Coconut Rice

Our elder daughter found this recipe and shared it with me. If I had any idea where she got the original recipe from, I would love to credit the source. If I can find that out from her, I will add the information here. We love this rice! It cooks perfectly, with a succulent, slightly creamy texture. It pairs beautifully with spicy or tangy dishes. I love it when paired with Chicken Adobo

Coconut Rice
Serves 4
Total time: about 30 minutes

1 can (13.5 fluid ounces) thick coconut milk (I love Native Forest brand)                                     

1 3/4 cup water (or just measure using the emptied coconut milk can)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups white rice (I use Jasmine rice)

When cooking rice, be sure your pan has plenty of room so it doesn't boil over- voice of experience. :)

Add water and coconut milk to your pan and bring to a boil. Add rice, then salt, or mix rice and salt together before adding. (Do not add salt first to the boiling liquid! I did that recently and it instantly erupted like a coconut milk volcano, all over my stove top!)  Bring back to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Leave lid on the whole time (no peeking!). :) Simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about twelve-to-fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, with the lid on, for another five minutes. Fluff with a fork.

We love this rice with any sort of Asian or Indian dish. We don't think it has a strong coconut flavor. It adds a nice depth and richness as a base to a saucy dish.

Quick and Easy Adobo-style Chicken

Something I have done several times is to take a complicated recipe and simplify it dramatically. I try to hone in on the fundamental components and tinker with how to keep those elements but to speed up the whole process...and to make it "safe" for me to eat! Simple, right? ;)

The first recipe that I adapted this way was what we came to call "Castle B." It was based on the deeply flavorful, slow-cooked French classic, Cassoulet. Get it? Cassoulet? ("Castle A")...Castle B.

Yes, we are hilarious like that.

A year or so ago, a Filipina friend of mine mentioned Chicken Adobo as her favorite dish from home. I was intrigued, so I started investigating. It sounded really good, but needed some tweaks so I could eat it- namely, losing the garlic and soy sauce.

For anyone who has eaten the "real" version of any of these classic dishes, mine would pale by comparison. Having to eliminate primary flavor components obviously alters the result.

BUT- for people like me, longing for a new flavor in a world of repetition, or longing for some new thing to do with chicken, it can be great. :)

So, with that being said, here is my *allergy-friendly,* much-simplified version of Chicken Adobo.

Kristie's Quick and Easy Adobo-style Chicken
Serves 4-6
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: About 30 minutes

Total time:  About 45 minutes to an hour.

Ingredients:
chicken thighs, oil, coconut aminos, vinegar, peppercorns, bay leaves (garlic)

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs- about 1.5 to 2 pounds
(you can use chicken breast for this, but the thighs have better flavor and texture for this)
A few tablespoons of a neutral oil
       (I'm currently using grapeseed oil)

Get all of the other ingredients ready before you start the chicken, so it doesn't burn while you're grabbing things.....voice of unfortunate experience. ;)

Soy sauce and vinegar are the basic components of the sauce. Our family prefers a little less vinegar, so I've altered the proportions.  If you would like a stronger vinegar flavor, use a little more vinegar and a little less aminos. I substitute coconut aminos for the soy sauce, since I can't eat soy or wheat.

Sauce:
3/4 cup coconut aminos
1 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 
       If you prefer, use one or two teaspoons ground black pepper
4 dried bay leaves
(garlic- this is an important part of adobo, but I can't eat it. The original recipe that was my inspiration called for twelve whole cloves of garlic! I sometimes add just a sprinkle of garlic powder.)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a straight-sided skillet or pot, over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces slightly, turning so both sides begin to cook. Set chicken aside. Add coconut aminos and vinegar to the pan and scrape the bottom to loosen all the flavorful bits. Return the chicken to the pan, then add seasonings. When liquid begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer. After five minutes, turn the chicken over, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through. This should take another five minutes or so (10-15 minutes total), but check to be sure the chicken is cooked. (no pink juices from the middle, 165 degrees Fahrenheit)

Transfer chicken to serving dish and cove to keep warm.

One option: Raise heat to medium, and continue cooking the liquid until it is reduced to about one cup (about ten minutes). Strain the sauce and pour over the chicken. Serve with rice.

Option two: if you don't have time to reduce the sauce, strain in and stir it into the rice. The rice will absorb the sauce and the sauce will flavor the rice.

Serving:
This can be served with steamed white rice, or our family prefers having it with coconut rice.
I'll share the recipe for coconut rice once I post this one. We also like to have roasted broccoli on the side.

Note to self...again....It is not about perfection!

I just realized that I've gotten caught in that limiting loop...again.

I've been wanting to post recipes on here, but every time I hold back because I don't have every detail perfect yet.

Seriously, I think I've learned this lesson, and then here it comes again!

It is not about perfection.

So, in light of that, I will post a recipe, despite its not being absolutely perfect yet. :D

Change, and change, and change again...the latest

Over the years, my diet has undergone upheaval after change after change after upheaval. My cooking and baking have had to stop and regroup and take on a whole new shape with each change. The first, over twenty-five years ago, was giving up dairy. Wow. That was earth-shaking for us. Almost our entire diet consisted of Mexican and Italian foods, and our fridge was heavily stocked with all kinds of dairy products at all times. Over time we adapted, until living dairy-free became our norm. Our kids grew up in a home that was almost entirely dairy-free.

About twenty years ago, I started having trouble with garlic, tomatoes, and chocolate. It took a while, but I was able to figure out which foods were the culprits behind my digestive distress. Giving up garlic and tomatoes was not easy, but I was able to make that change. Chocolate, though...that was a long, painful struggle. It took over two decades for me to reach the place where it rarely tempts me.

Nearly a decade ago, I hit another big change. After months of misery, I found a naturopath who ran blood tests to discover food intolerances. My results were surprising...and not surprising. My system was in a complete state of panic and had at least some reaction to every single food on the list. At the same time, I learned that I am insulin-resistant (a condition that often leads to diabetes).

These discoveries necessitated a comprehensive overhaul of my entire food world.

No eggs, dairy, wheat (or any wheat-type grain), soy, almonds, garlic, tomatoes, chocolate, peanuts, onions, asparagus, cranberries...

...greatly reduced intake of starches and sugars... not easy for a sugar addict like myself.

In time, I was able to adapt to this restricted diet. It has not been easy, but I have learned how to eat within those limited parameters.

As time passed, I found that more foods have started to bother me: sorghum, cashews, fresh greens...potatoes, bell peppers...

This has all been a profound challenge, and has taxed my ingenuity as I've adapted and invented recipes to make it all work.

And now.....now it is not a dietary change, but a life change that has thrown my baking another curve ball.

My husband and I have begun our life of living full-time in an RV (bumper-pull/travel trailer/pull-behind trailer). As someone who cooks and bakes from scratch (partly from preference, mostly of necessity- I cannot eat most prepared foods), this new living situation presents some stiff challenges.

For a trailer, the kitchen is good-sized......but for a baker? Wow. I'm working with about an eight-inch by sixteen-inch space on the counter, for all bowls, ingredients, mixing and shaping. And the oven is a typical RV oven- fifteen inches square! And it is a gas oven. I have used a gas stove/oven before...but that was about twenty-nine years ago.

So, here I am again, in a phase of comprehensive change, figuring out yet again how to make it all work. I have just finished my first attempt at tiny-space baking.

Oh, and I can't seem to find the baking sheet that I bought to fit this oven...so I baked scones on the pizza stone....which will take another level of adaptation and experimentation.

The scones are alright. The dough was far too wet, so they are very fragile, but the flavor is good. The bottoms burned but as long as I just eat the tops, they'll be fine. :)

It should be an interesting ride, continuing to produce food that I can eat, in tight quarters, under constantly changing elevations and conditions. :)

Old-school Everything-free Cinnamon Walnut Scones

I am so excited to be back! It has been more than four months since I posted one of my own recipes. My life has undergone profound change in those months, but by the grace of God, I'm still here. :) I have been working with a number of recipes recently, but with each one there was still something that was not quite right. This, though, was all I could hope for. I've just had a delicious breakfast, and could not wait to share it with my blog people. :)

Thank you for hanging in there with me, during my long hiatus.


The basis for this recipe is a biscuit recipe I've been working on. I can no longer use the stick margarine I've relied on for baking. I realized that it contains pea protein, which my body does not appreciate. I had tried various things to replace it, but was not getting the results I wanted. Then I had a small epiphany. Lard. My Granny Grace, who was renowned for her wonderful pies, preferred to use lard in her pie crusts. I wondered whether lard would make a positive difference in my biscuits, and it did! 

**for those who are vegetarian/vegan, this recipe can still work well, just by substituting a stick-margarine that works for you (such as Earth Balance soy-free buttery sticks, my old favorite).

I felt good about the idea of using lard, since people from many different places read this little blog. I believe that lard will be far more accessible to people in other countries than the specific margarine that I use. At first, I used lard from the grocery store, which worked well but had a long list of preservatives.  After doing some research online (my sister laughed when I told her I was searching for "healthy lard." Healthy is not an idea we usually associate with lard!) ...I found some good sources of lard that is from organically-fed, humanely-raised animals, and that has no mysterious chemicals added. It is much more expensive, of course, but I feel better about using it.

When we started trying to use foods and ingredients that are more healthful, we faced the dilemma of the high cost of better things. We decided to use those good things (like grass-fed beef) but to use less of them and eat them less often. We use the good beef, but we greatly reduced how often we eat it. I'll use the fancy, clean lard the same way. I'll buy the good stuff, but I'll be frugal in how often I bake with it.

The biscuit recipe has still needed tinkering, so I have not shared it yet.This morning, though, I used that recipe as my starting point and turned out some delicious scones.

Cinnamon Walnut Scones
(gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nightshade-free, low lectin)
Makes about eight 2 1/2" scones

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper, so it is ready when you need it.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut "brown sugar"
----------
1/2 cup lard (or vegan margarine)
----------
2 teaspoons buttery coconut oil, melted
----------
2/3 cup coconut milk beverage
--------
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together well. Cut in the lard (or margarine) with a pastry blender, or mix it in with your hands. With a fork, stir in the melted coconut oil. Add the coconut milk, and stir. When partway mixed, add the walnuts. Sir with the fork until just combined.

Dust a clean surface with a little millet flour. Scoop the dough onto the floured surface and gently gather into a ball. Pat the dough into a circle, about one inch thick. Using a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter, cut scones from the dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches space between them. Gather up the scraps, gently combine, pat out, and cut more scones. Continue until all dough is used.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
**Waiting until now to preheat the oven allows the cut scones to rest before baking.

When oven is preheated, bake scones for 18-20 minutes, until just cooked through.

Remove to a cooling rack.
(If left on the pan, the bottoms will keep baking and get too dark).

Enjoy!

Notes:
-I use Azure Standard unifine millet flour. If you are in the U.S. you may have access to an Azure drop location. It is a nationwide natural foods co-op. Their millet flour is more finely ground, and less gritty, than that in stores. If you can't get Azure flour, then something like Bob's Red Mill will work.
-That little bit of coconut flour is important for the texture. It really does make a difference.
-The same is true for the xanthan gum.
-Coconut "brown sugar." I found this in a store on a recent trip. The brand is Big Tree farms, and it is called "Organic Brown Coconut Sugar." Coconut Sugar is supposed to be "low-glycemic," having less impact on blood sugar than regular sugar does.
-The lard I found, through Amazon.com, is from a company called Fatworks.
-The buttery flavored coconut oil makes a difference in the flavor. If I did not have food issues, I would use butter as the fat in these. Using too much of the buttery coconut oil would give it an artificial flavor, like movie theater popcorn. This little bit makes a subtle, but important, difference.
-The coconut milk I used is SoDelicious brand, unsweetened original flavor. At some point, I will probably try the recipe using the thicker canned coconut milk. That would be more of a "cream scone."
-These scones should have a reduced impact on blood sugar (as opposed to regular scones, made with refined wheat flour and refined sugar). The flours are both resistant starches, and the sugar is low on the glycemic index.
-Someday, when life settles down, I will learn how to calculate the nutritional content of my baked goods, and will add that information to my posts. I will also learn how to include a print function for my recipes. I know how much I appreciate it when others make their recipes easy to print!
-I stick with fairly small batches in my baking, generally only using a total of about two cups of flour, for a couple of reasons. 1) alternative ingredients are generally expensive. It is more cost-effective to bake smaller batches 2) even with these better, more healthful substitutions, large amounts of baked goods are not ideal for any of us. :)
-It feels so good to be back in the kitchen, and back to sharing recipes! :)
- If you are interested in the rough journey my family and I have been on these past few months, I've shared it through my other blog:  https://thenourheartsbroke.blogspot.com/   If you just want to stop by and explore the recipes, then I am delighted that you are here. I hope you find things that work for you, that bring enjoyment to your life. :)

What I'll be baking today...

Hello! I am very close to having several recipes tested and ready to share. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a link to the recipe that I plan to try today, from another site. (I hope the link works!)

https://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/anti-inflammatory-coconut-and-sweet-potato-muffins-with-ginger-turmeric-cinnamon-and-maple-syrup.html?utm_source=LOTG&utm_content=54068-IMDN

This looks pretty good. I'll only need to switch out my millet & tapioca flour blend for the rice flour in the recipe.

It looks like a tasty, hearty, healthy recipe, very suitable for this crisp, blue-sky Fall day. :)

Something Good

I tried a new thing today, experimenting with an idea I had, and I think I'm on the track of something good! :)

Along with everything else that has happened this summer, I realized that the butter substitute that I use (Earth Balance soy-free buttery sticks) contains pea protein. My body seems to have very bad feelings toward pea protein. Which is a real shame, because there are so many yummy new dairy-free options that have pea protein in them- cream cheese alternatives, coconut-based yogurt and kefir- so good...and so not good for me. 😕 This realization brought my baking to a screeching halt, as I tried to figure out what to do now.

These Earth Balance sticks were the only butter substitute that really worked for me.

My muffin and biscuit recipes were all based on this.

Now what?!

I have tried several options- making oil-based muffins, which is working fairly well; making alternative-fat cookies and biscuits, which did not work well.

Last night, while watching the Great British Bake Off, I had a sudden inspiration.

I made a run to the store last night, and made my first experiment with the new idea this morning.

And it was good! 😄😄😄😄

I want to work with it a little big more, to be sure, but I am excited.

As soon as I'm confident that it works, and will work well for others, I will share it with you.