Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin!

I'm posting up some treats for Emily in honor of her pumpkin obsession.

First, inspired by this Pumpkin Spice Creamer from Coconut Mama, I made this the other morning. I didn't use it in coffee, we had it as a warm breakfast drink (also known as soup!). You'll get fats and gelatin in this one.

Sweet and Creamy Pumpkin Spice "Notte" (Rhymes with Latte!) a la Kathryn

Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or make your own)
3 cups coconut milk (canned (Natural Value is organic, BPA and guar gum free!) or make your own but if you make it, make it thick)
Seasonal spice - nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon
a pinch or two of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla.
6 egg yolks
a big hunk of coconut oil, maybe a 1/4 cup
grass-fed gelatin (yes, this is GAPS, after all)
optional honey if you want the dessert feature

Mix it all together and gently warm. I don't like to heat raw honey so I didn't let this get too warm. Let your gelatin "bloom" by sprinkling it and letting it rest before you stir it in. Both girls liked it and it was quite filling!

Then later you could make these:

Pumpkin Spice Coconut Muffins

I found a recipe for basic coconut muffins and highly modified it, so you may have to adjust the cooking time just a bit. Keep checking them. They turned out great and didn't last 24 hours. Makes 12.

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks and 1 cup coconut milk to replace whites (or use whole eggs)

1.5 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 cup, plus 3 tablespoons coconut flour

1 tablespoon each of cinnamon and ginger

a few grates of nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda (saw that it is now considered GAPS legal)

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare your muffin pan.

I like to put all wet ingredients together and all dry ingredients together then mix them. Let sit 5 minutes. Fill your muffin pan and then bake 20-25 minutes until starting to brown and not soft when lightly touched on the top. We put coconut oil and a drizzle of honey on them. No gelatin in this one.

I like the looks of the recipes on the Coconut Mama site. I have to go back and peek around there some more. I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Fudge and was thinking I could modify it too (less honey) or maybe not!   Might make for a tasty muffin topping or would that be too much pumpkin for you, Em?

Fall Weather and Pumpkin Pie Smoothies

Today is the most beautiful day - quite a change from the wind and rain of the hurricane the other week and the cold, wind and whipping snow we had last week from a nor'easter that followed on the heels of Hurricane Sandy.  It is one of those days where the sky is bright blue and cloudless and even though it is warm, the falling leaves and chill is a reminder that the warm weather won't last.

There is something about the change from Summer into Fall that triggers something in me. It is a little hard to explain, but Fall makes me think. It, more so than any other season, reminds me of the passage of time. Although most people think of Spring as a rebirth, Fall is my rebirth. It makes me remember where I have been and where I want to go. It makes me antsy to start new projects to refocus on old goals...and the funny thing about Fall is that even though they days are getting colder and darker, it makes me believe that anything is possible again. 



 

One of my favorite things about Fall is pumpkin – I love pumpkin in everything.  At the farmers market the other week I bought a few pumpkins, chopped them in half, scooped out the seed (salt and roast at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes - delicious) and put the halves in the slow cooker for about 6 hours. Then all you have to do is scoop out the flesh and freeze. Homemade pumpkin puree is much more flavorful than the canned variety, but of course, canned also works and Farmers Market brand uses BPA-free cans!

I've been making this smoothie as a dessert - it tastes like pumpkin pie filling to me. If you wanted more sweetness a date or some honey could be added.

 Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 frozen banana (unfrozen will also work)

¾ c. pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger (or ground ginger)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract                                                       ½ cup almond milk, coconut milk, or kefir (I used goat’s milk kefir)

Blend all ingredients in blender and drink!

Expect more pumpkin recipes to come... Like I said I'm an addict.

Halloween Duck

Downtown Manhattan, Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Well it has been a crazy couple of days here in New York post Hurricane Sandy.  We were very, very lucky given the amount of destruction caused by the storm surge and winds.  Seeing the photos of cars floating in downtown NYC where I work and houses under water across the river in Hoboken it is hard to believe that we were relatively untouched other than some downed trees and branches.  It is hard to know what to do and how to help.  The subways are still not running.  Manhattan is powerless from 39th Street down. Limited bus service is available with people spending hours waiting to get on a bus and traffic is even worse - lines for gas stations take hours due to power problems.  So we have been staying local.  I went to the gym yesterday and it was packed.  Everyone else must have cabin fever too.  I haven't seen that many people in the gym since January when New Year's resolutions are fresh in everyone mind.

 Warren Street, Brooklyn

Since I have had a lot of unexpected free time, I have been doing a lot of cooking - kale chips, roasted vegetables, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, chicken stock, apricot nut bars, sandwich bread, Mexican style chicken soup... etc.  Alex commented that if we did lose power we'd have to throw out all of my newly made food.  I responded that we may have to throw out some stuff, but we would most certainly be drinking the 6 quarts of chicken stock I just made. Luckily for us we didn't lose power.

Yesterday,  I decided I would cook up a duck breast I bought a few weeks ago at the farmers market for dinner. I haven't had duck in...well, I can't remember the last time... and I have to admit it was pretty amazing.  I served it with a cherry sauce and roasted vegetables.

Pan Sauteed Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce

1. Salt and pepper both sides of the duck breast and let come to room temperature - about 15-20 minutes. 
2. Score the skin side of the breast with cross hatch slices - this way it will cook up very pretty in your pan. 
3. Heat a pan over medium heat (I used cast iron) and place breast skin (aka fat) side down.  Let cook for about 8-10 minutes until browned and flip to the other side, cooking roughly the same amount of time.  You could also choose to finish this off in the oven if it is getting too brown - I try to limit turning on my oven since it makes our apartment a sauna so I just cooked it on the stove the entire time. My duck was about medium-rare with this cooking time.
4. Remove duck from pan when done and let rest while you prepare the sauce.



Cherry Sauce
1/2 small onion minced
1 orange juiced
1/2 c. organic Bing cherries (important to use organic here)
1/3 c. chicken stock
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (check to make sure there is no sugar hidden here!)
2 tablespoons dry red wine
Salt/Pepper

1. Pour off the fat left in the pan from cooking the duck breast leaving a thin coating to start the sauce.  Reserve fat in the fridge for cooking eggs/vegetables later.
2. Saute the minced onions until soft and translucent.
3. Deglaze the pan with the wine and balsamic vinegar, scraping up any brown bits.
4. Add the orange juice, chicken stock and cherries to the pan breaking up cherries with the back of a spoon to release juices.
5. Let the sauce simmer until thickened, adding more chicken stock if sauce becomes too thick.
6. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary
7. Sit down with your small glass of red wine, sip slowly and enjoy your duck!

GAPS Diet Sandwich Bread

It is hard to believe that I have been on the GAPS for just over 5 months and in that period of time I have not eaten any bread. I have thought about it a few times but I never really got around to baking any.  The GAPS diet bread recipes all use between 8-10 eggs and I always shied away from using that many eggs in one recipe.

But yesterday, as there was a impending hurricane, I questioned what I would eat should the power go out.  The GAPS diet is not exactly conducive to eating your typical non-perishable foods. So I decided to that instead of running out to the store to stock up like everyone else - I would do some cooking so that I had prepared food on hand should the power go out (hopefully it won't - I have a lot of money in that freezer!!)

My recipe was based off of the one over at Nourished and Nurtured - click here for that recipe.


The flavor of the bread was very good and the texture reminds me of Food for Life GF Brown Rice Bread.  I won't say it is as good as some of the gluten free breads I have eaten - granted those did have starch to make them lighter, but for a first try it was good.

GAPS Diet Sandwich Bread
2/3 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup (one stick) butter
8 eggs
1 date
1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Add coconut and almond flour to bowl along with salt and baking soda. Mix in eggs, vinegar, 1 date and 1 stick of melted butter into the flour mixture using an immersion blender.  If you do not have an immersion blender sift the coconut flour otherwise you will have lumps in your batter.  The batter should be like thick cake batter.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Once cooled, remove from pan, slice and store in freezer or the refrigerator.

The Soup We've Been Waiting For!

A long time back I came across this post by Monica at the simply being well blog and I filed it away in my mind. I was really impressed with how excited she was about this soup, but I really didn't know how to go about sourcing oxtail. A few weekends ago I ordered "soup bones" from the farmer where we buy our meat and she gave me oxtail. So it was obviously a sign from the universe!

I would just like to share that both my children say something along the lines of "Yum. Yum. Yummy!" as they slurp this soup up! Coming from children who used to scream, "This tastes like chicken feet!" not in a complimentary way, a triple yum followed by slurping speaks highly of this soup.

I did not follow Monica's technique or recipe exactly, because I didn't want the meat to cook for 20 hours. That just seemed like it would be too long. So I searched around and found this post from the Cheeselave blog and then this is what I did:

My Version of Oxtail Soup

First make the Stock

1.6 pounds oxtail
3 carrots, washed and chopped
1 onion, chopped
peppercorns, lightly crushed

In some tallow, brown the oxtail on all sides. Then add the vegetables, peppercorns and water to cover and bring to a boil. Skim stock, then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 12 hours. At this point I removed the bones/meat and pulled the meat from the bone. Tossed the bones back in and let them continue to simmer for another 8 or so hours.

Now for the Soup

I chose to make a very-thick-with-vegetable soup so you could adjust this for your preference.

5 carrots, washed and sliced in my food processor
2 onions, also sliced thin in the food processor
1/2 of a small green cabbage, finely shredded (by hand)
two big handfuls of yellow wax beans, chopped in to bite size pieces
2 - 3 quarts of oxtail stock
All the meat, fat, soft parts from the oxtail, chopped into very small pieces
a nice knob of ginger, sliced in the food processor (this makes it easy to take out of the girls soup)
5 leaves of chard, destemmed and chopped
one bunch of parsley, chopped
Himalayan salt to taste
tallow or some other fat for cooking

Put the carrots, onions, cabbage and wax beans in your soup pot with some melted tallow. Cover and let those start to cook. After the vegetables are becoming tender, add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the ginger, chard and parsley closer to the end, so they can just wilt into the soup. Add the meat to warm through and season with salt.

When you serve, be sure to add some extra fat to your bowl! Enjoy!

Tasting notes: This soup has a sweet flavor to it and the meat is tender, despite having simmered for 12 hours. In my next batch I will try leaving the meat in for the full 20 hours just to see how it turns out  I used my dutch oven to brown the oxtail and make the stock and soup and I think I put too much water in so didn't get the gel in the stock as I would have liked. I am going to try again. And soon!

Apricot Energy Bars

The other weekend I was down in DC visiting my friend, Allison and while we were in a coffee shop she pointed out some gluten free baked goods from a 'paleo' inspired local bakery that she thought I might be able to eat on the GAPS diet.  At first I figured that I probably couldn't because they were using agave nectar as a sweetener. But the bar Allison usually gets didn't have any sugar in it, just fruit, nuts, eggs, and vanilla and she was right, I could eat them. So I bought one for the bus ride back to NYC.  After 2 hours of driving I opened up the package and took a bite.  At first I thought I might have bought the wrong bar because it tasted bread-like and the ingredients on the package didn't sound like it would result in a bread-like texture. Allison and I determined later that it must be the eggs that created that texture.  Since I really liked the bar I decided I would try to recreate it myself.  The original recipe had raisins and coconut and no almonds, but I like my version and think there is a lot of room for variety with different nuts and spices.



Apricot Energy Bars
1 cup organic apricots
1 cup organic raw pecans
1 cup organic raw almonds
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pulse the apricots in a food processor until they are relatively small pieces. Add pecans and almonds and pulse again until the nuts are chopped. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and mix until the dough comes into a ball. Spread mixture into an 8x8 pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Layers

Now that we have been following the GAPS protocol for a bit more than five months, I am starting to get some other clues as to other elements that are effecting well-being around here.

Histamines - could these be an issue for L? I notice that when she eats improperly fermented foods (like Bubbies sauerkraut) she will sometimes get a rash wherever the liquid touches her skin/ Rubbing sardines on her arm created a rash that lasted a week (fish are high in histamines). When she had an skin prick allergy test the control spot - histamine - was the one that had the highest reaction. It created a satellite of hives down her back. In short what I have learned about histamines is that they are present in most foods, but some foods are higher than others. I thought this article did a thorough review  but I still need to understand this better and what, if anything, I can do about it while on GAPS.


Oxalates - could these be an issue for N? We notice symptoms of UTI's without an actual infection. Been testing certain foods by taking them out and adding them back in to her diet - like carrots are high in oxalates - and seeing if her complaints change. Here is some info on low-oxalate diet and a post by another person following the GAPS protocol on oxalates.

I think the symptoms people who have issues for histamines and oxalates are interesting to compare!


Candida - Yes, we have it. Confirmed via testing for the girls. No doubt that it is effecting all of us. This will involve dietary changes - less fruit, if any, and no honey. I found this post on GAPS versus the Body Ecology diet to be very interesting. We likely will also use grapefruit seed extract as a treatment to help bring the levels of candida down as we work to regain normal gut flora.

So these are some of the layers we are uncovering around here. In the meantime, we are enjoying soup, upping our probiotic supplement and still enjoying fermented foods. Got some fat in the freezer that I need to render so we can add that to more of our meals. Been busy around here!