Christmas Morning Cheesy Egg Souffle! GF, SCD friendly!

Merry Christmas Friends!

I hope you all have had a cozy holiday, surrounded by family, love and joyJ

Thanks Anna May Photography for these special family photos!

I’m signing on from Cincinnati where I had a wonderful wonderful Christmas. We celebrated a couple days early with my entire family. Heaven on Earth if you ask meJ

So for this festive post, I thought I’d share my mom’s favorite Christmas morning brunch recipe. This egg dish is the hit of the table and always gets polished off.

And it’s Gluten Free and Specific Carb Diet Friendly!!! And super delicious and decadent. Remember…calories don’t count on Christmas ;)

It’s called her Cheesy Egg Soufflé and can be whipped up in a snap!

Here’s what you need: (Serves 6-8)

10 eggs
16 oz Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 small cans of Old El Paso Green Chilies (not hot) (SCD use fresh sautéed green or pablano pepper)

2 qt. casserole dish, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, or rubbed with butter
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, beat the 10 eggs and spices together. In your casserole dish, alternately layer cheese and chilies. Chen casserole is filled, pour egg mixture over the cheese and chilies.

Bake 40-45 minutes until the eggs are set. Do not let it get brown. Serve when the eggs are just set.

I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing better than cheese and eggs in the morning, AmIRight? – or at least so I remember ;)

This dish was RAVED about by my family. There’s a reason it’s a classic!

Light, fluffy, spongy and airy, and with a little kick from the cumin and green chiles.

But the best part, in everyone’s opinion, was how CHEESY it was!!

YUM!!

And the best part, is that it’s Gluten Free and SCD Friendly!

The soufle was the star of our brunch. But along with it, we also had a fresh fruit cornucopia! Grapefruit, oranges, pears, apples, bananas, grapes, canteloup, mixed berries – SO YUMMY!!

We also had a cheese plate with smoked salmon! (Using SCD friendly cheese, of course!)

The Rule of Thumb: No Processed Cheese!

So from my kitchen to yours, Merry Christmas!!

Yay for Christmas!

2015 is going to be an exciting year for GFHT, and I can’t wait to ring in the New Year with you!

Peace and Joy,

Caralyn 

Pumpkinut Bread Puddin'! GF & DF!

Hey Happy Tummies!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I just love when the family is all together:)

So we had a treat this weekend. We had the AMAZING Anna May come to our house and take family photos.

She is seriously the most talented photographer ever.

She's based out of Louisville, but will travel to capture beautiful moments for your family, or engagement or wedding.

So thank you Anna May Photography for such gorgeous photos!

Look at that little goober:)

Light and shadows with yours truly :)

Alright...now onto a show stopping recipe!

I made this for my family for breakfast on Thanksgiving, but it could also be dessert. :)

Here's the secret: it's actually pretty doggone healthy!

It's made with Gluten and Dairy Free ingredients, and can easily be made sugar-free by subbing agave or honey for the sugar in the recipe!

I call it: Pumpkinut Bread Pudding! (get it -- pumpkin and coconut :) )

Here's what you need:

1 loaf (14 slices) of Udi's gluten free bread

Custard:
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1 can of pure pumpkin puree
1 cup coconut milk

Garnish:
coconut milk
sprinkle of cinnamon
pecans

Preheat oven to 250. Place your bread slices on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes per side, until the bread is dry and toasty.

Turn up the oven to 350.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and spices together. Then, stir in your pumpkin and coconut milk. ((This all can be done the night before, and refrigerated overnight.))

About 2 hours before you plan on eating, assemble and bake your bread pudding.

Thoroughly spray a deep casserole dish with coconut oil spray. Spread a layer of the custard mixture on the bottom of the pan.

Break your toast slices in half, and arrange in a shingle pattern in the casserole dish, like so.

Then, spoon the custard over the toast shingles until everything is thoroughly smothered in the custard.

Let the dish sit for about 10-15 minutes, allowing the bread to absorb the custard. (If you let it absorb and soak overnight, the gluten free bread will become gummy.)

Bake for 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the custard sets. Rotate the pan if any dark spots develop.

Before you serve, mix some coconut milk with a dash of cinnamon. You can also add some honey, stevia or sugar if desired to taste.

Also, chop some pecans or other nut of choice for a garnish.

Serve warm, and liberally drizzle with the coconut milk.

OK, you guys. This was a winner.

To be completely transparent, I could not eat this, because I can't have the ingredients in the gluten free bread, but it gave me so much joy to prepare a dish that my family loved. And boy, did they love it! My entire family (G-Free'ers and gluten-full-er's alike) polished it off!

I can attest to the custard and WOW, the flavor was amazing. Rich and creamy, and perfectly sweet -- not too sweet, but juuust right.

And the texture was great. The bread was wonderfully spongey and light. Gluten Free bread can become notoriously gummy when soaked for casseroles or bread puddings. But the trick is to really dry it out, and then soak it shortly RIGHT BEFORE you cook and eat it.

My sister-in-law said that it tasted so light, yet decadent. "Light, airy, comforting, and warm, with soft palate flavors -- not overwhelming at all. SO GOOD!" -- and this is coming from a woman that's NOT gluten free!!

And my dad (also not gluten free) loved the coconut drizzle. He said it made the dish so luxurious and moist. I think he had three helpings ;)

So there you have it, folks - the proof is in the pudding :) hehe

And one last thing -- look at how sweet my bro and his wife are: They know I don't eat turkey for Thanksgiving, so he made me a veggie turkey!! Isn't that so sweet?! And look closely at the feet -- he even used celery tops for the "toes" haha!! I'm a spoiled baby sister :) hehe

Alright, until next time! :D

Spinach and Mushroom Brunch Frittata! GF & SCD!

Hello Hello Happy Tummies!

How was everyone's Memorial Day weekend?

Mine was great! Yesterday, I went to Coney Island beach with my friend, and boy, was it a sight to behold! There were so. many. people! Like, THOUSANDS!! A great way to spend Memorial Day.

What did you do?

So last month, I was lucky enough to fly home to Cincinnati to celebrate the spring birthdays in my family! It was so wonderful to see my family and my little niece. :) She's growing up so fast! I love being an aunt:)

Kisses for Grandma and a straight arm for Auntie C:) haha

On Sunday morning, we had a big birthday brunch. One of my sister-in-laws is also gluten free, so we got a beautiful GF cake from a local bakery. And it was GOOD. And it was heavy...as in...it weighed A TON! I mean, look at that frosting! 

Check out my dad's piece of cake....it was bigger than my head! haha :) Also -- check out my dog in the upper left corner of the photo...Roxy is such a little beggar!

We had quite the spread of deliciousness. I made my crowd pleasing guacamole. Every time there's a get together, I'm always asked to make it...it's THAT good! So we had that with veggie dippers.

We also had a marvelous fruit salad, and my mom's cheesy mexican egg bake.

My favorite part was our mimosa bar! We had bubbly with fresh squeezed orange juice, mango juice, and pomegranate juice. I may or may not have sampled all three!! :D

I contributed a delicious and healthy Gluten Free frittata! It had spinach, onions, and mushrooms. It's not vegan of course, but it was delicious and SCD legal.

Here's how you make it: (Serves 8)

12 eggs

6 egg whites

2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 carton button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup real (aka from a block) pecorino romano cheese - grated (optional! Omit for Dairy Free. However, it is SCD legal)
3 Tbsp real (aka, not from the green can) parmesan cheese, grated (optional! Omit for Dairy Free. However, it is SCD legal)
1/2 tsp salt
pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop all your veggies. In a large frying pan, sauté your onion over medium heat in 1 tsp EVOO, pinch of salt and pepper, until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in your baby spinach to wilt. Transfer the onion and spinach to a plate and set aside. Add another tsp EVOO to the pan and brown your mushrooms by placing them in a single layer. Let them cook, untouched, for about 3 minutes. Flip each mushroom, and let the other side brown for another 2 minutes. Once brown, remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg whites, salt and pepper together in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in the pecorino romano cheese, if using. Then, stir in the vegetable mixture.

Spray your largest non-stick, oven-safe skillet with cooking spray and add 2 tsp EVOO. Pour in your egg mixture. Place on the stove over medium-high heat, untouched, for about 4 minutes, until the bottom starts to set. Then, transfer to the oven, and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes, until cooked through.

When you take it out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with the parmesan cheese, if using.

Serve immediately.

How delicious was this frittata!?! It was savory and creamy, and beautifully hearty, yet light and healthy!

It looks beautiful with all the green from the spinach, and the golden brown mushrooms.

And it was so yummy! The mushrooms were chewy and earthy, while the spinach was fresh and springy. You felt like you were indulging in something decadent...however, it's secretly healthy!

The additional egg whites gave it a wonderful texture as well. They made it puff up in the oven, almost like a souffle. It deflated once we took it out, but it kept the light and fluffy texture.

Needless to say, we gobbled it all up!

What's your favorite brunch dish?

This week is going to be an exciting one! I just now am getting back from an audition. I've got another audition tomorrow, and then Thursday I'm shooting a commercial!

I've got another delicious recipe coming up later this week!

See you then!

Monster Pancakes! GF, SCD & Paleo!

Hey Happy Tummies!


How was everyone's week? Things here are going great!


I want to share some excited news with you all!


On Friday I had an awesome day...


I shot several episodes for a new cooking show by HealthiNation!

It was a great day on set. I made my Vegan FroYo. We shot in this adorable little kitchen studio in Brooklyn complete with exposed brick and natural light-drenched, original wooden floors. It was a Pinterest-lover's dream kitchen:)

So yeah! I'll be sure to pass along the episodes when they're finished, but in the meantime, you can check out their neat website.

Sooo, when I got home last night, I wanted to have a celebratory meal. And in my opinion, nothing says "party" like breakfast for dinner! Especially.....PANCAKES!

And not just any pancakes......MONSTER PANCAKES!!

Yep. These officially rock. Basically, they're my decadent monster cookies in pancake form!

These could also be called "kitchen sink" pancakes because they literally have SO MANY healthy and yummy ingredients in them: coconut, raisins, peanut butter, and sunflower seeds with a fabulous drizzle of strawberry purée to take it over the top!

Delicious AND healthy?! Count me in!

Here's what you need: (serves 1 -- makes 4 silver dollar pancakes)

1 egg + 1 egg white
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 "droppers full" of pure liquid stevia (SCD sub 3 tsp honey)
1 1/2 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp organic natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp shredded coconut (unsweetened)
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup almond flour

Drizzle1 1/2 cups strawberries (I used frozen that I thawed)

Start out by creaming your peanut butter and egg. Add in your sweetener, vanilla, oil, and spices. Stir in the remaining ingredients. The batter will be thick.

Heat a non stick frying pan on medium. Add 1 tsp EVOO and scoop four 1/4 cup pancakes. Let them cook for about 3 minutes a side, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, purée your strawberries in the food processor.

To serve, top the pancakes with a healthy serving of the strawberry sauce and enjoy!

Wow. A meal fit for a queen! Let me tell you!

These were not some wimpy pancake. No ma'am. These were thick and chewy, with bits of chewy and sticky, crunchy and crispy!

These were so much fun to eat because of all the fun surprises hidden inside! Every bite had a different hidden gem inside from the raisins to the coconut to the sunflower seeds!

And the flavor was just outstanding. These were like a PB & J on steroids! The peanut butter in the pancake really gave it a wonderfully nutty and rich flavor that went perfectly with the bright and sweet strawberry purée!

Next time you're hankering for a special meal --breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even dinner --- give these monster pancakes a try!

They're so freakin fantastic, you won't believe they're actually healthy!