baking

Your Dinner Tonight

February 16, 2011 By Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Have you tried Socca?

I have made it a few times thanks to the Pure2Raw Twins, and have loved it plain and as a sandwich. Then one night I wondered, “Why not make it into a pizza?”

Oh my goodness! I am so glad I did! It was the best dinner I had all month! The pizza was extremely filling, but oh so satisfying. I only had one slice, and I was stuffed!

Pesto Socca Pizza with Grilled Veggies and Chicken Sausages

~The pizza can be made vegan/vegetarian by simply omitting the sausage. Dairy-free, gluten-free, and of course, sugar-free!

Serves 6

Ingredients

Socca:

1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 425*. Mix all ingredients together except the olive oil. Batter will be thin. Spread the olive oil on a 10-12 inch round pan (I used a cast iron) and place in hot oven for a few minutes. Then pour the batter into the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the socca is brown on the underside. Flip the socca carefully onto a dish you can put back into the oven (you will be broiling it later).

NOTE: I’ve seen socca made many ways. Some bake it, some broil it, some flip it half way through. This is up to you! If you like it extra crispy-try broiling it. If you like it soft-bake it. Pure2Twins have many different recipes HERE.

Vegan Pesto

~This pesto is vegan, raw, dairy-free, gluten-free, and of course, sugar-free!

1 large bunch of basil (about 2 cups loosely packed)
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor or strong blender (I used my magic bullet). Process until finely ground. Then add the olive oil a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

The nutritional yeast and walnuts give it a creamy taste without the dairy. It keeps in the fridge for 5 days. I didn’t use quite all of it on my pizza. You can use the leftovers on sandwiches, pasta, and as a dip for crackers.

Pizza Toppings

~You can use whatever topping you like! Omit the sausage for a vegan/vegetarian pizza.

2 cups spinach
1/2 green bell pepper
1/4 onion
5 artichoke hearts
2 Tablespoons capers
2 chicken sausages
1 clove garlic

First, boil the sausages in a pan for about 10 minutes, covered. Then, slice them and brown them on a pan slightly coated in olive oil. Remove. Chop the onions, bell pepper, and garlic and saute in olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until slightly wilted.

Assemble Pizza

Spread the pesto on the socca in an even layer. Then add the sauteed veggies and the artichoke hearts, capers, and sausages. Broil on High for 3 minutes or until the tips of the veggie and socca brown.

Let cool for a couple minutes and serve hot! Bon Appetit!

Health Benefts

Garbanzo Bean Flour: Also known as chickpeas, these beans are protein power houses with 10g per 1/4 cup. They contain an amazing amount of fiber with 8g per 1/4 cup. An excellent source of the trace mineral molybdenum, garbanzo beans help in the process of detoxification of sulfites. This mineral is an important component of the enzyme sulfite oxidase, which is involved in this detoxification process.
Leafy Greens: Our parents always told us to “eat our greens,” and for good reason, too! Leafy greens contain a lot of Vitamin K which protect our bones, regulate blood-clotting, and help prevent diabetes. Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids found in dark-green leafy vegetables that are concentrated in the eye lens and macular region of the retina. The carotenoids play a protective role in the eye.
Basil: This herb has been used for centuries to help cure colds, coughs, and sore throats. It is also known as an anti-stress agent, and can help reduce blood cholesterol.
Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast is full of nutrients (hence the name). It contains 18 amino acids and 15 minerals that are all good for you. Especially known for its vitamin B content, it helps maintain ideal intestine ecology, improve blood production, maintain cholesterol levels, and improve liver function.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is your favorite meal of the day?

Mine is Breakfast. I could seriously eat “breakfast food” all day long! Sometimes I do…

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2011 By Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you all have a great day with your loved ones 🙂

Here are some great recipes to surprise your special someone with:

100_0704 — Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

100_1260 — Grain-Free Bitter Chocolate Cake with Vegan Strawberry Cream

100_0661 — Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Smoothie

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

How are you spending your Valentine’s Day?

Love=Chocolate

February 11, 2011 By Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Not only is chocolate good for you, but it tastes good, too!

I finally created a healthy sugar-free brownie recipe, and it is just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Grain-Free Fudge Brownies

Yield: 12 brownies

Calories per serving: 100 per brownie

Grain-Free Fudge Brownies

~These brownies are gluten-free (grain-free), dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, and of course, sugar-free!

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons ground flax or chia (optional. I added it for extra nutrition)
2 eggs
5 dates
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup water or milk-substitute (I used unsweetened chocolate almond milk)
optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts or chopped unsweetened chocolate.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375*.
First, blend the dates into a paste.
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Then add wet. Stir until well combined. A
dd the date paste and mix very thoroughly to ensure there aren't any date chunks. The dates are the natural sweetness in the recipe. Feel free to add more dates if needed to suite your sweet tooth 😉
Lightly grease a 8x8 baking dish (I used coconut oil). Pour batter into dish. The batter should be thick.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/02/11/lovechocolate/

100_1495 — It is completely black because I used Hershey's Extra Dark cocoa powder....mmmmm...

Health Benefits (Yes! The brownie actually helps your body!)

Chocolate: Click HERE for a post I wrote earlier about the health benefits of chocolate.
Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz.!
Dates: A laxative food with a high-fiber content, so it can help those suffering from constipation. They are digested quite easily and are great for when you need quick energy. Also, regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

When you went to Elementary school, did you have Valentine’s Day parties?

I had one every year at my school. I made a giant sweet-heart container to hold my Valentines. We always brought Valentine’s cards and candy for the whole class and dropped them into everyone’s containers, and then we had a party! When I got home from school, my sister and I would sort through our Valentine cards and candies 🙂 Then get sugar-high ;)Blech!

Breakfast Cakes On-the-Go

February 9, 2011 By Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

First off, I’d like to announce the randomly chosen winner of the CSN giveaway. Congratulations…

Ashley from QuasiChick!

You will be receiving an email from me shortly with the $35 CSN gift code. Thanks to everyone who entered! I would love to give all of you gift cards 🙂

Now, here is an easy recipe for Breakfast cakes. You can make a huge batch of them and save them for the week, but they are so quick and easy to make that you can make them the morning-of, too.

Breakfast Oat Cakes

~These little cakes can are completely versatile and can be made into any flavor you want! Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free (make sure you use gluten-free oats), and of course, Sugar-free!

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup oat flour (simply blend oats in blender to make oat flour)
1/2 cup chia gel (mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 1/2 cup water and let sit for 20 minutes, or until they “puff up”)
1/4 tsp baking powder
Extra: you may add any nuts, fruit, or spices you like. My favorite add-in lately is cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. It tastes like a oatmeal raisin cookie!

Preheat oven to 375*. In a mixing bowl, mix all ingredients. The dough should be thick and stick together. Adjust liquid amount if needed to create muffins, cookies, or biscuit cakes. If you feel like muffins, add more chia gel. A little less gel for cookies, and even less for biscuit cakes.

Roll into balls, plop dough with a spoon, shape into biscuits on a cookies sheet, or fill a muffin pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 12 breakfast cakes. (But why keep this recipe just for breakfast? They are perfect any time of day! Especially snack time or tea time 😉 )

Health Benefits:

Oats: Full of both soluble and insoluble fiber, oats are known to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. For more information about this amazing grain, click HERE for a post I wrote last year.
Chia: Because of this little seed’s extraordinary ability to retain water, it is great for hydration. The ancient Aztecs and Mayans used to carry it with them on long journeys to increase their strength and endurance. It also helps balance blood sugar levels. Chia seeds are great sources of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Are you a morning person or a night person?

I am definitely a morning person. I can never sleep in, and I love going to bed early. Like Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” 😉

Healthy Comfort Food

January 30, 2011 By Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Hello all! Is it still cold in your neck of the woods? I hope so, so that you can make this wonderfully comforting Chicken Pot Pie! (Although I know you would like it any time of year 😉 )!

Sarah from the Smart Kitchen challenged me to make a healthy Chicken Pot Pie. So by golly I made that pie!

Gluten-Free Healthy Chicken Pot Pie

~This Pot Pie is not your typical artery-clogging pastry dish. Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and of course, sugar-free! It can also be made vegan if you omit the chicken.

Ingredients

Crust:

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 tsp xantham gum (acts as gluten to stick gluten-free flours together. if you don’t have any, no worries! The crust just won’t stick together as much)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Tablespoons of water as needed

Filling:

3 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
2 celery stalks
5 mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
1/2 onion
1/2 cup green peas
3/4 cup chopped/shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup chicken stalk (or water)
1 Tablespoon brown rice flour
1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, and thyme

NOTE: The two gluten-free flours I used are both inexpensive compared to most gluten-free flours. They can be used in a wide variety of recipes, too. Examples: Pancakes, cornbread, or socca. However, whole wheat flour can be used instead.

NOTE 2: You can use any mix of veggies you have. This just happens to be what I had in the fridge at the time. Try adding potatoes, squash, zuchinni, broccoli, or any other veggies you have.

Directions:

First, mix the dry ingredients of the crust together. Then add the olive oil and stir. Add tablespoons of water as needed until the dough sticks together to roll into a ball. Refrigerate dough while you prepare the filling.

For the filling, chop all the veggies into bite-sized pieces. In a skillet on medium-high heat, place all the veggies in to brown slightly. Add a dash of water as needed to prevent burning. Next, add the chicken, chicken stock, flour, and spices. Mix and cover for a few minutes.

Pour the filling and it’s juices into a pie pan or a oven-safe dish. I used my grandma’s french oven le-creuset 🙂

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll onto a flat surface. Use extra flour as needed to prevent sticking. Lay the rolled out dough on top of the veggies. If the dough breaks apart, don’t worry! It looks really fun when the crust is laid in pieces. I even took the extra dough and shaped it into a heart for decoration!

Bake at 400* for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles.

Serves 6 hungry people

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What things do you do that make you lose track of time? You know when you get caught up in something you are so engaged in that you forget to look at the clock or think about your “to-do” list?

I sometimes get this way when I cook, or when I am playing my best tennis, or even when I’m writing an essay on a topic I connect with.

P.S. if you ever run out of oatmeal-add ins, look at all the comments on my last post. There are some really great ideas!