. You can add more or less milk to create the consistancy you prefer. My icing was almost a glaze consistancy. I may try to make it a bit thicker next time, but I really like the glossy look of the thinner glaze icing.

Spread peanut butter icing over completely cooled cupcakes.

In another glass bowl melt chocolate chips and oil in the microwave on high for 1 minute at a time until melted. Whisk in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you get a drizzling chocolate sauce consistancy. Drizzle glaze over frosted cupcakes.

Serve immediately or chill.

Makes 12 frosted cupcakes.

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Carrie's Notes:

- On baking the cupcakes: I made 12 cupcakes and baked them for about 20 minutes. You will need to watch these cupcakes carefully in the oven as they will dry out quickly if they are baked TOO long. Start with a baking time of 15 minutes and gently touch the top of a cupcake, if it bounces back it's done. If the top of the cupcake is still a bit doughy continue to bake until it bounces back or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Check out Ginger Lemon Girl @ $5 Dinners

Please check out my guest post for Erin of $5 Dinners fame. This article is a great introduction to simple,healthy, and naturally gluten free meals for your family! I have written a short series of posts for Erin and they will be posted in the upcoming weeks!

Erin's blog focuses on frugal, inexpensive, and healthy $5 meals. Erin started making frugal meals for under $5 several years ago and it has become a passion. Many of Erin's recipes are gluten free, use gluten free ingredients, or are naturally gluten free! I highly encourage you to visit her fantastic website!

Erin was featured on the Rachael Ray show a few weeks ago, and she just announced she has signed on to write a book about her $5 dinners!! Congratulations to Erin and MANY thanks to her for allowing me to guest host on her blog!

Enjoy!!

Homemade Almond Cheese (Gluten Free, Casein Free, Soy Free)

Nut cheese

Stop laughing... seriously, that's what it's called! And it's good! And you're still laughing.. ;-P

It's okay... laughing is good for you! I hope most of my posts bring a smile to you! I'm all about smiles!

So once again... today's post is about nut cheese.

I used to think it was funny when vegetarians or people who didn't eat meat, dairy, you name it.. ended up cooking and eating what I considered "fake foods." Not necessarily foods that were bad, but foods created to make up for the loss of something like say a hamburger... people ate soy burgers or bean burgers. I just thought that was plain silly. My thinking used to be "If you're not gonna eat a "real" burger, than just don't eat one... don't try to substitute, that will only make things worse."

Once again... huge foot in mouth!

Since going gluten free I have definitely learned how to make healthy and delicious substitutes. I HAD to learn how to make those foods effectively when I couldn't eat wheat. Gluten free versions of biscuits, pancakes, bread... and now? I can't even tell the difference. I understand why people need substitutes.

About a year into the gluten free diet I became aware of allergic reactions I was also having to soy products: soy sauce, edamame, tofu, soy flour, you name it and my throat would swell up. Not a pleasant feeling. I realized that by default I had been avoiding soy for months because I always reacted after eating it.

And nearly 3 months ago after eliminating foods, I realized I was also reacting to dairy and casein products. In hindsight this makes a lot of sense. It's very common for people who are sensitive to the gluten protein to also be sensitive to the proteins in dairy and soy since they are so similar in nature.

While I had trouble cutting wheat and soy out of my diet, it honestly was not as difficult as dairy and casein. I love anything dairy... and to cut out cheese, yogurt, milk, ICE CREAM? Oh my... I just was not sure I could do that.

Which is why I decided to learn how to make substitutes with nuts. Almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts... they have become close friends! ;-)

I would be lying if I told you that this almond cheese tastes exactly like real dairy cheese. It does not. But it makes a wonderful substitution and definitely fulfills a cheese craving!! This cheese reminds me in taste of a flavored cream cheese and sour cream with a touch of hummus! In texture, it's very similar to ricotta! If you miss having real cheese, it's definitely worth your while to try!

Today's recipe once again uses almonds. I love almonds for their delicate taste and their absolute versatility in cooking and baking!! We'll make an almond-dill cheese with a few simple ingredients, a white cotton cloth or sprouting bag, and your blender!

(For a great online photo-tutorial of making nut cheese, please click here.)




Almond Dill Cheese

1 1/2 cups raw almonds, soaked 12 hours
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons hummus
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or oil of your choice)
juice from 1-2 medium lemons
1 tablespoon dill weed
1-2 teaspoons sea salt (or more to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon pure garlic granules or (garlic seasoning of your choice)


Method:

Rinse almonds thoroughly in fresh cold water, drain and put into blender. Add 1 1/2 cups spring water. Blend on highest setting for 3-4 minutes. Stop blender, add remaining ingredients and blend until very, very smooth (an additional 3-5 minutes.)

Open and place sprout bag or cotton cloth in a large bowl or pitcher. (In the pictures below I actually used a clean white cotton pillowcase, that I also use for wringing water out of greens!)

almond cheese just beginning to drip, you can see a very small amount of whey in the pitcher

Pour the almond cheese mixture into the bag and close with drawstrings, rubber band, or a twist tie as I did. Place bag of almond cheese mixture in pitcher or bowl so that it will drip and strain for 12 hours. Place draining cheese in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours to thoroughly drip. You can also let the mixture ferment slightly (to further sour and develop the flavor) by allowing the cheese to strain on the counter for 6 hours and then moving it to the refrigerator to strain for the remaining time period.

When the cheese is ready, serve chilled with gluten free crackers (or my favorite pretzels) or carrots and celery! Enjoy!!

Store cheese in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Just be aware... you might get addicted to this delicious nut cheese!

almond cheese after straining for 6 hours, notice the amount of whey that has drained

Carrie's Notes:

* The leftover drained liquid is WHEY, you can still use this liquid or you can toss it. It's up to you. If you like to soak grains in Nourishing Traditions style, such as buckwheat, millet, brown rice, or even dried beans you can use some of this liquid to quicken soaking time and assist grains and beans in the sprouting process. For more information on how you can use leftover whey, click here (keep in mind most of these suggestions are using items with gluten or dairy, but you can also use whey with almost any kind of gluten free flour or food.)

* You can use all different kinds of RAW nuts in this recipe, macadamias (although I have heard not to soak them, as it can alter the taste), cashews, pecans, walnuts, brazil nuts, etc... I prefer using raw almonds because they are so mild in taste and really give a beautiful white color to the cheese.

* You can add ALL kinds of wonderful savory additions to this cheese!! Green onions, chives, parsley, garlic... you name it, you can probably add it!! Let me know what you add to your almond cheese!

* I highly recommend soaking the almonds ahead of time. It begins the sprouting process which makes the almonds more nutritious and much easier on your blender! Don't skip soaking!! ;-)

* I am thoroughly looking forward to using this nut cheese as a replacement for ricotta cheese in lasagna!! I will probably slightly change the seasonings for a ricotta/cottage cheese type sub! If you try the cheese in this manner, please let me know what you think!!