Awesome Banana Coconut-Flour Bread

vegan, GF

This is the best coconut flour recipe I've tried to date! Only 8 ingredients if you count salt, and it's deliciously and naturally sweet with banana and dates. The texture is kind of crumb-y but in a pleasant way and holds together fine. I baked the batter into muffins. It doesn't rise at all, so feel free to fill up the cups, but of course that will entail longer baking time.

recipe and picture from Popsugar

Low-Carbing It

Although I’m lucky to never worry about carbs for the sake of dieting, I have gone off refined sugar a few times, which is always advisable if you have the willpower. Since Rich and I are doing a cleanse, it seemed like a low-carb diet might enhance its effectiveness. It’s been an interesting challenge in the kitchen and I’ve discovered new dishes, both veg and non, a few of which will even become classic favorites, I’m sure!

Breakfasts:

Miso Soup with extra veggies

can easily make for lunch or dinner, too!

Breakfast Casserole

very portable, so easily doubles as a work lunch or snack

            

Savory Pancakes with carrot juicing pulp

Another incarnation of these oat bran pancakes

Fried egg with greens and grilled tomatoes

Green Tea-Avocado Smoothie

• Chia-Flax-CoconutPorridge

Lunches:

Leftovers!! - the cooking's already done

Grilled mackerel, Baba Ganouj and stir-fried greens

Chickpea Pancake

Based on this and that recipe, served with DIY coconut yogurt

• Veg and Tofu from a veggie buffet: the easy and cheap option here in Taipei

Dinners:

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes and Stir-Fried Veg

our kick-off gourmet dinner

Slow-Cooked Tofu & Veg Curry

  loosely based on this recipe

Slow-Cooked Balsamic Chicken

Sooo easy and really good. Def a new fave. 
I didn’t even have to touch the meat, just dump it into a bowl to marinate overnight, then slide into the slow cooker! ;)

This Balsamic Chicken came from The Mediterranean Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone, which is a great cookbook. The recipe goes like this:

1. Oil insert of large slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 large finely chopped garlic cloves,1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, 2 Tbsp chopped drained capers, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Dip 4 lb of bone-in breasts, thighs and legs chicken pieces into mixture, turning to coat on all sides. Place chicken in cooker and pour on any remaining coating.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until chicken is very tender and coming away from the bone. Serve hot.

Veg Stir-Fry with Edamame and Tofu 

Snacks:

• Nuts (soaked for easier digestion)
• Broth
• Cheese Cubes
• Raw or Stewed Fruit (no added sugar)
• Smoked salmon, goat cheese and cucumber, wrapped in lettuce leaves
• Savory Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
• Yogurt, dairy or non, with nuts or ground flax
• Lassis

• Fresh Green Juices

we’ve splurged on a cold press juicer and are even growing wheatgrass

Savoury Muffins

Ovo-Lacto
based on these Cheesy Vegetable Muffins (a great basic recipe)

Baked cheese makes for pretty pictures!

These were quite delish and had a nacho-like flavor.

OVEN 350C

IN A LARGE BOWL, MIX:

• 2 cups mixed vegetables (1/4 cup each:
•  sliced black olives
• re-constituted and diced sun-dried tomatoes
• fresh leafy greens chopped into fine ribbony pieces
• fresh corn kernels first cooked in salted water)

1 1/2 cups rye flour

• 3 tsp baking powder
• 
  
• WHISK TOGETHER:
• 2 eggs beaten lightly
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 pinch salt
• 1-2 tsp Italian herb mix
• ADD WET TO DRY, MIX LIGHTLY, POUR INTO OILED CUPS
• TOP WITH 1/4 cup grated cheese (I only topped half of them)

BAKE 25-30 MIN 

DIY Energy Bars - vol. 1

Vegan

This has been a revolution around here!

In short, if you have a food processor... go make yourself some energy bars. There's hardly any reason to buy them except convenience. You can customize them exactly as you like, keep only the good-for-you ingredients and save $$. And there are sooooo many recipes and types out there... Wild! So here begins my Energy Bar journey. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do all that whizzing and taste-testing...

Imperative for successful bars:
Most of them don't need any baking and are held together by the sticky combination of something like a nut butter and a liquid sweetener, or ground up dried fruit, or a combination thereof. Follow these steps to make sure they stick together:

1) If your dried fruit is not moist, briefly soak it in a little hot water to plump it up

2) Once your mix is in the pan it'll be setting in, PRESS, PRESS, PRESS it down. It will be sandwiched between plastic wrap or parchment paper, so use your hands, a rolling pin, the bottom of a glass- whatever it takes! It must be compact.

Here is the first round-up of recipes I've tried that I will make again.

1. Almond Coconut Energy Bars

based on Minimalist Baker's Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars

These are the closest to a successful commercial granola bar that I've tried so far. They have a pleasant crunch, are sweet but get balanced out by the nuts and oats and are easy enough to make, though do require a bit of time with the toasting, assembly and all that dish-washing after.


2. Soft Banana Oat Bars

based on Adventures of Our Family's Banana Oat Bars

This is probably the healthiest recipe of the bunch and in some of my friends' words "tastes like it" haha... However, the health nuts loved them. They are soft and with the extra banana I put in held in no problem - these do require baking. If you want something sweeter, add more dried fruit or some sort of sweetener - a glug of maple syrup or maybe sprinkle on some brown sugar?


3. Lemony Oat Bars

based on The Vegan 8's No-Bake Lemon Tea Oat Bars

In the world of endless snakc bar recipes, these are really unique! I loved the fresh lemon flavor! My German lemon tea was kind of strong and a bit strange, so I only used 5 tea bags instead of the 12. Next: try with my fave lemon tea of all time: Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger and make into flat bars in a shallow pan (rather than thick ones in a loaf pan, as per recipe).


4. Green Tea and Goji Berry

based on Vegan Crunk's Matcha Green Tea Almond Bars

Also very unique, delicious and easy-peasy! My ingredients were:
- dates, prunes and (very soft) goji berries, adding up to 1.5 cups
- 1/2 cup ground flax
- 1/3 cup mix of nuts and pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup matcha powder (I think this can be reduced by as much as half the amount - it's quite strong, even for me who adores green tea flavor and will make the bars less crumbly)

Another take: dried figs and prunes, toasted almonds, ground flax and chia, reduced green tea


5. Carrot Cake Bites

based on My Whole Food Life's Carrot Cake Larabar Bites

My mixture was kinda dry and giving my food processor trouble, so I added coconut water... a little too liberally. I ended up with pumpkin-pie-filling texture and even ground up oats could not save the day. So, I rolled these into sticky balls and they are delicious, if not exactly portable ;)


6. Crumbly Granola 

before-baking-photo: based on Real Healthy's Granola Bars 

Haha... so, these did not stick together whatsoever! I mean, in clumps, yes, so Rich and I devoured the resulting granola with a spoon because it was so damn yummy! I think the problem was the mixture was too liquidy - next time try omitting the coconut oil or reducing to a bare minimum, especially since I find it burns very easily. These also require baking.


7. Gingery Pumpkin Seed Chews

oops forgot to take a photo! picture and recipe both from Florida Coastal Cooking's Gingery Pepita Energy Bars

This recipe wins hands-down for super-fast no-mess. I think I was done in ~10 minutes. Very yummy! Now I need to source some more crystallized ginger! - or make it ;)

Another take: walnuts and prunes and candied orange peel, coated in hemp nuts. YEAH!