Crepes w/ "no-nut-ella"

My kids slept in late today (8 a.m.), so I did too. Maybe it was finally "sleeping-in" for the first time in years or a lazy summer Saturday, but somehow I was in the mood for crepes. I made the "regular" ones - with white flour, butter, milk & eggs, but started to feel a twinge of guilt when I saw my husband looking woefully into his bowl of almond milk & Joe's O's. So I thought I'd try to make some he could eat.

Here's my adapted recipe. He says they turned out great. They do, however, contain egg yolks (I haven't experimented with egg replacer in them, but I assume they wouldn't be as bendable and crepe-like). Though sensitive to eggs, most of the proteins are found in the whites, so he has been able to eat the yolks. This is similar to ghee, where most of the dairy proteins have been stripped from the butter and the leftover ghee is mostly fat. I could have used melted ghee in place of the safflower oil below.

Allergy Crepes (makes enough for 1 or possibly 2 servings):
3/4 c. oat flour
2 t. sugar (I used pure cane, minimally processed)
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1 c. coconut milk
1 T. safflower oil
2 egg yolks
1/4 t. vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients and mix the wet ingredients separately, then mix them together with a whisk until smooth. Pour 1/4 c. batter onto a hot crepe pan (I just continued after I made my regular crepes, so it was hot and was very seasoned since I was cooking with butter. If you are starting from scratch, try heating some high-heat safflower or sunflower oil on about medium-high until hot...do the water test). Instead of swirling the batter around in the pan, I just let my crepes be a little thicker. You can experiment and see what you like best.

"No - nut - ella" spread:
I love nutella. But it has both hazelnuts (bad for kids with nut allergies) and dry milk in it. Here's my version.

1/4 c. pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 T. cocoa powder (or carob)
2 T. Better Than Milk Rice Powder, vanilla flavor
1 T. safflower oil
1 T. brown rice syrup
3 T. rice milk

Combine all ingredients in a food processor on high speed (this is the "crunchy" version). If you wanted it smoother, grind your pumpkin seeds into "butter" with a juicer.

Spread on crepes and enjoy. Or use fruit-only jam and fresh fruit - I had a blueberry jam & fresh pineapple crepe, a banana & no-nut-ella crepe, and an apricot-orange jam & fresh cantaloupe crepe.

Drinking Healthy - Fresh Juice

Ever since I found a great fresh fruit and vegetable market (A. Russo's, Watertown, MA), I am starting to get back into making my own fresh juice. I would love to have a large kitchen so I could keep my juicer out all the time, but it's probably just as well to get everything out and have a special treat once in a while (even natural fruit and vegetable juice has a high amount of sugar, with no fiber). My favorite juice is Beet - Apple - Carrot. By the way, my 3 year-old and 18-month old love it! We water it down a little though, about 1/2 juice and 1/2 water.

I have the Omega juicer, which I've used for fruit/vegetable juice and for grinding nut or seed -butters (such as almond, sunflower seed and pumpkin seed butter). It has worked well, it's fairly easy to clean, and powerful. However, you have to cut the fruit/vegetables into slices that will go into the machine, so this sometimes takes a few extra minutes.

Juice is a great way to transition to eliminating soft drinks and diet coke/pepsi (which in addition to being a health risk will ironically just cause you to gain weight). If you don't have time to make your own juice and must buy commercial juice, make sure it is 100% Juice. Try mixing a little Sparkling water, like San Pellegrino, in with the juice.

Some people drink soft drinks just to be drinking something. Try getting a water bottle (preferably a hard plastic), and fill up on fresh, filtered water all day. I've read even drinking bottled water is sometimes not so good, because the water is bottled in soft plastic containers that may leak chemicals into the water if exposed to extreme temperatures.

If you are just drinking diet coke for the caffeine or refreshing pick-up, I think it would be better to drink some unsweetened iced green tea mixed with sparkling water. At least it's all natural - and real! Plus, green tea does have some nutritional value and health benefits. Octavia tea is very good.

I used to buy apple juice for my kids and water it down, but now I don't even buy apple juice. They are used to drinking water all day, and I make sure their water bottles are full. It's great to get them in the habit early of drinking lots of water. I can't believe how much I'm saving on my grocery bill by drinking healthy - no juice, beer or wine, coffee, soda - so I can afford to buy treats such as tea, Teeccino, or sparkling water once in a while.

How to kick the coffee habit

I talked to my brother recently - who I always knew to pull all-night study sessions with a cup of strong black coffee - and he was saying he has a hard time sleeping if he drinks any caffeine after 4 p.m. I think most of us have run into this situation at some time or another. I have always loved coffee, but it was among the many things I chose to renounce during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I tried going decaf, but was concerned with the decaffeinating process - I realize the "Swiss Water" method is probably ok, but the thought of formaldehyde possibly entering my body scared me. I now drink herbal tea, but for a while I was really stuck on coffee. My husband and I were craving coffee about a year ago, and he went to Whole Foods to see what he could find. My husband asked an employee for suggestions, who saw my husband holding Teeccino in his hand and exclaimed, "Oh, you wanted ersatz coffee!" Since then, we enjoy an occasional cup of Teeccino for a special caffeine-free coffee treat.

Happy Halloween - Carob Cupcakes

Like most moms, I really didn't want my kids eating a bunch of candy for Halloween - with enough refined sugar and chocolate (think, caffeine) it would mess up their sleep schedule and make them cranky for days. So I came up with Carob Cupcakes, my own variation of the Chocolate Cake recipe in the Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook.

Cupcakes:
1/2 c safflower oil
1/2 c honey or brown rice syrup
1 t vanilla
3 t Ener-G Egg Replacer, mixed with 4 T. rice milk
3/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 c oat flour
1 c brown rice flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 c carob powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 c rice milk

First beat together the oil and honey/brown rice syrup. Then add vanilla, egg replacer, and applesauce. Then I just beat in everything else all at once to save time. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees for about 17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (time will depend on how big your cupcakes are).

I made the frosting from the "Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook" too, and just used regular food coloring. If anyone knows of a "natural" food coloring, let me know, but for this Halloween I just used what I could find. We had green, orange, and yellow carob cupcakes.

Hot Carob Sauce

I've been experimenting with a "hot fudge sauce" without chocolate, butter, milk, or sugar. How's that for completely changing an original? Anyway, here's what I've come up with so far:

1 T. Coconut Oil
3 T. Honey

Melt together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.

3 T. Better Than Milk Rice Powder (Vanilla)
2 T. Carob Powder
1/2 cup rice milk

Whisk together in a small measuring cup. Add to oil & honey in saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on low heat.

Combine 1 T. rice milk with 1/2 t. arrowroot powder. Add to saucepan, continuing to whisk ingredients together. Cook for about 1 minute longer on low heat. Continue to whisk while you allow the sauce to cool (I think this helps the coconut oil and honey mix in better.)

I put mine on regular ice cream, but you could use rice dream for a vegan dessert. Sprinkle a little unsweetened coconut on the top for crunch without using nuts.

It tasted great, the only think I found is that the sauce doesn't really "stick" to the rice or ice cream...it kind of runs off a little.