What Can I Do With This?

When I was little, my mom used to play a game called “What Can I Do With This?” She would pick up any object, like a plastic ring from a salad dressing bottle and hold it to her ear like a piece of jewelry. She could get very creative. I think she once turned a heavy, clay planter into a necklace. Anyway, I guess the game payed off. Whenever I have left overs, I wonder, what can I do with this? Smoothies, chili dishes, meat loaves, soups and stews, salads and stir fries are all amazingly easy dishes to not only hide those healthy ingredients your children, spouse or significant other may rebel against, but a convenient place to use leftovers. Using leftovers saves money and spares you from the “why did you buy another one of these when we already have 3 in the cabinet” speech. So when you see your fruit beginning to brown, freeze it and throw it into your next smoothie. Take the vegetables that you didn’t use for dinner and freeze them as well. And don’t worry because that produce still has health promoting antioxidants. Dr. Weil cites a study done by Belgian researchers who, after measuring the antioxidant levels of fruits and vegetables just prior to spoilage, found that both groups lost no phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid or flavanols and discovered that, in some cases, the total count of phenolic compounds actually increased prior to spoilage. Leftover vegetables and fruits are also great in any salad dish. A bowl of berries leftover from Sunday brunch goes great in Monday night’s salad. And Tuesday night’s leftover sweet potatoes are a great compliment to your Wednesday night chili. Making quinoa Thursday night? Make some extra or use leftovers to make these quinoa pizza muffins. A great side to salad or an after school snack, these gluten free muffins are a light, healthy treat.

Quinoa Pizza Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked quinoa which equates to about 3 cups cooked
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons minced garlic or the crushed equivalent in a jar
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped or 2 tablespoons dried
1/2 cup diced tomatoes and/or sun dried tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pizza sauce for dipping

Directions:
Cook quinoa as directed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients, except pizza sauce, in a medium mixing bowl.
Distribute mixture into a greased (or use baking cups) muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (one heaping tablespoon each) and press down gently to compact.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!
Adina Kelman
Certified Holistic Nutritionist
www.alifeinbalance.co

Coconuts and Ducks

You know the expression, “if it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck and acts and looks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck”? I’m beginning to think that coconut flour falls into the duck category. Because no matter how hard I try and no matter who I talk to, I, and it seems many others, can not get coconut flour to behave like any other flour. The end product when baking with coconut flour is, for lack of a better word, unique. No matter how many things you throw at it, it is an obstinate flour. Just as you can not make a shy child outgoing or pretend that carob really tastes like chocolate, you can’t make coconut flour other than what it is.

I set out again to make the coconut pancakes, this time following Paleo expert Mark Sisson’s Coconut Pancake recipe which calls for the following ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat)

Remember the important advice about reading the fine print? It wasn’t until I was well into the recipe that I realized Sisson called these pancakes crepes. The end result of this recipe was a loose batter that produced a crepe that frankly tasted like scrambled eggs. I didn’t really see the point. I might as well have had plain eggs.

I am as stubborn as coconut flour so the goal for my next go around was to produce a thicker batter that actually tasted like a pancake. I used the following ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour
1 cup egg beaters (I typically don’t use this product, but my daughter bought it and I didn’t want to throw it out. Next time I would opt for plain egg whites)
1 tsp chia seeds
1 Tbl maca powder
1 Tbl raw cacao
2 Tbl Gogi berries
Cinnamon
Choc chips

This recipe yielded 6 slightly spongey yet edible pancakes. I did not get rave reviews, but it was my best results to date.

So, where do I go from here? Do I accept the true nature of coconut flour and work around it? Or should I just adjust my expectations? You can’t sit down to enjoy a bowl of spaghetti squash and think it’s going to taste just like pasta. And please let’s not pretend that soy cheese and rice ice cream taste like the real thing. Coconut flour and me. Maybe expecting less will lead to a whole new world of cocnutty opportunities.

The Same Mistake Twice…Another Word on Making the Pancakes

Everyone was either occupied or out of the house. Now was my chance to do it again. I tiptoed into the kitchen, quietly pulled open the cabinet doors, and silently reached for the coconut flour. I don’t know if it’s because I have easily made over 19,760 pancakes (see 11/26 post) or my proportions have been off, but lately, my pancakes have not satisfied me the way they used to. I was ready to experiment with coconut flour again.

I had not done any new research prior to restarting, but that didn’t stop me. I thought that the pancakes that I envisioned in my head would somehow materialize on my plate. 1 cup coconut flour, 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons of the following: maca powder, cacao, vanilla, cinnamon, chia seeds, 1 cup almond milk. Start mixing. 1/2 cup more of almond milk. Stir. Another 1/2 a cup. The batter was like fluffy mud. I put some on the griddle to see if it would hold together. I thought that the third egg and extra 1/2 a cup of almond meal that I has used would do the trick. It didn’t. A 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour and then another 1/4 cup later, the batter is still the consistency of grainy fluff that won’t stick together on the griddle. At this point I stop measuring and, instead of staying calm or admitting defeat, I just start throwing stuff in. Oats. A little better. More almond milk. Coconut flour soaks up liquid like a sponge. No difference. More oats. Finally, a little olive oil marginally salvaged what was left. With an insanely unhealthy amount of chocolate chips in the hope of masking the remaining disaster, I nonchalantly put the plate of pancakes on the table in front of all who had returned home or stopped what they were doing to gather around the table for brunch. “What’s this?”, my 11 year old asked. “Pancakes”, I snidely responded. “They look disgusting”. I ignored my family and as I watched them eat and listened to them complain, I hoped that the eggs didn’t contain salmonella because the burnt coconut flour pancakes did not seem to be thoroughly cooked through. I ate them to set an example and threw out the rest.

So what’s the secret to using coconut flour and why do I want to learn to bake with it so badly? Coconut flour is a healthy, high fiber, grain free alternative and a great source of manganese. High in lauric acid, coconut oil and flour, provide the body with ready energy. Studies show that coconut oil, high in the medium chain triglyceride, lauric acid, can be used directly for energy instead of being stored as fat. With some research showing medium chain triglyceride’s beneficial effect on cholesterol, coconut flour, is a beneficial supplement to a healthy diet.

And it mocks me as I try to learn to tame and master this beast of a flour. So maybe it’s a deep-seated need for control. Either way, I want to learn how to use it in my kitchen other than baking with it and throwing it out. In my typical, illogical fashion of doing things backwards, I started to research.

One site described coconut flour as “unforgiving”, requiring an inordinate amount of liquid and an unpredictable substitution ratio. Other sites attested to its tricky nature.
Ok, I was not alone. Feeling less inept, I continued to research. As usual, there was conflicting advice regarding the use and storage of coconut flour, but what I found in common across several sites is that 1. you can not substitute grain flour for coconut flour on a one to one ratio (a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup coconut flour for 1 cup grain-based flour is the general rule) and 2. any coconut flour recipe requires a lot, I mean a lot, of eggs (about 6 beaten eggs plus 1 cup liquid for every 1 cup of coconut flour). The other words of advice that I found posted across every site I read was basically not to experiment, but to instead follow well established recipes. Hmmmm. Maybe I should have read that first. I may make the same mistake twice, but I won’t make it a third time. Next weekend, I will turn toward trusted Paleo authority Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple and try what seems to be a basic coconut flour, user friendly, pancake recipe. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I would love any tips on baking with coconut flour. For those eager to test out this recipe before me, here it is:

Coconut Pancakes

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat)

Directions:
Mix these ingredients and let them sit for five minutes. Oil or grease up your pan and heat over medium heat. Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe, allowing each side to brown before flipping it.

Until the next batch of pancakes!
Adina Kelman
Holistic Health Coach
www.alifeinbalance.co

Snow Days

The quickest way to tell a new mom from an older, more seasoned one is to gauge their reaction to the words “snow day”. If a no-school snow day instantly brings to mind craft projects, board games, snowmen and hot chocolate, then you are a new mother. If, however, the phone call that informs you that school will be closed due to inclement weather summons images of the 60 minute, sweat producing process of torturously bundling up just to be out for 15 minutes before someone has to pee or gets too cold to play because their older sister shoved a handful of snow down their jacket, then you’re a more experienced mom. Either way, you are going to have to feed them. Here are two easy, fun recipes to enjoy on those snowy days. This was the first time I made these with my kids and both recipes, based on our family’s tastes, need minor tweaking (see comments below). I don’t remember the original source of these recipes or where I even found them, but they’re fairly common and can be easily adjusted to suit your family’s personal tastes and preferences. Add a different nut or seed, experiment with rolled versus steel cut oats, change up the sweet and salty favors – have fun, experiment and make it your own.

Cacao Squares
Ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
3/4 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
3/4 cup pitted dates
1 1/2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup (I used grade B)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt*
1 tablespoon hemp hearts (add to mix or save to sprinkle on top)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in blender. Line a pan with wax or parchment paper so there’s enough paper to cover the top of the mixture.
Transfer the blended mixture, which should be sticky, onto the lined pan, and flatten to distribute evenly.
Fold and press the top of the paper over the mixture and put in the fridge for an hour. Cut into any shape you desire and enjoy.

*Comments: My family agreed that the saltiness of this recipe needed to be adjusted down just a bit.

Oat Nut and Seed Bars
Ingredients:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup oat flour (grind oats in blender if you don’t have flour)
4 tablespoons chocolate chips
2 tablespoons craisins (we chopped ours)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon whole flax seeds
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 mashed, ripe bananas*
2 tablespoons nut butter (we used creamy, organic peanut butter)
2 tablespoons sweetener* (we used coconut sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
In medium bowl combine oats, oat flour, chocolate chips, craisins (you can use currants, raisins, cherries or any dried fruit) chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In a small bowl combine mashed banana, nut butter, sweetener and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread out in a thin layer on oiled cookie sheet or baking dish.
Bake 22-24 minutes, until edges begin to brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

*Comments:
We used just one banana here for two reasons: we didn’t want a heavy banana taste and anyway, that’s all we had left in the house! We all agreed that for our personal tastes, the sweetness of this recipe needed to be adjusted up just a bit.

If you pair these tasty desserts with the traditional snowy day drink of hot chocolate, be sure that your cocoa mix is not made from hydrogenated oils. Whether you are a new or seasoned mom, enjoy those snowy days – they really do go by too fast.

To good health, lazy days and snuggling by the fireplace, Happy Snow Day!
Adina Kelman
www.alifeinbalance.co

Making Memories

It was winter break 2010 that I decided that staying home, playing cards and sipping hot cocoa by the fireplace wasn’t enough to constitute the lasting memories I envisioned my children fondly cherishing into adulthood. And so I decided to travel into NYC on the most heavily traveled, tourist saturated, gridlock day available…..after a massive snowstorm…..alone…..with four children. I’m not really sure what I was thinking, but I had a mission. I was out to create memories. And that I did.

It was not like I was holding these tickets for a long time. I specifically sent my mom and dad out earlier that day where they purchased half price tickets to Rock of Ages based on the advice of the guy standing next to them. He touted the play as hilarious and appropriate for all ages. I guess that’s why there are so many different books on parenting. The plan was to meet at 4:00 for a leisurely dinner and then merrily waltz into the theater before curtain time smiling, happy, relaxed, practically skipping and oozing with love and good memories. The reality was that we barely made the show on time and we were certainly less than merry.

The Daily News described it as the sixth largest snowstorm in New York history which “buried the streets in four-foot drifts, brought transit to a halt and spread a strange and wonderful hush over the city.” Days after the Blizzard of 2010, where 18 to 24 inches of snow accumulated across the tiny island of Manhattan, was the day I decided to create memories. I guess I chose this day for the same unknown reason I would, as a little girl, only wear turtlenecks in winter. From the front seat of my mini van, I threw packets of stale nuts and lollipops at my whining, hungry children. My youngest daughter, then 6 years old, cried “mommy, I’m scared!” as I held down my horn screaming obscenities at the car and traffic guard in front of me. We ran into the theater, out of breath, cranky and hungry with four bagels and cream cheese smuggled in my bag from the deli next door.

I guess I had created a memory. Not the loving one that formed in my mind, but the crazy, hectic one that backfires whenever I put the expectation of perfect in front of me. This winter break I have made no grand plans. In fact, I may not even leave the house. I will try to take what comes with gratitude and appreciation for the moment while baking a dessert I have already tried.

Brownies from The Longevity Kitchen by Rebecca Katz

Ingredients:
1/3 cup almond flour, homemade or store-bought (I used Trader Joe’s almond meal)
1/3 cup brown rice flour (for brownies that are more fudgy, replace the rice flour with another 1/3 cup of almond flour – this was what I did)
2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I used raw cacao powder)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (68 to 72% cacao content), chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 organic eggs
1/3 cup Grade B maple syrup

1/3 cup maple sugar
 (or light brown sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I left these out because my children insisted)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two pieces of foil long enough to overlap on all four sides. Lightly oil the foil. (I just oiled my brownie pan and put the batter in)
Put the almond flour, brown rice flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir with a whisk to combine.
Put half of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring often, just until the chocolate is melted and smooth. (I melted my chocolate in the microwave) Remove from the heat and whisk in the olive oil.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until frothy. Slowly add the maple syrup and maple sugar, whisking all the while, and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla extract, then gradually add the chocolate, whisking vigorously all the while, and continue whisking until smooth and glossy.
Add the flour mixture and beat for about 1 minute. Stir in the remaining chocolate and the walnuts. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool to room temperature in the pan, then cover and refrigerate for at least
 one hour before cutting into brownies. (Of course, I skipped the refrigeration part and the brownies did crumble, but they were still delicious!)

Wishing all safe, imperfect, happy holidays filled with joy and appreciation,
Adina Kelman
Holistic Health Coach
www.alifeinbalance.co

Continuing to Make the Pancakes

A side note to those who read Time to Make the Pancakes:

My kids like their basic needs catered to…quickly. When they’re hungry and the beast within is not tamed quickly, they get extremely irritable. And they don’t seem to be growing out of this phase as quickly as I had hoped. I guess the morning when they were all sitting around the breakfast table waiting to be fed was not the most optimal time to experiment. Then again, I seem not to learn my lessons as swiftly as I should, and so, I ventured forward in the face of very evident danger.

I tried experimenting this weekend with a “flour” base that consisted of 1 cup coconut flour and 1 cup cashew meal. Do NOT try this at home. They were awful. The pancake didn’t hold together and my husband and oldest daughter said that they tasted like marzipan. I had to add sprouted whole wheat flour to prevent them from falling apart, no longer rendering them grain or gluten free, but at least, edible. Supposedly, you can substitute almond and cashew meal for half the amount of a conventional flour. And coconut flour can take the place of a quarter to the entire amount of regular four. That’s a pretty large margin for error and I think, along with maybe too much almond milk, the cause of my cooking catastrophe. Other than my kid’s complaints, I did need to suffer through my husband’s “look how much of these expensive health food ingredients just went into the trash” speech. That alone would have been bearable, but when my husband added the “did you read any instructions” part of the lecture, I got a little cranky. All in all, not the most pleasant baking experience, but, to my husband and children, all I have to say is Lighten up! It’s only pancakes!

Time To Make The Pancakes

My children range from 8 to 19 years old. I have been making pancakes at least every weekend for the last 19 years. There are 52 weekends in a year. 52 x 19 equals 988 weekends that I have been making pancakes. Each time I make pancakes, it yields a minimum of 10 pancakes. So according to my calculations that adds up to a minimum of 9,880 pancakes for one day out of the weekend. Accounting for Sunday as well, I have mixed, poured and baked at least 19,760 pancakes. This doesn’t even allow for holidays and snow days! I can make pancakes in my sleep – literally.

Anyone from my generation might remember the commercial of the Dunkin Donuts guy groggily rolling out of bed at 5:00 a.m., shuffling sleepily into the Dunkin Donuts kitchen, all the while mumbling repeatedly “Time to make the donuts”. That’s me, just with pancakes. So here’s how my “Time to make the pancakes” began and where it stands now.

Pancakes: An Evolutionary Art
Over the years, I have been perfecting my recipe. While I usually don’t make anything with more than 5 ingredients, my super powerhouse pancakes are an exception. In my beginner days, I started with Trader Joe’s multigrain pancake mix and followed the recipe varying only with some added cinnamon and chocolate chips. On my journey towards improved health, I modified that recipe by substituting 1 cup of Trader Joe’s multigrain flour for 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup sprouted wheat or spelt flour. Then I would power it up with some super foods. My recipe, as it stands now, is a gluten free, grain free pancake that satisfies my children and fuels any of my runs.

Adina’s Grain Free Powerhouse Pancakes:

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
2 organic eggs
2 tablespoons hojiblanca olive oil
2 tablespoons Chia seeds (can use hemp seeds as well)
2 tablespoons organic maca powder
2 tablespoons raw organic cacao powder
a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon (or if I let the kids do it, a dousing of cinnamon)
1 + cups almond milk

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and whisk. There is no sugar in these pancakes because I add semi sweet chocolate chips for my kids and a darker 57% cacao chip for myself. Sometimes I add, for an extra antioxidant crunch, cacao nibs to my mixture along with fresh or frozen fruit. I spoon my batter onto a flat griddle/panini maker and flip when golden brown.

As you can see, anything goes with these pancakes and you can experiment with the addition or deletion of many ingredients depending on your personal preferences. You can also play around with the types of flour you use. For example, when I mixed amaranth flour with the almond meal, the pancake turned out much lighter. The flour you use will influence the amount of liquid you need.

Experiment and add new ingredients one at a time so you know exactly what you like or don’t like and enjoy!