all about almond and coconut flours - with six bonus muffin recipes

Though I'm no longer on GAPS, having spent the time to set up this blog, it rather makes sense for me to continue posting here. Today, I want to talk about gluten-free and/or GAPS and/or paleo and/or low-carb baking.

Generally, I have decided not to post recipes as... well, Google and you can find a bazillion of them. I have decided instead to post tips about food, and only my really, really best recipes.

I'm a tad lazy generally about baking. I have done a lot of ordinary baking for my husband and before that my daughter, things like pumpkin pecan bread, banana walnut bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, zucchini cake and carrot cake. I've done it for several reasons, first to limit the sugar used compared to bought bakery products, second to avoid the inflammatory oils by using coconut oil or butter, and finally because my baking usually has a large dose of fruit or vegetable in it, thus has redeeming qualities not found in Twinkies.

For myself, I don't care about these foods much. I have a very minor sweet tooth. My issues with limiting carbohydrate have always had more to do with starchy foods; I'd rather have a pizza than a cake, I crave pasta not chocolate. And if I have to provide sweetness for myself, the laziness kicks in and I'd rather dessert be a bowl of yogurt with some honey stirred in or a handful of berries with some cream.

Overall, the experimenting I have done with more healthy baking has had a great deal more to do with savory baking than sweet. I'd like something to make sandwiches with, or to dip in the yolks of my soft-boiled eggs. I have developed three recipes I really like for savory breads: a corn bread, a cheese roll (from tapioca flour) and a nacho cracker, which I'll post about later. Today, it will be muffins (but includes a savory bacon & cheese muffin!)

When first introduced to the world of gluten-free baking, I just found the whole idea a tad overwhelming in that there seem to be entirely too many flours involved. Recipes that have THAT many unfamiliar ingredients are just too much for me. I don't want to buy teff flour and sorghum flour and xanthum gum and am entirely too lazy to mix 4 or 5 flours just to wind up with flour. I admire those who do this sort of baking for their families, but I'm just not interested myself.

But I have done a good bit of baking with almond flour and coconut flour over the years and have developed some opinions about them - and handful of truly awesome recipes.

Italian sausage soup

Italian Sausage Braising in Beer by wickenden, on Flickr

I've not been posting here for two reasons; first, I'm no longer on GAPS, except in the sense that transitioning off GAPS is a move towards regular Traditional Food. And second, I've just been busy and distracted.

However, I made up a batch of Italian sausage soup today, and thought it was worth sharing the recipe since it is legal on full GAPS, assuming you use a legal Italian sausage.

Alternatively, you can mix up a legal sausage yourself. Sweet or mild Italian sausage is ground pork, fennel and salt and pepper. If your pork is lean, you could fry this up in lard or coconut oil. If you prefer hot Italian sausage, it's the same ingredients with some crushed red pepper added.

The soup itself is adapted from a recipe I originally got off the alt.support.diet.low-carb Usenet group many years ago. Basically, it is cooking several pounds of vegetables in such a manner that it all is flavored yummily with Italian sausage. It's been one of my absolute favorites for years.

crockpot carnitas

uruapan carnitas by goodiesfirst, on Flickr

During stage 4, I had carnitas, sliced avocado and sauerkraut for dinner.

This recipe does most of the cooking in the crockpot, but you do have to broil a bit at the end to get that characteristic crunchiness.

crockpot pulled pork and turmeric green beans

Pulled pork by beardenb, on Flickr

This was my dinner for stage 2. I had a 10 lb pork shoulder in the freezer, and since GAPS is all about fatty meats, it seemed like the thing to do. However, stage 2 only allows stewed meats, so I saved the other half to make carnitas for stage 4.

This recipe is time-consuming since you both brine and then crockpot the pork, but requires very little hands-on time.

egg drop chicken soup

Stracciatella alla romana by Sifu Renka, on Flickr

Of course, eggs and soup being stage 2 foods, my mind immediately went to egg drop soup. But this is NOT your takeout type egg drop soup! It's thick and full of meat.

ginger squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup! by prideandvegudice, on Flickr

Technically, this is a stage 1 food, but I decided this soup, along with a couple soft-boiled eggs, would be my breakfast for stage 2.

Stage 1 meatball soup

Meatballs for Soup by Helga's Lobster Stew, on Flickr

Unlike the other stage 1 recipes, I expect this one may have to be shared with my non-GAPs hubby.

This one is a bit lower-carb than I'd like, but hits the calorie mark well.

Stage 1 Chicken Soup

slow food: slow roast chicken dinner
by ebbandflo_pomomama, on Flickr

I've decided that since I have been successful at "hiding" organ meats in the broth I use to make my turkey stuffing for years, that I'd try to "hide" some liver in this soup.

Thus I begin by making chicken liver cubes before starting the soup.

vintage post: boeuf bourguignon

The point of "vintage" posts is to highlight older posts than in my monthly favorite post feature.

I don't want to ignore really kewl stuff just cause it was posted before I began blogging!

But this is REALLY vintage, in that it is from a time before blogging... before the Internet... before BBSs... before home PCs... before even electronic calculators...

It's ALMOST before me, as I was a year old when the show started, from a time when food shows were live with mistakes and all and actually intended to teach the viewer to cook. Before there were any foodies, there was Julia Child.

Stage 1 Chuck Roast

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast: 3lb Beef Chuck
Roast by I Believe I Can Fry, on Flickr

Stage 1 is pretty much broth, boiled meat and boiled vegetables.

While I don't know how long I'll need to be on stage 1, my meal plans are done a week at a time, as I need the assistance of my HHA to shop and cook. So I'm committed to at least a week.

So I have several large recipes planned for stage 1 and this 6-serving pot roast is the first.

ginger tea & lemonade

Ginger Tea and Honey by dj345, on Flickr

Stage 1 GAPS requires both ginger tea and water with lemon (what the rest of us call lemonade!)

The only allowed sweeteners are raw honey and unrefined green stevia powder (Dr. Campbell-McBride is suspicious of the white refined powder).

As it happens, I have lots of dehydrated stevia from my garden, so that's covered, though it's available to buy when I run out. I have both raw honey (from my farmer's market) and a big pile of lemons (from a grocery sale) on hand. I will be picking up and pregrinding a bunch of fresh ginger root next week, though might move to dehydrated depending on how annoying this chore becomes.

And I have tea balls, though I originally got them for making bouquet garni in recipes calling for whole herbs.

All the recipes following are for 2 quarts, which I am considering 2 servings as I fill up my water bottle as few times as possible.

pico de gallo & guacamole

Pico de gallo by nonelvis, on Flickr

I was on the phone with my daughter recently and promised to get this recipe to her.

Using guacamole as a sandwich topping has been one of the most useful ways for me to get a bunch of veggies in my husband nearly daily.

I make pico de gallo once a week, then daily mix up some fresh guacamole to put in his lunch.

eggplant parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan by joebeone, on Flickr

While hubby isn't fond of eggplant, this is one of my favorite vegetables. And this is quite a yummy way to prepare it!

This is not GAPS legal as mozzarella is not an accepted cheese. Thus this is classified as TF, for pre or post GAPS.

yogurt

Yogurt by Mom the Barbarian, on Flickr

The whey from yogurt is a stage 1 food; yogurt itself is a Full Gaps food.

The big difference in making GAPS-style yogurt is that it needs to be cultured for 24 hours to be sure all the lactose is broken down. I expect this also increases the probiotics quite a bit also. And I'd expect the yogurt to be more tart.

My "normal" crockpot method doesn't work anymore because the milk doesn't stay warm enough long enough.

chicken broth

chicken broth by Muffet, on Flickr

Normally, I prefer making broth after roasting a whole chicken, as I'm fond of the flavors that develop from the Maillard reaction. I'm just not crazy about boiled meat.

But a while back, one of my local farmers had a deal going on pastured chicken necks & backs if you bought 20 pounds, so I figured I'd make broth and chicken meat.

Twenty pounds is a lot more than I thought it was. So my first go-round, before I'd decided to start the GAPS protocol, was the rather standard way of making chicken broth.

beef broth

Beef Broth by joana hard, on Flickr

The primary nutrition in bone broths or stocks are due to:

1. cartilage, which contains collagen and breaks down to gelatin (and thus the amino acids glycine and proline)
2. minerals, especially calcium, phosphorous and magnesium
3. marrow - with healthy fat containing vitamins A, D3, K2 and the fatty acid CLA)

Grass-fed bones are certainly better than CAFO bones, but I think this difference is much lesser than with meat. In general, I am quite happy buying non-organic bones. If the animal had bones, it has minerals. If it could stand up (a requirement in order to slaughter for food), it has collagen in it's joints. The only serious downside to CAFO bones is that the marrow will have significantly less vitamins A, D3, K2 and the fatty acid CLA. However, since I cook little bone-containing beef cuts and have to buy bones, I usually buy CAFO bones, figuring I get a lot of those nutrients from other foods in my diet.

types of bones that can be bought

marrow bones

These bones have the most marrow; they are shank bones. Marrow can be eaten prior to using the bones for broth as a nutritious and gourmet dish, or allowed to disintegrate in the broth to add more nutrition there.

curried chicken salad

curried chicken and mango salad by deirdren, on Flickr

I'm afraid I collected this recipe before I decided to blog, so I didn't save the URL and can't credit it properly.

I really thought this was yummy. My HHA liked it so much that after we made it here, she went home and made it herself the next week.

I'm going to have to classify this as a TF recipe, as though the ingredients are GAPS legal, Dr. Campbell-McBride says fruits should not be eaten at the same time as meat and vegetables, making the recipe illegal on GAPS.

risotto

Risotto Giallo by micurs, on Flickr

My husband is not terribly fond of broth generally, when I serve soups and stews, he tends to leave broth in the bowl rather than finishing it. Since he has joint pain, I want to get a big dose of gelatin and minerals in him as often as possible. This recipe fits the bill as it gets a lot of broth down him painlessly. It's also a refreshing summer recipe when you're not in the mood for soups and stews.

Risotto makes a nice side dish, as once you've got the technique down, you can easily change the broth and seasonings to go with your main dish. Alternatively, you can add leftover poultry or cooked beans and make it a meal.

Unfortunately, it doesn't reheat well, so it's better to make the amount you need and plan to do without leftovers. But given that it is a handy clean-out-the-fridge kind of recipe, you make it when you're trying to use up leftovers rather than create them. I tend to halve this recipe since there's just two of us.