Pear-Cranberry Holiday Season Tart!

this is a good one for the holiday party season!

(adapted from Living Without's recipe for French Apple Tart)

start with a pastry crust:
3/4 c brown rice flour
1/4 c sorghum flour
2 T sweet rice flour
1/4 t sea salt
1 T honey
6 T butter, Earth Balance or Spectrum shortening (I use half butter half shortening)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 T apple cider vinegar

mix flours and salt. work the butter etc in w. your fingers to form a coarse meal.
make a well and add honey, egg and vinegar. use a fork to gather into a soft dough.
shape into a flat circle, cover and refrigerate until about 15 mins before you're ready to roll it out.

preheat oven to 350.

roll out your dough between two pieces of lightly floured parchment paper (I floured mine with br rice flour). fit the crust into the tart pan (it will break apart in places, but just piece it together and trim edges).

slice 4-6 organic pears (I like Bosc for their pretty green and red skins, and red pears are nice for the season :).
place pears in overlapping concentric circles on the crust.
brush with 1 T melted butter whisked with 2 t g-f bourbon vanilla, 1-2 T honey and 1 c apricot preserves, heated to a syrupy consistency.
dot with dried cranberries. cover edges with foil and bake, brushing with apricot mixture every 10 mins or so for 30-35 mins or until crust looks golden and pears can easily be pierced with a knife.

enjoy~

pumpkin pie season

I modified this recipe from the great great magazine Living Without's Thanksgiving menu:

(g-f flour in it makes its own crust! gluten-y flour won't work, sorry :)

Pumpkin Pie

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 c rice milk
2 T melted butter or soy-free Earth Balance
1 T tapioca starch
1 T white rice flour
1/2 c honey
2 eggs
1/2 t sea salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t pumpkin pie spice

preheat oven to 425 degrees. grease your pie pan.
mix all liquids, and whisk your dry ingred in another bowl. pour dry into liquid, stirring to combine.

pour batter into prepped pie pan (leave a 1/2 inch between batter and rim) - pour any extra into greased ramekins.

place pie in oven and bake for 15 mins. reduce heat to 375 and bake for 30 more mins til a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

I could eat this every day~

Autumnal Feast: Squash and Lentil Lasagna

OK, fall allergies. You can go away now...! But even you can't stand in the way of my enjoyment of this time of the year. Sheep and wool festivals, pumpkin patches and pies, Halloween, and all kinds of feasting by the fire...brushing off the layers of summer dullness and re-awakening -- autumn is an amazing transformative time.

This fall, I have been looking for a way to make lasagna without nightshades, so here is my solution: roasted butternut squash pasta sauce!

My plan is to layer the sauce with Tinkyada rice lasagna noodles, cooked sprouted lentils and kale. Here is the sauce recipe:

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

* 1 medium butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 5 cloves garlic, peel on
* 1 cup broth

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a large, sharp knife, trim ends; halve squash crosswise to separate bulb from neck. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut both pieces in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out seeds; discard.
2. Cut squash into 2-inch chunks; transfer to a small rimmed baking sheet. Toss with oil and sage; season generously with salt and pepper. Scatter garlic around squash. Roast until squash is very tender, about 40 minutes, tossing once halfway through. Remove and discard skin from garlic.
3. Transfer squash and garlic to a food processor; puree. With motor running, add broth through the feed tube; process until smooth. Add 1 to 2 cups water; continue to process until smooth, adding water to thin if necessary. Season again generously with salt.

On to the lasagna:

Boil the lasagna noodles as per cooking instructions, leaving them al dente.
I used a 9 x 13 baking pan, and started with a little olive oil and 1-2 cups of sauce in the bottom of the pan.
3 lasagna strips next
then 1/2 of the cooked sprouted lentil/kale mixture:

started with 1 cup dried lentils and followed cooking directions - fast and easy cause they're sprouted! - on the bag [truRoot]. Drain and add: 1/2 c olive oil, sauteed kale, onions and garlic and season with basil, sea salt and pepper to taste.

then 1/3 of remaining sauce
3 more noodles
rest of lentil mixture
1/2 of remaining sauce
top with rest of noodles
and the rest of the sauce!

top with a couple of pinches of nutmeg. cover with parchment, then wrap in tin foil.
bake at 350 for 25-30 mins, til bubbling.

enjoy~

no sugar, no dairy, no gluten baking mixes!!!

purely elizabeth

excited to try one of these out for our anniversary dins this Wednesday, September 29 = 3 years married, 3 3/4 years gluten free!
g-f baking mixes almost always have cane sugar, but not these! more soon~

new puzzle pieces every day

Wow. If you are trying to have a baby, all of your health issues come to light, one by one. Never have I had my health scrutinized so thoroughly and completely, nor have I ever had such good care. I guess this is a good thing. But so many things have been unearthed that sometimes it feels a little overwhelming...I am taking it one day at a time and am reminding myself that I used to feel much, much worse before I took gluten out of my life on Jan 2, 2007.

What seems to be the key to my health in every regard? Diet. Almost every single thing that I am struggling with can be stabilized or turned around with diet, or has been already.

The underlying mystery tying everything together is no longer a mystery. Gluten. My old friend!

Gluten, when you cannot tolerate it, takes its insidious toll in hundreds of ways. Here are some of the ways it's worked its evil spell on me:

dermatitis herpetiformis
anxiety
depression
hormone imbalance
acne
pms
reflux
malabsorption
endometriosis
hypothyroidism
infertility
interstitial cystitis
fatigue
headaches
irritability
gas and bloating
all manner of digestive issues

So many of the above are controlled, abated or have been cured by my strict gluten-free diet. The biggest thing was turning around my infertility. Feeling better overall has been pretty great too though :).

It's been a transformative summer. Ill health and finding solutions to the root causes of your symptoms can be life-changing.

If you're reading this, you might be sick and looking for a way to help yourself through diet. Food is medicine. Give it a try; you may find the path to wellness too. You'll never look back.

I leave you with the sage words of meatwad:
At least you got all your fingers and toes, know what I'm sayin?

surplus zucchini = zucchini bread

Ah, sweet August. So glad you're here -- June and July were long and difficult months. Doing much much better now.
So much better that I am writing songs again and posting up recipes on my blog!

Getting tired of all the zuke action? (Our friend Jesse would never, ever get tired of zucchini). Just in case, here's some amazing zucchini bread I altered from a celiac.com post.

Zucchini Bread

mix:
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c honey
2 eggs
2 t vanilla

add to these ingredients:
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t sea salt
1 c brown rice flour
1/2 c tapioca flour

fold in 1 1/2 c shredded zuke

add chopped walnuts, choc chips, whatevs.

pour into greased baking pan (8 inch is best)

25-30 mins @ 350 (muffins around 15-20) til knife inserted comes out clean.

enjoy~

bready!

my xmas list this year has one thing on it:

bready