I Want to Eat the Easter Bunny

Spring is in the air.
Well, at least it is here in Vegas. My poor husband is working in Minot and currently getting snowed on. Sorry babe! But down here it's different. I am warming up, watching the flowers bloom and nibbling away at beloved holiday figures. Can you blame me? I mean, who doesn't want to eat the easter bunny, or at least some sweet, edible effigy of the mythical creature? Right now the stores are full of bunnies made from chocolate, marshmallow, mint cream, gummies, you name it. Walking through target requires carrying a napkin to catch the oh-yum-I-wish-I-could-eat-that drool. Low carb living somehow starts to loose its appeal around major holidays.
So, to indulge? Or to diet? As usual, instead I choose to-the-kitchen!
This is one of my simple answers to sweets cravings - so simple you can hardly call it a recipe. But make it anyway. It's yummy. It's a little bit filling. And it won't give you a sugar crash, or destroy any dietary good intentions.

Coconut Cream Gelatin Bunnies
Yields about 36 small bunnies or similar shapes

Set the kettle on to boil some water
In a large bowl, pour out
1 Can (12oz/354mL) Stevia Sweetened Soda (I recommend Blue Sky Zero Ginger Ale, or any flavor that sounds good with a hint of coconut)
Sprinkle over the top of the soda
2 Tb Powdered Gelatin
Once your water is boiling, add to the soda
1/2 C (120mL) Boiling Water
Stir well and constantly until all of the gelatin is dissolved, then add
3/4 C (180mL) Coconut Cream
Again, stir until well combined
Pour into shaped molds or a large baking dish and chill for 3 hours or more to set
Once set, remove gently from molds, using a thin, butter knife to help if needed, or slice into servings if molds were not used
Store chilled in an airtight container

This recipe contains about 1g effective carbohydrate per 4 bunnies and should be safe for most diabetics and low carb dieters, but please know your own body and make your own judgement call.

Bunny nibbled. Mission accomplished.

Salsa on the Brain

Sometimes I just get stuck.

An idea will capture me, and my mind will churn and bubble and plan, and I simply will not be able to extract myself from it. I will experiment and create and obsess, but the one thing I can't seem to do is change the subject. Today I am jailed by visions of salsa, and quite frankly, I like it.

I love salsa, but I only started making my own in the last year, recently enough that I only had my own recipes for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, a favorite of mine, and a flavorful, thick, fiery Habanero Hot Sauce, which I can't seem to live without. I took some of my tomatillo salsa to a get together this week and fell into salsa conversation with a friend over it. He talked about the recipes he'd tried and their plusses and minuses, and the brain started it's bubbling. I began thinking over the many flavors I've loved or loathed over the years, and I knew I had to have more. Two little recipes, however great, cannot quench the salsa lust.

So what am I doing now? I'm making salsa of course! What? I should be making dinner for my kids? But, salsa! It's past my bedtime? There's still this salsa, you see... It's 3 am? SALSA! The only down side is that I've no idea how I'm ever going to eat it all. But I'm going to love trying.

Happiness is turning this

into this.

So, like it or not, we can all look forward to a little more spice in our lives, or at least in my next book.

GF Fest in San Diego! Hells yeah!

Living Without Magazine is putting on a party and you're all invited! The Gluten-Free Food Allergy Fest will be held the first weekend of May, 2014 in San Diego, and your favorite, crazy cookbook author (that's me, right?) will be there to celebrate all the GF-ness along with you.

There will be tons of vendors, more authors, huge brands and small local companies, many giving samples, selling GF awesomeness and just plain enjoying being there with you.

Save the date! That's Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd & 4th in San Diego. See you there!

For more event info, click here.

Work In Progress

Working hard on the HGGF Low Carb!

This week I'm testing lamb cakes, tasty emulsions, one hell of a soup (finished last night) a few pudding like treats, and continuing the wrap and brownie evolutions. Busy, busy, busy and it's all for you! 

Well, no, ok. It's for me too. I do get hungry every now and then. 

How freaking awesome is it that this is health food?

Throw in your two cents! What are you just dying to have both low carb and gluten free? Tell me in the comments and it just might make it into the book.

Special Expo Priced Book Sale

Quite a few people missed out on the expo prices in Phoenix since I sold out mid-way through Sunday. That hardly seems fair, so I am offering a small stock of books at the expo prices for anyone who missed out. If you still want to get in on the Holy Grail of Gluten Free for only $18 each or 3 copies for $45, now's your chance!

I set up a special square store you can purchase from; buy them here. Every purchase includes free first class mail shipping.

Thanks again to everyone for such a wonderful first expo experience!

 It was so great, I just signed up for my next one. Look forward to the formal announcement this week. 

Where do you think I should I visit next?

Seeking Low Carb, GF Brownie Perfection

  

Just in case you've never spent 5 minutes in the same room with me, I'll tell you something that everyone who has, already knows. I am a perfectionist.

By perfectionist, I don't mean, I'm meeting every goal, or I'm striving for excellence, or doing my personal best or any of that nonsense that was drilled into us in high school. No, I mean perfect-ionist. Some people will tell you, "there's no such thing as perfection," but I beg to differ. My most persuasive argument against this accusation is simply to feed the offending imperfectionist my Chocolate Butter Cake cupcakes, and that tends to convert them all on it's own. I have tasted perfection. 

Thanks to that taste I've developed for perfection, I'm also acutely aware of the imperfections in so many of my recipes. This recipe is NOT perfect. It's good. Satisfying. Enjoyable even. But perfect, it is not. I will continue to bake and re-bake, as I always do, in search of low carb brownie perfection. Meanwhile, here is the merely good and satisfying for you to enjoy at your leisure.

(This recipe is a part of my low carb GF diet project and calls for natural alternative sweeteners)

Low Carb Coconut Brownies

Yields one 8x8 pan of brownies or 9-12 servings

(Approximately 1-2.5 effective carbs per 1/9th depending upon your choice of cocoa brands)

Preheat Oven to 325*F/165*C

Dry Bowl:

Sift into bowl

   1C (86g) Cocoa Powder (I use Rapunzel. It can be hard to find, but it's sooo good, and ultra low in carbs too!)

Add, then whisk all together to combine

   1/2 C (40g) Desiccated Coconut

   1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

   1/2 tsp Salt

Mixer Bowl:

Cream together until well combined and almost fluffy

   1C (216g) Coconut Oil

   1/2 C (68g) Chicory Root Fiber (I used a brand called Just Like Sugar that I found at Whole Foods)

   1/4 C (49g) Erythritol (You could probably get away with a little less of this if you care to)

Scrape down the sides of the mixer and beat in 

   3 Large Eggs

   1 Tb Vanilla Extract

Slow the mixer to a stir and add in the dry ingredients a little at a time

Once they're stirred in, bring up the mixer speed and beat until well combined and uniform

8x8 Baking Dish:

Grease the bottom and sides of your baking dish lightly with a little oil or palm oil shortening

Spread the thick batter/dough** into the pan as evenly as possible

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center no longer appears damp and springs back when touched lightly 

Cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to slice, they will also taste more sweet the more you let them cool

Cool completely before storing in an airtight container

**Warning- Ridiculous Dawn Rant:

Seriously, what's up with brownie batter? I mean it's so bloody thick, you can hardly call it a batter. But on the other hand, it is a bit damp for a dough. So what is it really? Stiff batter? Damp dough? Maybe it's the missing batter-dough link, like a doubat or a badough... Yes, it must be a badough. 

Thanks for helping me to work through that. 

Livin' la vida Low Carb

To celebrate the new book idea (which I spent the whole morning working on), tada! A variation on my favorite low carb/paleo breakfast.

Fried eggs, over easy (usually, they went a little too long today, but were still good!)

Ripe Avocado

My homemade Habanero Mayonaise

A few, divine raspberries

And today as a treat, one of my brownie failures

Yum!

I rarely ever get tired of eggs in the morning, but I think the real secret to this is spicing them well and having a variety of accompanying sauce recipes to rotate through, which changes up the taste, texture and even nutritional profile. 

Try sprinkling eggs with sea salt and black pepper as soon as they're in the pan, then after you flip, sprinkle liberally with turmeric. It's awesome, savory, and way better than plain. And if you're looking for an extra kick of spice and/or nutrition, you can add cayenne, garam masala, and/or kelp powder at this point too. I know it sounds crazy, but I love it! Experiment with your eggs tomorrow morning, and see what you like best. Remember that if you go all out, you'll want something cooling to accompany the spice, so serve it with mayo, sour cream, yogurt or similar and enjoy.

I'm thinking of including my recipes for habanero sauce and mayo in a later post, but I have to measure things first! They're recipes I always seem to just throw together, so I'll have to work on it for you.

Happy Saturday!