gluten free – Page 23 – Wait…are those…cookies?!

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013

Transitory Friday obsessions and other musings.

Friday things!!

1. I made these cookies. Again. For the second time in a week.

2. I’m finally not sore. It took me like four days to recover from my last set of workouts Monday-Wednesday, but hey. It was worth it! (Even though that involved being in ridiculous pain trying to hand people things across the cash desk or reach my arms over my head, but whatever. Reaching and handing are clearly unnecessary activities… riiiight?).

3. It is unbelievable how many times people come into the store asking: “sooo… my friend’s aunt’s cousin had these pants…. annnd they were, umm… black… do you have them?” … Really?!

4. My car’s back shocks are currently making the noise of the van’s horn from the movie Little Miss Sunshine. You know, like MmmmEMEMMEMMRMMBmmmbbBMBMMBMMM (that is exactly what horns sound like, by the way) everyyyyy time I go over a bump. I think it’s time to get this looked at…

5. I find this hilarious. Courtesy of Memphis Minnie’s bbq… om nama porkaya hahahah!

6. Errrmeerrgeerrrddd my peanut butter jar is half empty. Someone rescue me.

7. Kombucha. With chia. I’m obsessed.

8. I also made grilled pineapple and black bean quesadillas, with avocado and mango chutney. They were a winner, so you get a picture. I’m too lazy to post what barely counts for a recipe, so just chuck some pineapple on a grill pan and call it a day.

Anyway. Without further ado, you should make these cookies! They’re stupidly easy and full of nutrients, without requiring an extensive list of ingredients or weird kitchen appliances. One bowl, one spoon, and maybe your food processor. Easy money. Gluten free+ lower in sugar+ higher in protein+ whole grain+ antioxidants from the chia+ mental well being from overall deliciousness= happy human.

Absurdly Simple Peanut Butter-Chia Cookies

Yet another pb cookie recipe, I know I know, but hey. You can NEVER have too many peanut butter cookie recipes in my book. PB+chia is totally a power couple! Especially easy ones you can whip up when you desperately need a cookie. The recipe is ever so slightly modified from Cooking Uncorked, here! I got 15 cookies out of mine–you could easily have more if you made them smaller (though why you would ever do a thing like that is beyond me).

Lezzzz do eeet:

1 c oat flour (I pulverize a cup of oats in my food processor until fine)*
1/3 c rolled oats*
scant 1/4 c brown sugar
1.25 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 c organic chunky peanut butter
6 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c chocolate chips

*gluten free if needed for a gf cookie

Preheat the oven to 350 and rustle up a cookie sheet.

Process oats into flour, if needed. Combine dry ingredients… in a bowl. Chuck in everything else. Lick spoon and pb-measuring cup. Ensure that there is no smidge of peanut butter left uneaten (heaven forbid). Clean spoon. Use your well defined and nicely muscled biceps to stir everything together. Drop by heapingish tablespoons onto the cookie sheet. Lick spoon, lick bowl. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is! Let cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet, then move to a cooling rack (or your mouth).

December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

Being out of cookies is a good thing… said absolutely no one, EVER.

Welcome to the ridiculousness that is my random life:

Thursday things! A compilation of totally irrelevant, irreverent, and random things. Because I know that you totally want to know all this stuff. Really, you do.

1. I am utter crap at turning my brain off in savasana. Like, I’ll be laying there going “oooh this is good I’m not thinking! Look at me, being a boss in savasana, like a not thinking boss..” and then I realize that there’s this subconscious little stream of thought going on the whole time about random crap. WTF brain?! Can’t you see I’m savasing?? Sheesh. You’d think my own train of thought could give me a break for all of five minutes.

2. Stupidly obsessed with Mad Men. Why won’t they tell me when it’s coming back?! For that matter, why isn’t it on NOW?

3. I just made cookies. But only two. And all for me. Because I went to Whole Foods in search of a gf/vegan cookie…and. they. FAILED. So I made my own, which were infinitely better and cheaper, as per usual. I think I just made my own day. Besides, I have to power up before bodysculpting class. Duhh. Cookies are clearly an optimal way to do this.

4. I might look like a fool doing the gangnam style dance, but sorry I’m not sorry don’t care! Ridiculously catchy. I’m sure I look especially precious trying to do it in my car at a stoplight…

5. Saturday morning, I will be consuming an egg and english muffin sandwich for breakfast and I. CAN’T. WAIT. The end of the ridiculousness is in sight! Thank god, I don’t think I could take too much more of this, especially since I’m seeing no noticeable differences. Bread and eggs are happening, ideally together, and as soon as possible. That being said, I have developed a newfound appreciation of buckwheat flour.

6. Based on the last few sets of photos I’ve taken, it would appear that I’ve subsisted the last few weeks on cookies. LIES, I promise I’ve eaten some savory stuff… here and there. Oh. And an enormous pile of spaghetti squash.

7. I am now out of cookies. How did this happen?

8. I may be out of cookies, but there are BALLS in my fridge! (hehehe). The recipe is here!

9. My cats are officially adorable.

That’s all.. for now! Muahahha.

Oaty Ginger Cookies

Ever so slightly adapted from Imma Eat That (I freaking love her ideas!). I got 12 cookies. These are excellent with ice cream and peanut butter, juuuust sayin.

1 c + 1 tbsp gluten free oats
1/3 c raw pecans
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
scant 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c pumpkin puree
2 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp flaxseed+2 tbsp milk bev
2 tbsp chocolate chippies

Preheat oven to 350. Make flaxegg by combining flaxseed and milk bev, and let sit while you throw everything else together.

In a food processor, whizzzzz oats, pecans, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, and salt, pulsing until combined into a flourlike consistency. Combine pumpkin puree, molasses, and flaxegg in a smallish bowl. Add wet into dry, stirring to combine. Stir in chippies. Form cookie-like shapes and drop onto a cookies sheet (flattening slightly). Bake for 15ish minutes, then cool on a rack!

December 3, 2012December 3, 2012

Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart!

Happy December! I love this month. It’s so… festive! And crowded. Sheeesh. Working retail has given me a lovely perspective on people’s shopping habits. Holiday shopping in this country is truly absurd. Where do all these people come from? And where do they hide during the off season??

Alrighty. So I mentioned in my last post that I’m off eggs, and gluten free (due to a variety of things, mostly circulation related. It’s a long story, you can ask me if you’re curious). This means that I’m basically vegan in addition to gluten free. Except I can have dairy and meat. Weird, I know, but just roll with it.

Um. Yeahhhh. About that. I’m dealing, but it’s requiring a bit of concentration on my part, so that I don’t accidentally consume something I’m not supposed to. At least I was already used to vegan baking, so that switch isn’t too much effort. It’s the gluten free biz that’s killing me—I freaking LOVE BREAD. Arrggg. Ah well, for now it’s only two weeks (and hopefully NOT longer). We’ll see.

Anyway, at least it’s pushing me to discover new alternatives and diversify my bloglet! I’m trying to keep my costs to a minimum, so that means finding affordable gluten-free flour substitutes. Some I’m familiar with, some not… I promise to only share the tasty ones on here. The flatbread I’m sharing today definitely qualifies as tasty (and cost effective, it only has 4 ingredients!), and ridiculously versatile. It’s made with chickpea flour, which I’ve never used before but is high in protein and fiber (obvi, as it’s made from beeeeeeans!). It’s actually one of the most nutrient-dense flours around: it’s high in folate, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, thiamin, iron, copper, and manganese. Whew! Besides all that, this flatbread has good fats from olive oil. Oh. AND it’s tasty. What more could you want? Yum yum yum. Called Torta di Ceci, this recipe is Italian in origin. I just love it, as you can eat it with pretty much anything (especially cheese, mmmm)—gluten free pizza crust? I think yes.

La la la…. beans, beans, they’re good for your heart, the more you eat the more you… Well. I’m sure you can fill in the rest of that cute little ditty.

Torta di Ceci (Italian Chickpea Cake)

Recipe gratefully borrowed from this awesome blog: In Pursuit of More. Makes one sheet, or about 20 playing-card size servings. Plan for a little bit of time, as it needs to sit for 3 hours (at least) before baking. I made mine mid day, so that I could bake it in time for dinner.

2.5 c chickpea flour (also called gram flour, or garbanzo flour)
3.5 c water
scant tsp of salt
pepper to taste (I like a lot)
1/4 c olive oil (extra virgin cold press, ideally the best quality you can)

Measure out the chickpea flour into a largeish bowl. Slowly pour in the water, whisking continuously to prevent lumps. Once you’ve poured all the water in, add salt and pepper, and give it a few minutes of whisking to make sure it’s smooth. Cover and let sit on the counter for at least three hours.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Skim off any foam from the surface of the batter, with a slotted spoon. Pour the olive oil into a large rimmed baking sheet (mine was about 18″ by 13″ ), tilting the pan so that the oil covers the bottom. When the oven is finished preheating, pour the batter into the prepared pan, in a layer about 1/4″ thick. Carefully transfer to the oven (amazingly I did this without causing a massive disaster), and bake for 30 minutes, until golden. When done, let cool in the pan for a few minutes before serving.

This bread is best hot or warm, and reheats fabulously. I’ve been storing mine in a glass tupperware in the fridge, which seems to work fine. I like mine reheated and sprinkled with cheese. Mmmm.