When the boys were little we used to have green eggs for breakfast everyday.  They grew out of that phase a while ago and now I think this Green Eggs recipe is perfect for St. Patrick’s day.

Now when I make these, I serve them with chicken breakfast links and my Dark Rye Bread (as shown above).  Green eggs are a colorful, fun, super healthy, hearty way to get in green veggies at the start of your day.  You can also make these yummy gluten free, dairy free eggs with spinach.  Here’s the recipe.

Green Eggs

• 4 eggs
• 4 large kale leaves (do not trim or remove stems)
• pinch celtic sea salt
• oil of your choice for frying pan

1. Place eggs, kale leaves and salt in vitamix
2. Blend on high until smooth
3. Heat oil in pan over medium heat
4. Pour egg mixture in pan
5. Allow eggs to cook a bit, then scramble
6. Cook eggs to your preferred doneness
7. Serve

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/green-eggs/ 

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Biscuits

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Okey dokey, here comes a turkey day fave.  I’ve had a lot of requests for a gluten free biscuit lately, especially in my forums.  These biscuits are super easy to make and high protein fare to boot.  So you just might want to add these to your Thanksgiving menu.  Or your Christmas dinner menu.  Or a brunch menu.  As you can see, they’re quite versatile.

Biscuits
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour, plus about 1 cup for dusting the dough (thanks Karen!)
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup earth balance natural buttery spread (soy free)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together buttery spread, eggs and agave
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a nice dough forms
4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1 ½ inches thick
5. Dust dough with extra almond flour if it is sticky and/or misbehaving
6. Cut the dough into biscuits using a mason jar with a 3-inch wide mouth
7. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until biscuits are browned on the bottom edges
9. Serve with gravy, jelly or whatever else your heart desires

Makes about 10 biscuits

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/biscuits/

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Bran Muffins

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I have been craving a good, healthy, tasty, gluten free bran muffin for quite some time.  Finally, thanks toflaxmania (I’m on a string of flax recipes this week) here it is.

My friend Chris was one of my guinea pigs for this baking endeavor.  She took a flax muffin home from my house one day and ate it the next for breakfast.  Later, I received a phone call from her requesting this recipe.  I take that as a good sign since she does not have food restrictions.

Bran Muffins

• ½ cup blanched almond flour
• ½ cup golden flaxseed meal
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 6 dates
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup raisins

1. In a large bowl combine almond flour, flax meal, baking soda and salt
2. In a vitamix blend dates, eggs, olive oil and water on high speed until very smooth
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry, then stir in sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and raisins
4. Spoon batter into lined muffin pan
5. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes
6. Cool and serve

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/bran-muffins/ 

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Banana Walnut Muffins

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I originally posted this date sweetened, gluten free muffin recipe the year before last in my Great Agave Debate post.  Because it was part of something so much bigger, it kinda got lost in the mix.  I’m re-posting it because I think it’s an easy, super tasty, healthy recipe that will please both agave lovers and haters alike.

For more information on agave, please check out my Great Agave Debate post and all of the amazing reader comments and debate that follow it.  Meantime, everyone, enjoy these purely fruit sweetened coconut flour based muffins!

Banana Walnut Muffins

• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 2 medium bananas
• 3 dates, pitted
• 10 drops stevia
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1. Place eggs, oil, bananas, dates and stevia in a vitamix; blend on medium speed until combined
2. Add in coconut flour, salt and baking soda and blend until smooth
3. Fold in walnuts
4. Scoop ¼ cup batter into a lined muffin pan
5. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (my batch took exactly 23 minutes; all ovens are slightly different)
6. Cool and serve

I loved Joy the Baker’s awesome post on coconut flour; her accompanying recipe for Coconut Waffles looks obscenely good (I can’t wait to make it myself).  If you haven’t been to her site, be sure to check it out.  Joy is an amazing writer with true wit and an outrageously good sense of humor.  Her recipes are pretty darn great too!

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/banana-walnut-muffins/ 

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Granola

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I love gluten free granola; sweet and crunchy, it always satisfies a good snack attack.

I also get a kick out of using the term “granola” to ridicule my Boulder brethren. However, when I’m feeling earthy, dousing myself in patchouli (which my husband dislikes to no end) I can easily apply the term to myself –even though I’m more of a yuppie than a hippie. I guess that would make me a yippie.

Alas, I digress. Several years ago when I first encountered the live food diet, I created this recipe for a crunchy live gluten free granola. Even though he’s not a hippie, yippie or yuppie, my husband really likes it and so does my younger son. The little guy eats it with yogurt, which makes for a tasty and filling snack.

Granola

• 2 cups almonds
• 1 cup macadamia nuts
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt

1. Place nuts and seeds in a large bowl, cover with water and soak overnight
2. Place raisins in a separate bowl, cover with (½ to 1 cup) water and soak overnight
3. Place the raisins, along with their soaking water in a food processor and puree until smooth
4. In a fine mesh metal strainer, drain and rinse the nuts and seeds and discard the soaking water
5. Add nuts and seeds to raisin puree in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, to the consistency of granola, then add vanilla, cinnamon and salt and pulse briefly to incorporate these final ingredients
6. Transfer mixture onto two large parchment lined baking sheets
7. To make live granola, place in the oven on the lowest setting (usually 135°) for 24 hours
8. For instant gratification, bake 45 minutes in the oven at 250°; for this more decadent treat, I sometimes drizzle agave over the granola, or add shredded coconut, currants and other dried fruit
9. Serve

Serves 12

Enjoy this nutritious power packed, grain free, gluten free, healthy raw granola recipe with fresh fruit, plain yogurt or as I do, simply by the handful.

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/granola/ 

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Carrot Banana Muffins

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When I saw this recipe for a purely fruit sweetened carrot cake from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com I just knew I would want to make it into some sort of gluten free version.  So I did.

Last weekend our friends Chris and Larry came over to sit out on our porch and read the Sunday New York Times with us while soaking in some good Colorado sunshine and we enjoyed these descendants of Heidi’s carrot, banana, date yumminess.  Here it is for all of you.

Carrot Banana Muffins

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
• ¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
2. In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil
3. Transfer mixture to a large bowl
4. Blend dry mixture into wet until thoroughly combined
5. Fold in carrots and walnuts
6. Spoon mixture into paper lined mini muffin pans
7. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes

Makes 18 muffins

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/carrot-banana-muffins/ 


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Mulberry Granola

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When I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, I found a raw, vegan, gluten free granola made of mulberries and walnuts.  It was absolutely delicious, though just a bit sweet for my palate.

I saved the package (it was made by International Harvest and they have other flavors as well), and this weekend found a dash of spare time to recreate their product without using the agave they add to sweeten it.  I think it’s quite sweet enough with dried fruit in it.  The trick to making this granola is adding a ton of cinnamon (even more than the 1 teaspoon I have in the recipe below), which accentuates the sweetness of the dried fruits.

Mulberry Granola
4 cups walnuts
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ cup water
4 dates, pitted
5 dried apricots, chopped
½ cup dried mulberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Soak walnuts and salt overnight in a 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish
2. Rinse the walnuts, rinse the baking dish, then place the nuts back in the baking dish
3. Place nuts in oven on lowest setting (our oven is 135°) and dehydrate for 24 hours or until crispy
4. Once nuts are dehydrated, remove from oven and set aside
5. Place dates and water in food processor and pulse until a smooth paste forms
6. Add walnuts, apricots, mulberries and cinnamon and pulse until coarse, like granola
7. Place in oven in 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dish and dehydrate again for 24 hours or until crispy
8. Serve as a snack or as cereal with almond milk

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-granola/

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Porridge

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I discovered this hot cereal on Ricki Heller’s blog, Diet Dessert and Dogs, after she tweeted it a couple of days ago.  I’ve had it for my gluten free breakfast every day since!  You can call it hot cereal or porridge, either way, it’s a superfood way to start your day, and quick and easy at that. What is porridge?  According to Wikipedia, porridge is a dish made by boiling grains such as oats or other cereal meals in water, milk or broth.  In fact, there are lots of ways to make a gluten free porridge, this one just happens to be my favorite, probably because it’s Paleo friendly.

I grew up on Cream of Wheat (isn’t that lovely). We did not eat ours with sweetener, it was a savory dish for us, with tons of butter (actually margarine) and salt.  This new gluten free breakfast brings back my memories of hot cereal during childhood.  Here’s my version of the hot cereal posted on Ricki’s blog (original recipe by Andrea Nakayama).

Porridge

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• ¼ cup walnuts
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup boiling water
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt (I like things super salty, so you may want to reduce this)

1. Combine all ingredients in a vitamix
2. Blend until finely ground
3. Pour boiling water into Vitamix, cover with lid
4. Blend very carefully starting on low setting, then moving to high, until porridge is smooth
5. Transfer porridge to a bowl
6. Garnish with raisins, sunflower seeds or treats of your choice
7. Serve

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-porridge/ 

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins

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If I had a grain free muffin of the month club November would be pumpkin spice muffins. September would be banana muffins and May would be blueberry muffins. Of course, I have no such club, however, I do love a good healthy muffin.

For those of you who have nut allergies? These grain free Pumpkin Spice Muffins are nut free.

The roasted pumpkin in this muffin makes it delicate and moist and the spices add a robust fall flavor. I use a tablespoon each of ground cinnamon and ginger. The result is a healthy one given that cinnamon is a wonderful blood sugar stabilizer and ginger is anti-inflammatory. When baking, these muffins will perfume your home with the wonderful aroma of healing spices.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup freshly roasted pumpkin (canned pumpkin will not work)
• ½ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons vegan palm oil shortening
• ⅛ teaspoon vanilla crème stevia

1. In a food processor pulse together coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger
2. Pulse in eggs, pumpkin, honey, shortening and stevia
3. Transfer batter into paper lined muffin tin
4. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes
5. Serve

Makes about 8 muffins

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/pumpkin-spice-muffins/ 

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Silver Dollar Pancakes

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Everyone likes pancakes. So I was quite happy when the Almond Board asked me to create a pancake recipe for them.  I do have a couple of other gluten free pancake recipes, though I think this one is the best of the bunch!

Hope you enjoy these high protein, gluten free pancakes made with almond flour as much as we have.

Silver Dollar Pancakes

• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
• 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• grapeseed oil, for cooking (or for Paleo use coconut oil)

1. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, water, vanilla and agave
2. Add almond flour, salt and baking soda and mix until thoroughly combined
3. Heat grapeseed oil on skillet over medium low to medium heat
4. Scoop 1 heaping tablespoon of batter at a time onto the skillet
5. Pancakes will form little bubbles, when bubbles open, flip pancakes over and cook other side
6. Remove from heat to a plate
7. Repeat process with remaining batter, add more oil to skillet as needed

Yields 18 pancakes

Source:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/silver-dollar-pancakes/ 


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Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

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