Zucchini Streusel Bread (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

I've been doing some experimenting with gluten free baking. Quite a few people at the bake sales we have been holding have asked for gluten free. 

Myself, I am not a huge fan of gluten free. It's mostly a texture thing for me, sometimes a taste thing. 

This recipe, which I found over at The Unrefined Kitchen, has been one of my favorites so far. 

The texture is a little bit weird (read: different than "regular" zucchini bread), but the taste is really good.

Initially I was not loving the streusel topping (I tasted it raw) BUT once it was cooked on the bread it transformed into something delicious. It might look a little dry in the photos but it is anything but. 

This is a very moist bread that I am sure most people would not even guess was gluten free. 

I made a few changes to accommodate our own tastes plus subbed out what I had on hand. If you want to check out the original version you can find it HERE. 

Zucchini Streusel Bread (Gluten Free,Dairy Free)

Ingredients

Streusel

1/3 cup slivered almonds

3 Tbsp coconut flour, sifted

1 Tbsp coconut oil 

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

Bread

7 eggs

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp cinnamon

pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325. Line a 4 1/2 X 8 1/2 loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together streusel ingredients (almonds, coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt) with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs very well. Whisk in applesauce, maple syrup, zucchini, and vanilla.

Place a mesh sifter over a separate bowl. Place the coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into the sifter. Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until no lumps remain. 

Pour into prepared loaf pan.

Top with the streusel topping.

Bake at 325 for 55 - 60 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. (Mine took a totally of one hour 10 minutes! Just keep an eye on it.) **If you find the top is browning too much then cover with a piece of tinfoil and keep baking until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.**

Let cool about 15 - 20 minutes in pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and use the parchment paper to remove the loaf. Let cool completely on wire rack.

It is best to wait until it is completely cool before trying to slice the loaf. 

As well as being gluten free this is also dairy free. 

The texture is a little bit spongy. Not horribly so....just a little bit. I wasn't expecting it from looking at the slices. I thought it was going to be dry so was a surprised at how moist it was. 

Out of curiosity I looked up the nutritional info to see how it compared to a "regular" zucchini streusel loaf. 

According to Myfitnesspal -- 

This recipe is - 109 calories, 12 carbs, 5 fat, and 4 protein for 1/16th of the recipe.

A "regular" loaf comes in at - 185 calories, 155 carbs, 35 fat, and 44 protein for 1/16th of the recipe. 

That is quite the difference... 76 calories less per slice and 143 less carbs. 

Wow. 

We're sharing at Carole's Chatter, be sure to pop by and say hi. 

Rainbow Salad With Roasted Blueberry Vinaigrette

There are just so many reasons why you should be making and eating a rainbow salad.

It's pretty.

It's cool.

It's healthy.

You are hungry.

It's St. Patrick's Day.

You want something to make you smile.

You are watching the The Wizard Of Oz.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason not to make and eat a rainbow salad.

I went with the "Roy G Biv" rainbow colors. Well, as close as I could get....

Feel free to sub in any of your favorite colored veggies. 

I made a blueberry vinaigrette as I didn't have and blue in my salad. I suppose I could have added the blueberries directly to the salad too! 

You know what? Go nuts. Change it up however you like! (FYI - the blueberry vinaigrette is really, really tasty though!)

Rainbow Salad With Roasted Blueberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Vinaigrette

1 cup blueberries

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

scant 1/4 tsp garlic, minced 

pinch salt

Salad

cherry tomatoes, quartered

orange pepper, diced

yellow pepper, diced

lettuce, chopped

spinach, chopped

beets, cooked and diced

purple cabbage, shredded

Directions

To make vinaigrette - Preheat oven to 375. 

Place blueberries in a shallow baking dish. Cook at 375 until berries start to burst - about 15 minutes or so. 

Remove from oven and let cool.

When berries are cool, place in a blender with the oil, maple syrup, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Process until smooth. Set aside.

To make salad - on a serving plate, layer your ingredients in the Roy G Biv order to resemble a rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). 

Conversely, you can also place in a bowl or container in no particular order and it's still pretty...

Drizzle with some of the Roasted Blueberry Vinaigrette and serve. 

You can use your favorite veggies to make this salad. Here are some suggestions:

Instead of tomatoes you could use red peppers or radishes or kidney beans. 

Instead of orange peppers you could use orange slices or carrots or pumpkin. 

Instead of yellow peppers you could use corn or yellow tomatoes or yellow squash. 

Instead of lettuce and spinach you could use cucumbers or peas or broccoli. 

Instead of blueberry vinaigrette you could use blueberries. 

Instead of purple cabbage and beets you could use purple onion or grapes or purple carrots. 

Definitely a colorful dish that will make eating veggies a little easier. 

 

Looking for some fun and tasty ideas? Visit Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons and My Turn (for us). 

Chicken Galene (Chicken Breast Stuffed With Bacon, Crab, Scallops, Prawns In A Cream Cheese Garlic Sauce)

There used to be a restaurant/night club in Lillooet called the Dessert Inn. It was around when we were too young to go to the night club but we enjoyed going to the restaurant. 

One of my favorite dishes there was a chicken breast stuffed with seafood in this wonderfully creamy sauce. I hadn't thought about it for years and years and years but suddenly it popped into my head a few days ago. Then, of course, my brain became obsessed with having this amazing chicken again. 

I searched high and low, all over the internet, but couldn't find anything close to what I was looking for. I decided to try and recreate the recipe from how I remembered it. 

I think I got it pretty close. 

This is so incredibly decadent, rich, creamy, and full of different flavors and textures. I would love to know how close I got it to the original Dessert Inn Version.

Chicken Galene

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Garlic Sauce

1 Tbsp butter

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 Tbsp dried chives

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

1 cup water

salt & pepper

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Filling

4 pieces bacon, finely chopped

12 large scallops, finely chopped

1 cup crab, finely chopped

1 cup prawns, finely chopped

6 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (for sprinkling on top) 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.

To make the sauce - In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the garlic and chives and cook until garlic becomes fragrant. Add in the cream cheese and cook and stir until melted. Slowly stir in the water until sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.  Remove from heat.

To make filling - In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon until it starts to brown. Add in the chopped scallops, crab, and prawns. Cook and stir until seafood is cooked through.

Remove from heat and stir in about 1/4 cup of the cream cheese garlic sauce. Set aside.

Prepare the chicken by butterflying the breasts (cutting almost all the way through them horizontally). 

**Note - you can ask your butcher to do this for you if you are like me and massacre the breasts.** 

Place the breast, cut side up, on a work surface. Spoon a generous amount of filling into the middle of each breast. 

Gently bring the sides of the breasts together, pressing the filling in as much as possible. 

Spoon one or two tablespoons of sauce into your prepared 9 X 13 pan and spread it over the bottom. 

Place the stuffed chicken breasts into the pan.

When all the breasts are in the pan you should still have a generous amount of filling leftover. Save that for when you serve the dish.

Spread a generous spoonful of sauce over each breast. 

Bake at 350 until chicken breasts are cooked through. Start checking at about 30 minutes. (Mine ending up taking about 45 minute total).

When chicken is done, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and return to oven to cook until cheese is melted and browned. 

Place each breast on a serving plate. Top with another generous spoonful of the sauce and spoonful of the filling. (You will need to reheat the sauce and filling just before serving. I just microwaved them for 2 minutes but you could place them back on the stove top for a few minutes, if you prefer.)

And then you can also sprinkle with a bit more Parmesan cheese, if you desire.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Maybe not the prettiest of chicken dishes but most definitely one of the tastiest. 

I've decided to call it Chicken Galene as Galene was a Goddess of calm seas. 

I figure with all that yummy seafood in there it was fitting. 

 

Adorned from Above, My Sweet Mission, and Dizzy Busy & Hungry and Easy Life and Carole's Chatter have tons of fantastic links. Be sure to visit them all!

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Bread

Let the Christmas treats begin!

I figure it is close enough to the holiday seasons to start posting some Christmas treats. I made this guy for a bake sale and just fell in love with him. 

Isn't he cute?

And, believe it or not...not that difficult to make. You can use your favorite bread recipe, store bought, or use our recipe listed here. It is my go to recipe that is so quick and easy to make. 

Our recipe should yield about 8 - 9 buns. 

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Bread

Ingredients

Bread

5 - 5 1/2 cups flour

3 Tbsp sugar

2 envelopes Rapid Rise Yeast (4 1/2 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup water

1/3 cup butter, cubed

Decorations

cream cheese (only about 1 Tbsp)

black beans

cherry or plum tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and baking soda. 

Heat buttermilk, water, and butter until very warm (~120). Butter does not need to melt completely. Mixture will appear curdled. 

Stir the warm milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. 

Cover and let rest on floured surface for approx 15 minutes. 

After dough has rested.....

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. It takes 2 pieces to make each reindeer. 

Shape one piece of dough into a "bell" shape. (Basically a triangle with rounded corners.) This piece will be the head.

Take the other piece of dough and cut it roughly in half. 

Cut one half into half again and roll each half into logs. These will be the antlers. 

Take the other half and cut off 2 tiny pieces. These will be the ears. (See photo below for clarification.) You may have a little bit of dough leftover. 

To make the ears simply roll each little piece into a ball. Squish the ball flat with your thumb. Make a cut halfway up the circle, being careful not to go completely cut the circle in two. Pinch the ends together to form an ear shape. (See photo below for clarification.)

To make the antlers simply cut each log with an angled cut at the 1/3 rd and 2/3 rd mark, being careful not to cut all the way through the log. Pinch the cuts into points and angle them away from the main branch. 

Place the antlers and the ears onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them far enough apart that the antlers don't touch each other.  Then place the bell shaped head dough on top of the antlers and ears. Make sure the positions are correct. (See below photo for clarifications)

Repeat with remaining dough. 

You can even make a large reindeer if you prefer....

Bake at 374 until golden brown, about 20 - 30 minutes (depending on size).

Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and let completely cool on wire rack.

Use a tiny amount of cream cheese to adhere the black beans and tomato to your reindeer for eyes and a nose.

Adorable, right?

I think for the bigger bread I need to use a bigger cherry tomato. All I had was plum tomatoes so they were pretty tiny. Still got a lot of "aaawwww"s at the bake sale though.

I also think, for next time, I will stuff the buns with pizza sauce and cheese so they are a lunch on their own. 

I am pretty sure it would make the kids happy to see these little guys on the Christmas dinner table. 

For tons more tasty and crafty links, be sure to visit -- Feeding Big, Memories By The Mile,  

Chef In Training, Table For Seven, Anyonita Nibbles, Carole's Chatter, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons
 

Greek Gyro Lettuce Wraps

I am always saying that I love it when healthy and tasty come together.  

I hate it when healthy tastes like healthy. 

Blech.

I know...I know.... that makes me a terrible person. I should appreciate the healthiness of the food. 

It's just that...well....that's really hard when it tastes like I'm eating cardboard.

Anyway...what I'm trying to say is that THIS recipe is not one of those recipes. 

These wraps are crazy good. 

I didn't even miss the pita bread that would normally go with a gyro. The lettuce is crispy, the meatballs are savory, and the feta and tzatziki add just the right amount of zip. 

According to Myfitnesspal each wrap (3 meatballs, 2 Tbsp tzatziki, 1 Tbsp feta, 4 grape tomatoes, and 2 lettuce leaves) is:

200 calories, 8 carbs, 22 fat, and 70 protein.

They are pretty filling. I had 2 for dinner the first night and one for lunch with a piece of fruit the next day and both times I was completely full. 

Greek Gyro Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, diced very fine

1 Tbsp Greek seasoning

1 clove garlic, minced

salt & pepper

Wrap

12 leaves Romaine lettuce

24 grape tomatoes, cut in half

12 Tbsp tzatziki

6 Tbsp feta, crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine beef, onion, Greek seasoning, garlic, and salt & pepper. It helps to use your hands to make sure things are very well mixed.

Using a cookie scoop (or simply pinch off a bit of the meat and roll it into a ball), place 18 meatballs onto prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Flip the meatballs over and continue cooking until meatballs are cooked through, about another 15 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and set aside while you prepare the wraps.

To assemble wraps -- Place 2 leaves of Romaine on top of one another on your plate. Top with 3 meatballs, 8 grape tomato halves, 2 Tbsp of tzatziki, and 1 Tbsp of feta. 

Repeat with remaining ingredients. (You should get 6 wraps out of this recipe.)

Make sure you put the fillings in the center of the lettuce leaves because then, when you pick it up, you can simply fold the sides of the lettuce over on themselves and enjoy!

For my lunch the next day I just reheated the meatballs in the microwave for a minute and it was just as good as when I had it for dinner. 

If you are watching your carbs then this is a great alternative to a regular gyro (there is only 8 carbs!) If you are just looking for a crazy good meal that also just happens to be healthy then this recipe is the one you want. 

It's true.

Be sure to stop by Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons and My Turn (for us) and Horrific Knits and The Chicken Chick and Ms. enPlace and Jam Hands and The Velvet Moon Baker and Hun...What's For Dinner? and Carole's Chatter for some fantastic links!

Carrot Zucchini Quinoa Veggie Burgers

It's veggie burger time!

We've previously posted about our Beet & Quinoa Burger, our Quinoa Burger, our Black Bean & Rice Burger, and our Spicy Chickpea Quinoa And Barley Patties. 

Today we are sharing our Carrot Zucchini Quinoa Burgers. These ones are another favorite of mine. I love the texture as well as the taste. I used black quinoa to change things up a bit but you can use regular or red quinoa and they will still work out just fine.

According to Myfitnesspal, these check in at 204 calories, 32 carbs, 4 fat, and 9 protein per patty. The recipe makes 6 good sized patties. 

Carrot Zucchini Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

2 cups carrot, shredded

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1 cup fine bread crumbs

1 cup black quinoa, cooked (or regular quinoa)

1/4 cup onion, diced fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup potatoes, cooked & mashed

1 Tbsp prepared mustard

2 tsp HP sauce

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

sprinkle of seasoning salt

salt & pepper

3 eggs

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat, set aside.

Place a strainer in the sink and scoop the shredded carrot and zucchini into the strainer. Press the veggies in your hands to get out as much liquid as you can. Once strained, place veggies into a large bowl.

Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. (You may want to use your hands.)

Form the mixture into 6 equal sized patties and place on prepared cookie sheet. Chill for at least an hour.

After patties have chilled, remove from fridge and set on counter while you preheat the oven to 350. 

Bake the patties at 350 for approx 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, carefully flip the patties over, return to oven for about 10 - 15 minutes. Until patties are browned to your satisfaction. 

Remove from oven and, if desired, place cheese slices onto patties. Return to oven for a few more minutes to melt cheese. (If you do not want cheese you can simply serve the patties when you remove them from the oven.)

Enjoy as is OR place on a bun and enjoy a tasty, tasty burger!

I like the crunchiness of a whole grain bun to accompany my veggie patties. 

Sue and I want to experiment with different veggie combinations to see how many more veggie burgers we can come up with. What are your favorite veggie patty combinations?

Be sure to check out Carole's Chatter! for tons of fun food links.