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

Paleo Meringue Clouds & Almond Cookies! GF, Sugar Free, SCD, & Paleo!

Heeeeeey Party People!! :)

haha...just kidding.

How's everyone doing? Are we detoxing from the holidays? lol Again....KIDDING!!

Well, kinda. :) I know I ate lots of delicious food and had p-l-e-n-t-y of spirits over the holidays! haha

And Happy New Year!!! How did you celebrate? Did you watch the ball drop? I don't know about you, but it's just not the same without Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve.

So as promised, here are my delicious cookies! These are sinless...seriously. They're protein packed, sugar free, and insanely good.

And it's a tale of three cookies! You can make three different cookies out of the same "dough!"

My favorite, are the meringue clouds! They're made with just egg whites and honey!

Next, are my crunchy almond cookies! Again, just egg whites, almond flour, and honey!

And finally, my chewy almond cookies! Again, just egg whites, almond flour and honey!

Here's what you need: (Makes about 40 one-bite cookies)

Base:
5 Egg Whites
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Additional:
3/4 + 1 Tbsp almond flour

Optional:
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put your honey and vanilla extra in a small saucepan and heat until it becomes liquidy. Careful - it bubbles up when it boils, and is molten hot!! Once it is hot, carefully pour it into a Pyrex measuring cup (with a spout so you can safely pour it into the stand mixer.)

In the stand mixer, whip your egg whites until frothy. Then, add your cream of tartar and beat for about 7 minutes on high until they form stiff peaks. After about 4-5 minutes and they have tripled in size, slowly pour in the hot honey mixture. Let the stand mixer run for about 1 1/2 more minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare three baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.

This is where you have the different options.

MERINGUE CLOUDS:

Spoon about 2 Tbsp worth of the mixture onto your baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the tops begin to turn golden brown. Then, turn off the oven, and allow them to cool/dry out in the oven with the door closed for about 3-4 hours. They will be wonderfully chewy -- like pillows.

ALMOND COOKIES

To the honey/egg white mixture, gently fold in your almond flour and cinnamon, so as not to deflate the egg whites. Spoon this mixture into a piping bag, or a gallon ziplock bag with the bottom corner snipped off. Then, squeeze about 1 Tbsp of this mixture onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. For Chewy Almond Cookies, remove immediately from oven.

For Crunchy Almond Cookies, bake for 15 minutes, and then turn the oven off and allow to dry in the oven for 2 hours.

These cookies were seriously amazing. When you're on the Specific Carb Diet, or gluten free for that matter, the holidays can be tough because there are all these delectable looking treats lying around, and you can't have any! So, I whipped these up and I was a happy camper all through the weekend.

The Meringue Clouds were light as air and chewy. These were my mom's favorite ones. And by allowing them to dry out in the oven, bits of them become a little crunchy like a meringue.

The Crunchy Almond Cookies were my favorite. They had the consistency of a delicate graham cracker with the honey and subtly note of cinnamon.

 They were crunchy and wonderfully sweet.

Finally, the Chewy Almond Cookies were melt-in-you-mouth good. They were chewy in the center with slightly crisp golden brown edges. Careful though - they can leave your fingers a little sticky!

What a treat for a grain/sugar free gal. These cookies were a life saver. They're gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free, SCD friendly, and Paleo! (Say that 5x fast!!)

For dessert on Christmas, we had berries with cream. I made coconut cream for mine by reducing a can of coconut milk on the stove for about 30 minutes with 3 tsp honey. I then topped it with crumbled crunchy almond cookies and a meringue cloud. Guiltless and positively delicious!

I may just have to make these "bad boys" again while I'm home and have an stand mixer at my disposal!! :D

Happy New Year!!!!!!


Want more GFHT?  You can now get my e-cookbook, The Best of GlutenFreeHappyTummy for only $2.99 on Amazon!

PALEO PUMPKIN PIE!!!!!

Hey guys!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous fabulous Thanksgiving! I know we did! I was in Cincinnati for the weekend and gosh, it was just so wonderful to be with family! I have so much to be thankful for. I’m healthy, have an amazing family and wonderful friends. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t count those blessings. But it’s nice to have a day to devote to just being thankfulJ

We traveled to Indianapolis to be with my brother, his wife, and their sweet little 4-month-old daughter 

for Thanksgiving!

Well, since we were traveling, and they have their hands full with a new baby, we did something crazy. We packed the gluten-free Thanksgiving in the car and had an INSTANT THANKSGIVING!!

Yep. Allllllll day on Wednesday, my mom and I cooked all the dishes (all gluten free, might I add) and packed them up into Tupperware containers (even the turkey!). We cooked from 11am to 11pm. Then bright and early on Thursday morning, we piled it carefully into the car and drove to my brother’s house! INSTANT THANKSGIVING!

It was so fun. And crazy. Actually, rather insane. But we did it and it was awesome to be together.

SO for the meal, it was all gluten free. We had turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, and pies! 

Unfortunately, just because things are gluten free doesn’t mean they’re Specific Carb Diet Friendly- or vegan, for that matter.  All SCD is gluten free, but not all gluten free is SCD --- (get it? I know, It’s confusing.)So—I made myself a meal, and made enough for everyone to have someJ

For the Specific Carb Diet/Gluten Free/Vegan/Paleo meal, I made Roasted Beet and Brussels Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pistachios and Roasted Apples. Oh. My. Gosh. WOW! That post is coming soon.

But for dessert…….I’ve got a show stopper here folks. Paleo Pumpkin Pie!!

It’s Gluten Free. It’s Dairy Free. It’s Specific Carb Diet Friendly. It’s Paleo. It’s fan-frickin-tastic.

Filling: (Makes 2 pies)

1/3 cup raw cashews
2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash puree
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp ground ginger
4 droppers full of pure liquid stevia, alcohol free (SCD omit, and use an extra Tbsp honey instead)
2 healthy pinches of salt
2 Tbsp honey
3 egg whites
12 oz coconut milk – I used light

CRUST: (Makes 2 crusts)
16 dates
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
4 healthy pinches of salt

Preheat oven to 400. Cut your squash or pumpkin in half length-wise, scoop out all the seeds and place cut-side-down on a tin foil-lined, olive oil-sprayed baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, until tender. Take it out and let cool for about 7-10 minutes, until you are able to touch it. When you take it out, increase the oven temp to 425.

Meanwhile, make your crust. Pit and chop your dates into small pieces to help out the food processor. Then, add all nuts and salt to the food processor and process until they have broken down into small bits. Then, add your dates and process until it forms the consistency of chunky, wet, sand. You’ll need to scrape the sides once or twice. Spray two, 9-inch pie pans with cooking spray and divide the crust evenly between the two. Then, with your fingers, press the crust together along the bottom and up the sides. The dates will hold it together. Set aside.

Reassemble your food processor. You will now make the rest of the pie.

Place your cashews in the food processor and process until it forms a fine dust. Then, scoop out the flesh of the cooled squash and add it to the food processor. Process until smooth, scraping the sides several times. Then, add your stevia, spices, honey, and egg whites. Process to combine. Then, in 2 batches, add your coconut milk and slowly pulse to combine, so as not to splatter. The batter should be a thick, creamy liquid.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pie shells. Place in the 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes. When you reduce the oven to 350, plaee a tin foil “hat” around the edge of your pie, so the delicate crust doesn’t burn. It is finished when a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 2 hours before cutting into it.

Oh. My. Gosh. You guys, I don’t mean to brag, but my dessert stole the show for Thanksgiving. ;) We had this and a store bought gluten free apple pie. Let me just tell you – we polished off my entire pie….and there was only one piece of the apple pie gone!

Everyone RAVED about it. They couldn’t believe that there was no butter or cream in it. They said it was so decadent and delicious.

The flavor was warm and spicy, and the texture was so rich, luxurious and creamy. And the crust – wow: nutty, sweet, chewy, sticky! The perfect compliment to the luscious center.

These pies were like my little babiesJ Oh- just thinking about them warms my heartJ #proudmama

Be sure to check back next week for my mouth-watering stuffed acorn squash. Let’s just say, there were no leftovers! J Here’s a teaser:

Want more GFHT?  You can now get my e-cookbook, The Best of GlutenFreeHappyTummy for only $2.99 on Amazon!