Decadent Birthing Brownies

These brownies are by far the best gluten-free brownies I've ever had. They are called "Decadent Birthing Brownies". Of course, the original recipe has wheat flour & butter, but I made them GFDFSF so as to share them with my son. It is said they will cause a woman to go into labor, but supposedly they don't work their magic until after your due date (which for me is not for 7 days).

Decadent Birthing Brownies
3/4 cup coconut oil/margarine, melted (I used 1/2 cup coconut oil & 1/4 cup soy-free margarine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
6 1-ounce squares of baker's chocolate, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup baking mix or flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream sugar and oil/margarine together. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix in flour, and then nuts.

Spread batter in an 8X8 inch pan. Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes.

Yum. Wow.

Crepes! Gluten-free Dairy-free, Of Course :)

My husband called when he thought I was coming home from the store tonight and asked me to pick up a pumpkin spice latte for him. But alas, I was already at home :) So while I was making him one with our latte machine, the topic of crepes came up. I've honestly never eaten a crepe, but since I found a recipe I could adapt and my son loves pancakes, I figured I'd try it! The recipe was called "Dinner Crepes', but honestly, I have no idea what the difference is :)

Gluten-free Dairy-free Crepes
1 cup baking mix
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour (to boost protein)
2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used vanilla coconut milk by So Delicious)
1 cup (or more) water

Mix all ingredients well.

I think I probably used about 1/3-1/2 cup of batter per crepe. I cooked these on a regular cast iron griddle with a little oil. I cooked them on very low heat and flipped once the bubble started popping.

We rolled them up with bananas inside and sprinkled with walnuts and honey. My husband thought they were so good he took a picture. Yum!

Whole Foods Opens in Dedham, MA (Legacy Place)

I hopped in my car today and drove up the street (less than 15 minutes!) to the new Whole Foods at the Legacy Place shopping center in Dedham.

The store is 60,000 square feet - about 70% bigger than any other in the area. It's the first store in Massachusetts to be powered with on-site fuel cell technology. The store has a walk-in fromagerie with 30 cheeses, macrobiotics, salad, soup and sushi bars, a shawarma station including beef and lamb shawarma, falafel and chicken and salmon kebobs, a beer and wine section with more than 370 beers, including many New England brews, made-to-order seafood (I had some Manhattan clam chowder), and a butcher shop, not to mention freezer and shelf space dedicated to gluten-free living. It also has one of the chain’s largest selections of organic produce in the country (323 organic produce items in stock, as the sign boasted), and one of the biggest bulk food sections, with over 200 items including beans, nuts, agave nectar, honey and maple syrup.

I navigated my way around the store pretty well, considering the layout is new to me and I had a toddler who seemed to grab for every glass jar he could find! The staff was helpful, and the store was fairly well-marked. They even had maps, and were giving away tons of free samples and free heavy-duty canvas grocery bags.

And lots & lots of staples were on sale! Enjoy Life chocolate chips (GFDFSF) were on sale for $2.50 (regularly $3.49 at WF and over $4 at the regular grocery store). Coconut milk was $2.50 (regularly $4.39!), and coconut milk ice cream was $3.50 (regularly over $5!). I had a $1 off coupon for both, which made it an even more awesome deal. I even splurged and bought 2 kinds of kombucha ($2 a bottle) and some raw sauerkraut ($3.99).

Only a few things were disappointing to me. First, there were no dried apricots in the bulk foods department, a staple in this sulphur-free household. Second, they didn't have kid's carts, the small, kid-sized ones that Bear likes to push around. Technically, he's 35 pounds and just about too big to ride in a shopping cart. Last, they didn't have the soy-free margarine we buy. This was especially disappointing because Whole Foods is the only place I can find it, and it's one of the main things I purchase there. I was able to track down the dairy buyer, and I was actually the 2nd person who asked for it (even though the store had only been open for 2 hours!). He is planning on keeping it in stock and is going to call me when it comes in. How awesome is that?

So overall, it was a very positive experience and I'll definitely be shopping there again!

My Most Recent Green Smoothie Creation

I think I mentioned here before that green smoothies and I haven't been getting along so well this pregnancy. I've had to give up my traditional green smoothie combination, in which I tried to pile as much fruit and greens as possible, and keep it completely raw (except for stevia).

This is now what my green smoothie has morphed into:

Chocolate Green Smoothie
1 cup coconut milk kefir (strawberry, vanilla or original are all good)
1/2 cup "milk" (I use rice or coconut)
3 tablespoons raw cocoa
2 tablespoons rice protein powder
1 scoop stevia
1 frozen banana (or more)
A couple ice cubes
Tons of greens (I use mostly spinach with some collards and kale)
A small amount of additional fruit, optional (a handful of dark cherries is my favorite)
Agave to taste (if it's not sweet enough)

Blend to smoothie consistency.

I end up using just as many greens, if not more, than my traditional smoothie (a 10-oz bag of spinach plus the other greens). Also, I don't feel the need to add a ton of fruit because I'm eating plenty of fruit anyway. This also works out really well because my 2 year-old son loves it. Like today, I asked him if he wanted some, and he spit out the potato chip he was eating so he could have the smoothie faster! Plus we're getting all the benefits of kefir (probiotics and fermentation!), some added protein (a food group my son is a bit lacking in) plus raw cocoa (antioxidants!), plus all the greens. And it tastes like a chocolate milkshake :) Can't beat that!

Hotter Than Should Be Legal: Blueberry "Ice Cream"

It's 91 outside right now, which means it's about 88 inside. We do not have central air, and generally we don't need it. But it's supposed to be 94 tomorrow and then cool off to a brisk 87 on Wednesday. Ugh. Did I mention I'm 6 months pregnant and already having trouble walking? Not fun.

Maybe next time I'll get pregnant in the summer or late, late spring so I can skip this "being massively pregnant in the sweltering heat" stage.

I decided last night to make a variation on this "ice cream". I actually haven't made ice cream this summer at all because I lost the paddle to my ice cream maker, and it can't be replaced. I lent it to a friend during the winter, and somehow in the transaction, one of us lost the paddle. Another friend lent me hers last week, so now I'm good to go again :)

So instead of using strawberries in this recipe, I halved the recipe (this machine is smaller than my old one), used fresh blueberries (2 cups instead of the 1.5 cups that would be a literal "half") and added half of a bourbon vanilla bean. I used the raw, unfiltered honey that I purchased at a road-side farm when I was in Vermont.

Yum! Can you say "yum"? The unique flavor of the honey made it taste so fresh and light. It tastes more like a sorbet than a "milk"-based (albeit coconut & rice) dessert.

Yum.

So Delicious Coconut Product Coupons!

You guys REALLY need to get over to Coupons.com, click on "Foods" and scroll through. You will find 3 great So Delicious coconut product coupons (on page 6 for me!), which Coupons.com has let me print 4 times so far!

Quick!

Gluten-free Dairy-free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

One of the veggies that's in season right now is the zucchini. We are not able to have a garden where we currently live (hence, our weekly trips to the farmer's market), but one of our neighbors has a garden and has been passing along lettuce, zucchini & summer squash. Another neighbor passed along a recipe for chocolate zucchini bread, which was fairly easily converted to gluten-free dairy-free and soy-free.

Here it is!

Gluten-free Dairy-free Chocolate Zucchini Bread
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sucanat (or sugar)
1/2 cup oil (I most likely used coconut)
1/2 cup mashed banana (or use another 1/2 cup oil)
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups zucchini, coarsely grated
2 cups gluten-free baking mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Beat first 5 ingredients until thick. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add to a greased baking dish (I used 8X8 cake pan, the recipe calls for a large tube). Bake at 350 degrees until done (took about 40 minutes).

This was really, really good!!

I was really touched and challenged by the following article written by Mike Ensley, a friend of mine who also write for Boundless, called "When The Darkness Closes In".

The title of the article is a line from the Matt Redman son, "Blessed Be Your Name". I have a love/hate relationship with this song. Don't get me wrong; it's an amazing song. But it's also a challenging one, and since the miscarriage, I cannot sing it without breaking into tears. The Scripture that much of the song is based on is the one that was running through my head as I waited to find out if I was really having a miscarriage. It is Job's words that he said after being informed he had lost almost everything, included all of his children: ")Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

The article is about many things, including depression - something I've struggled with on & off for my whole life. You should really go read it. Here's a quote.

Depression affects people in unique ways. In times when I'm hit by something much more potent than "the blues," it manifests in a sort of social anxiety. I'll get claustrophobic in a place like a movie theater, a mall — or church. There's no real reason, no specific dread that occupies my mind; only the same emotion as if there were. I crave nothing but quiet and solitude. The experience is hard to describe, other than to say it can be very uncomfortable and even disheartening.

Drinkable Coconut Milk!

Turtle Mountain has a new coconut milk beverage. It's been out for a couple of months, but I've only recently found it on the east coast. The unsweetened variety is an amazing addition to my morning coffee; I tried the canned stuff before (yes, I was that desperate), but it curdled. I've also used it in several recipes. AND soon they are coming out with a coconut milk kefir!!! I cannot wait!

News

Some of you may have noticed that I've not been as active on this blog in the past - say - 4 months. There's a very good reason for that.

I'm about 5 months pregnant.



We're expecting our 2nd son (another boy! so excited!) around Thanksgiving.

Many people have asked why I waited so long to tell. I just told my Facebook followers less than 2 weeks ago! Well, I'm just weird like that :) At this point, if you saw me in person, I am clearly pregnant. But I'm still slowly telling people. I waited a long time to tell with Bear (I showed much later with him). I'm also sure that having a miscarriage in January added to my hesitation, as we found out we were expecting again less than 8 weeks later.

I've been feeling great - so good, in fact, I was sure I was having a girl! Women who have had lots of children often say they can tell by the characteristics of their pregnancy whether or not it's a boy or a girl. But since my diet is completely different than when I was gestating Bear (we're wheat-free, dairy-free now and a lot more raw foods!), I think that has contributed to my health. I had to give up green smoothies for the most past for the first 16 weeks or so because they made me sick. Very strange since I had no other aversions except for coffee (which happened with Bear as well). I still have to be very careful when I drink them because they make my blood sugar crash, which makes me nauseous.

So that's the big news :) I'll still be posting recipes and updates, and there are already plenty of recipes to surf on this blog. And I'll be sharing with you my birth plans (VBAC!), as well as processing my last birth and what we'll be doing differently this time.

Now - off to the farmer's market!