We are a gluten free family trying to balance real food eating & traditional food practices while still eating on a budget and living socially in an over-processed food society. This blog is intended to share: our favorite recipes, our gardening & canning experiences, our food flops (ask me about my egg-free, paleo, almond flour pancake mess) & life with two little dirt covered boys.
all of our recipes are gluten free, most are egg free (or offer an egg alternative - since my youngest is egg-free) and many are dairy free, paleo & GAPS friendly. we don't "follow one specific diet" but our cooking style is best described as "gluten free but inspired by wapf + paleo + raw + realistic."
one of our goals as a family for 2012 is to eat fish twice a week. we are actually doing a better job at it than i had expected and one reason is that we have been buying the trader joe’s wild caught tuna. it is frozen, it is very cost effective & not too fishy. this was the first time i had tried this style of marinade and i was very happy with the final results. i haven’t worked much with tuna and marinades, so i read about 100 recipes online and then just merged ingredients by what i had on hand. super easy prep, 30 minutes in the marinade and then a few minutes on each side on the grill and bam, dinner is done.
i served the tuna with green beans topped with bacon and the side carrot salad from one of my favorite bloggers {the nourishing gourmet} cookbooks. the cookbook is called {fresh: nourishing salads for all seasons} and is full of fantastic salad recipes. it was my first time making the carrot side salad and it was wonderful! check out her cookbook!
an added bonus – this entire meal for our family of 4 cost less than $12!
Kristi-This looks fantastic, warming, and perfect for breastfeeding and pregnant women. Would you be willing to post this on my natural food blog, superfood sundays at ……
a few months ago i was making one of those “mad dash” shopping trips at whole foods around lunch time. i have learned that i should never, ever shop when i am hungry. i have zero self control. anyway, i managed to get out of the store without grabbing a lot of extras except for a bottle of cranberry chia seed lemonade. it looked interesting & bonus, it was on sale. i loved it. the texture is a little odd the first time you drink it, but other than that you never notice the chia seeds. our family is already a lover of fresh squeezed lemonade, so why not add more fiber & omega fats? we always have fresh lemons in our house (i buy 10 lbs of organic lemons every month in my azure standard order) and those only last us about 2-3 weeks. so if you are looking for a refreshing summer drink, definitely try some chia seed lemonade. we typically just make ours by the glass & raspberries are not necessary…the plain lemon is wonderful also.
a quick refreshing summer drink, packed full of nutrients
Ingredients
2 organic lemons
handful of raspberries (or any desired fruit)
3 Tbps. chia seeds
16 ounces of water
splash of maple syrup (per desired sweetness)
Instructions
use a citrus juicer or hand squeeze the lemons
juice the raspberries or crush up with a mortar.
mix lemons, juiced raspberries & 16 ounces of water
add a splash of maple syrup and stir
taste to check sweetness, add more maple syrup if needed
add in chia seeds and stir throughly
let set for about 5 minutes before drinking (chia seeds need to hydrate)
Notes
we like our lemonade tart, so i use just a splash of maple syrup, but you can mix it to desired sweetness. *maple syrup will settle on bottom, so make sure to stir it in well.
Wonderwoman-Love this! And am pinning. My husband is one of those people that has to have one of the fancy five dollar drinks every time we go to whole foods. The last time we went, he got one of the chia juices (his was not on sale). I am so happy you posted this as I would not have thought to make it myself.
Thanks a bunch!
May 6, 2012 - 7:40 pm
Michelle @ The Willing Cook-What a great way to use all those ingredients! My family would die over this. I’m going to pin it. Thank you for sharing at this past week’s Allergy-Free Wednesdays! We hope you’ll link up again this week.
~Michelle, AFW Hostess
P.S. I love the fresh, simple look of your blog. It’s particularly refreshing with a a beautiful mason jar full of raspberry lemonade.
May 8, 2012 - 5:52 am
Laura @ Gluten Free Pantry-This lemonade looks way better than the chia seed kombucha drinks I buy at the health food store for $4/pop! I cannot wait to make this drink. I am featuring this recipe this week on Allergy-Free Wednesdays
Emma Green-This looks so so amazing! Thank you for sharing! I have been on a chia seed kick ever since I started making overnight oatmeal, and this looks like another amazing way to use them!!
this is how the conversation with my 3 year old went at breakfast the other day:
brady: “mommy, there are bugs in my scone.”
me: “oh, those are just chia seeds.”
(with a look on his face, that showed he clearly didn’t believe me)
brady: it’s okay mommy, i like bugs.”
breakfast is one of the hardest meals for me to find inspiration for. ever since my youngest son had violent reactions to eggs, our home has been pretty much egg free. i miss eggs. i miss how easy they were for breakfast. so until they return to our house (which i am hopeful that they will) i keep trying new ideas to keep breakfast interesting. these yummy creations were inspired by a recipe from one of my paleo cookbooks {Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen}. i love paleo recipes, but many of them are pretty “egg” heavy, so i try alterations to make them work. i first made these as a dessert and then altered them again by adding more fiber for a perfectly filling, slightly sweet breakfast treat.
author: inspired & adapted from “paleo comfort foods” by julia & charles mayfield
recipe type: breakfast, dessert
honey sweetened shortcakes. makes a perfect breakfast or a wonderful summer dessert.
Ingredients
2 c. strawberries
2 c. blackberries
2 tsps. raw honey
2 c. blanched almond flour
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
pinch of celtic sea salt
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 flax seed eggs* (or 2 large free range eggs)
2 Tbsp. raw honey
Instructions
wash, hull & slice strawberries and mix in a bowl with the blackberries and 2 tsps. of honey
set aside
preheat oven to 350
in a bowl, combine the blanched almond flour, chia seeds, cinnamon, sea salt, baking soda & baking powder
in a saucepan make 2 flax seed eggs (heat 6 Tbsp. water & wisk in 2 Tsbp. ground flax seed until mixture becomes gel like)
combine coconut oil, honey, vanilla & flax egg mixture and pour over dry ingredients
mix gently until ingredients are well incorporated
using a ⅓c. measuring cup, scoop out ½ circle dough balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
this recipe makes six ⅓ c. shortcakes.
bake for 18-20 minutes, until light golden brown
serve warm, topped with honey sweetened strawberry-blackberry mixture
Notes
*if you are making these using eggs, you can omit the baking powder. I have found that using a small amount in egg-free baked items helps them rise.
**for baked goods I typically use blanched almond flour, it just cooks better. I have tried almond meal in this recipe and it works well also, the shortcake will just be a little denser.
amanda reynolds-mmm, these sound yummy!!! do you buy your almond flour in bulk online?
April 30, 2012 - 12:48 am
sproutedlife -i do, i buy blanched Gluten Free Almond Flour in bulk from honeyville. i actually buy the 25lb box and just freeze it.
May 17, 2012 - 4:58 pm
Gabriela @ Renaissance Woman-This looks divine! I’m always looking for recipes with chia seeds. Your three year old is adorable — he sounds very supportive of your cooking endeavors. Have a great weekend!
June 18, 2012 - 8:27 am
blissing -I just made these and they were surprisingly good. Thanks so much! I found you by googling egg-free and grain-free.
i have a slight obsession with cookbooks. oh… i have tried to like the cookbooks on my ipad, they are so easy, so instant, but they just don’t cut it like a good ‘ole paper book. trust me, you can tell which cookbooks contain my favorites by the splatters of ingredients on them.
well the other night i decided we needed something different for dinner. i had a nice piece of frozen wild caught salmon just waiting to be cooked. i love, love, love grilled salmon, but would rather get a fresh piece if i am going to simply grill it. so on the hunt for a recipe, i pulled out a cookbook that i received for christmas this past year {The Pure Kitchen: Clear the Clutter from Your Cooking with 100 Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes} and quickly found a recipe for a honey mustard salmon. now, in true jennifer fashion, i did not plan ahead and was lacking the chives, the parsley & the caraway seeds that the original recipe called for and brian really wanted a “crusted” style salmon. so we altered the recipe some and came up with an almond crusted honey mustard salmon. this recipe will definitely be added to one of our regular favorites. i served it over lemon herbed quinoa and with a side of green beans. check out the “the pure kitchen” cookbook for the actual quinoa recipe (i was missing some ingredients, so mine was just “okay”)
marked clearly on my calendar with a big red circle, is the day. january 6, 2009. it was the day that i went gluten free. only for a trial period, right? or so i thought.
i was 4 weeks postpartum with my first son and suddenly all my tummy troubles were back. my sister had been diagnosed with early signs of celiac damage earlier that year and was already well into her gluten free journey. i made the decision, i was done. so what did i do? well naturally i bought a cookbook {1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes (1,000 Recipes)} it had 1,000 gluten free recipes…this couldn’t be that hard, right?
as soon as my cookbook arrived, i chose a few recipes to try and headed off to whole foods. and there i stood. i think i was there for over 2 hours, just reading labels. never fear, i had my trusty list in hand with all the words that could mean “gluten”. a few hundred dollars later, i came home with all sorts of gluten free items. i had sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xantham gum…and on and on, armed and ready to bake.
i have to admit that the first thing we ever baked gluten free was actually a huge success. though we now eat a very limited amount of gluten free starches and grains, i still thought this recipe should be shared. these little cookies, offered me the encouragement i needed as we dove into changing everything about the way we knew how to cook.
Mel-Yayyy!!!! I’m so excited for you (and, for us ! You have helped us so much with the gluten-free lifestyle…we are beyond appreciative. We can’t wait to see what you share, knowing full-well that you will help and bless many along the way…including us. We’ll be printing off the snicker doodle recipe-thank you. Cheers to what’s to come! Love you guys!! xoxo!
April 27, 2012 - 10:08 pm
Tricia King -So excited for what you are doing…what a blessing you will be to so many!
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. our family is already a lover of fresh squeezed lemonade, so why not add more fiber & omega fats? we always have fresh lemons in our house (i buy 10 lbs of organic lemons every month in my 
! You have helped us so much with the gluten-free lifestyle…we are beyond appreciative. We can’t wait to see what you share, knowing full-well that you will help and bless many along the way…including us. We’ll be printing off the snicker doodle recipe-thank you. Cheers to what’s to come! Love you guys!! xoxo!
Kristi - This looks fantastic, warming, and perfect for breastfeeding and pregnant women. Would you be willing to post this on my natural food blog, superfood sundays at ……
http://www.painfreepregnancy.org/2012/05/superfood-sunday-may-6th-2012.html
Thanks!!