DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles

June 1, 2016June 1, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

This is quite possibly the simplest dinner I have ever made. On Memorial Day, I spent the day with my parents and got back home right around dinner time. I didn’t have much in the house and really didn’t feel like cooking. Many people might eat peanut butter straight from the jar and call that a meal full of “good fats” (totally not talking about me…) but I wanted to be somewhat of an adult. I had a few zucchini’s in my fridge and I had made this sauce earlier when I noticed my parsley was going a little limp. So I quickly spiralized my zucchini, tossed it with this sauce, and called it dinner. DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles | Life Healthfully Lived

Level: Adulting like a boss.

This is a great dinner for those nights when you don’t feel like cooking, it’s too hot to turn on the oven/stove, or you somehow forgot you need to eat dinner and want food fast. You don’t even have to use zucchini. You could use regular noodles, other vegetable noodles, even quinoa or brown rice. You could get fancy and add some cooked chicken, shrimp, or beef or you could add extra vegetables like cherry tomatoes, carrots, or summer squash. DIY Wednesday: Parsley Cream Zoodles | Life Healthfully Lived

The point is when you need food in your food hole NOW this is the meal you can turn to. Maybe that will be my new blog motto. Food for your food hole NOW…. Has a nice ring to it.

Parsley Cream Zoodles

1 cup parsley leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk or 1/3 cup water (coconut milk will make it creamier)
1-2 zucchini, spiralized or cut into thin strips (could also use regular noodles or some other vegetable like cucumber)

Put all the ingredients except the zucchini into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You don’t want any large chunks of cashew. You can also make this sauce ahead of time and keep it in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it.
Spiralize or cut your zucchini and put it into a large bowl. Pour in about half the sauce and stir to coat all the zoodles. Add more sauce if necessary or if you just want to be a rebel and eat all the sauce. You do you.

That’s it. You could be eating in about 10 minutes, less if you already made the sauce ahead of time. Don’t ever think you don’t have time for a healthy meal. That’s just a lie the pizza delivery guy wants you to believe 🙂

DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls | Life Healthfully Lived My husband is a bread fiend. You know the saying “Man cannot live on bread alone”? Yeah, it doesn’t apply to him. I could put a hunk of bread down in front of him for every meal and he would be happy. I wouldn’t even have to change the kind of bread just get the carb-y goodness into his mouth as fast as possible.

He married a woman who doesn’t really eat bread.

Not that I don’t like bread, it just doesn’t like me back very much. Plus, if I ate as much bread as the man I married does I would probably be 600 pounds. 600 pounds of bread. DIY Wednesday: Dinner Rolls | Life Healthfully Lived

Over the years, I’ve made various kinds of gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free bread and while they were good enough for me as a stand in for traditional bread, Adam never really took to them. Which is fine because while he also likes eating bread he really likes the process of making it too. But I wanted to make bread that both of us could enjoy and could get as close to real bread as possible.

I think I might have gotten it. Are these exactly like traditional dinner rolls? No. But Adam did eat 5 (or 6) of the 9 rolls I made and I think that’s good enough for me! You can make these rolls ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them. You could even freeze a bunch and then just pull them out when you’re ready to use them!

Dinner Rolls- Makes 9-10 rolls depending on how big you make them. Based off these Honey Biscuits from Against All Grain.

1 3/4 cups almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp ground flax seed
6 tbsp water
1/4 cup coconut oil, semi-soft (if your oil is liquid like mine always is, measure it out and then stick it in the fridge for a few minutes).
2 tbsp coconut milk or water

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Mix the 3 tbsp ground flax seed and 6 tbsp water and set aside to gel.
Combine all of the dry ingredients, and seasonings if you’re using them, and whisk together.
In a separate bowl, combine the gelled flax seed, semi-soft coconut oil, and 2 tbsp coconut milk together. Mix it really well so that everything is combined.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Use a rubber spatula and mix everything together. You should get a very stiff dough and be able to form a ball. If not, add a little more coconut flour one tablespoon at a time.
Take out a little of the dough from the dough ball and roll into a ball. Place it on the sheet and slightly flatten it with the palm of your hand. Continue until all the dough is gone.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 minutes and if it’s golden on the edges take it out and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

DIY Wednesday: Homemade Gluten-Free Flours

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

For those of you that bake and cook with gluten-free flours often, you know that it can be a pricey endeavor. You can get five pounds of all-purpose flour for like a nickel but 2 ounces of any type of gluten-free flour costs all the gold in China as well as your firstborn child.

Ok, maybe it’s not that dramatic, but you get the idea.

For awhile, I had relegated myself to shelling out the extra dough when it came to gluten-free flour but then I started to think about it. Most of the flours I bought weren’t blends, they were just straight up one-ingredient flours. Almond, brown rice, quinoa, oat, buckwheat, corn, coconut… all flours made with just one thing.

I can make things with just one ingredient in my own kitchen.

I have a blender/food processor.

Why am I paying an arm and a leg for these things again?

So I started saving money and making my own flour at home. If you have a decent blender or food processor you can do the same thing. Heck, if you have a pretty crappy blender or food processor you can get by making a few of these on your own. I did until I got a new food processor.

Here are four of my favorite flours to make at home and a few ideas on how to use them!

Oat Flour

This is probably the easiest and cheapest flour to make. All you need are regular rolled oats and you can make your own oat flour.

1 cup regular rolled oats = a little less than one cup of flour.

Pulse oats in a food processor or blender until you have a fine flour like texture.

Uses: Great for cookies and quick breads. I like to use it as a binder in lentil meatloaf or meatballs too.

Buckwheat Flour

Even though it has the word heat in the name it’s still gluten-free. You will want to find plain buckwheat groats, not roasted.

1 cup buckwheat groats = about 1 cup of flour

Toast the plain groats in a dry pan over medium-high heat until nutty and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Pulse the groats and then blend into a fine powder.

Uses: I like using it to make pancakes, bread, and crackers. It also makes a nice crispy crust for pork or chicken if you mix it with a few spices, salt, and pepper.

Quinoa Flour

You might need a little bit more powerful blender or food processor to grind up the tiny quinoa seeds. A smaller bowl or pitcher work better if you have one of those. You can use any color quinoa you like but I like to use white quinoa because it has a more neutral flavor.

1 cup quinoa = less than 1 cup of flour

Toast the quinoa in a dry pan over medium-high heat until fragrant and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes
Blend in a food processor or blender until you have a flour consistency. This might take a bit longer than other DIY flours.

Uses: I have been using this a lot in rolls and breads because it gives a nice nutty flavor, you can also use it for my cauliflower pizza crust!

Coconut Flour

Perhaps the best smelling flour in the bunch, I like this because it lets me use up the leftover coconut from my coconut milk!

1 cup coconut shreds = less than 1 cup of flour
If you are using leftover shreds from making milk let them dry out on a pan completely before continuing.

Preheat your oven to the lowest setting (mine is 200 and it worked just fine) and toast the dried coconut shreds until golden. About 20 to 30 minutes
Let the shreds cool then pulse them in the blender or food processor until you have a flour-like texture.

Uses: I use coconut flour a lot around here for things like pancakes, avocado fries, and desserts like these chocolate PB bars.

So there you go! You can make your own gluten-free flour for a fraction of the cost at the store. Just make sure to store all these flours in an airtight container to maintain freshness.

Homemade Banana Pudding

May 13, 2016May 13, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Homemade Banana Pudding | Life Healthfully Lived Ok, so I learned some new things while making this recipe. First, I have to tell you about my inspiration for this one because it’s weird and who doesn’t like weird stuff? No one. That’s who.

I was making a loaf of my gluten-free banana bread (which you should make immediately because it’s the bomb. Side note: I’m bringing back “the bomb”) and as I was blending the banana and avocado together I thought to myself, “Antoinette, (I call myself Antoinette NBD) that kind of looks like pudding. I wonder if it would be any good as pudding? I wonder if there is banana pudding?” So I set about to research banana pudding.

This is my life people. Homemade Banana Pudding | Life Healthfully Lived

I remember pudding snack packs used to have a banana flavor but I doubt that there was any actual banana in that pudding. My google searches told me that banana pudding was indeed a thing. A southern thing. Which means it’s delicious because it has all the fat and sugar. All delicious things have fat and sugar. Most recipes called for making a vanilla custard type deal and adding sliced bananas, vanilla wafers, and in one case merengue. While it wasn’t a difficult process, it was more steps than I wanted for my pudding. And by more, I mean this is pretty much just one step.

There are no eggs in this so you don’t have to cook anything but because of the addition of avocado, stick with me, it is creamy and delicious without the eggs. And depending on how ripe your bananas are, it’s pretty sweet too. You can add maple syrup if it isn’t sweet enough but mine was totally delicious without it. See? Fat and sugar. Just a better version of fat and sugar.

I know you’re probably getting tired of me putting avocado in things but I’m not, so get over it 🙂 It’s delicious and I can’t stop, won’t stop. You can get creative with toppings like coconut whip cream, pecans or walnuts, crumbled up graham crackers, or in my case cacao nibs because, chocolate.

Banana Pudding

As I was making this I started singing the part about figgy pudding from We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Adam asked me if I was singing a Christmas song and I said no, I was singing a pudding song because how do you make pudding without singing about it? So feel free to sing about pudding while making this because I think it enhances the flavor.

2 very ripe bananas, sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2 avocado, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup coconut cream (you can buy coconut cream from Trader Joes or just put a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight and scoop off the solid cream)
1 tbsp maple syrup, optional if your bananas aren’t super ripe. I didn’t need any extra sweetener for mine
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp maca powder, optional but adds a nice caramel-y flavor

Toppings (optional)

chocolate chips or cacao nibs
pecans or walnuts or almonds
sliced banana
coconut whip cream
graham crackers
nilla wafers if you’re rebellious or Southern 😉

Ready for this? Put all the pudding ingredients into a blender and blend until super smooth. Dish it out and put on all the toppings.

Told you it was one step 😀 Happy Friday friends! Have a great weekend! Homemade Banana Pudding | Life Healthfully Lived

DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Pizza Crust

May 11, 2016May 10, 2016 / ktbuchs87 / 6 Comments

DIY Wednesday: Cauliflower Crust Pizza | Life Healthfully Lived The cauliflower pizza crust. For many, it is an elusive dream. You see recipes on Pinterest and they claim that it is the best crust ever (just like real pizza) and that will fulfill all your gluten-free pizza dreams.

And then you make it.

And it turns into a soggy wet pile.

Or it has five pounds of cheese and eggs holding it together.

I’ve tried a lot of cauliflower pizza crusts and while some were good, none were great. Most of them had to be eaten with a fork and a knife and that’s ok if you’re eating a deep dish pizza but not ok when you want to pick up a slice and feel like you’re eating pizza. That’s what I wanted.

Then I stumbled across Sprint 2 The Table’s quinoa flour crust pizza and it sounded simple enough and didn’t have the cheese that most crust recipes use to keep everything together. So I gave it a shot and EUREKA! It worked. I could actually pick it up and while I won’t go as far as saying it tastes exactly like real pizza it was the closest I had ever come.

I kept playing with the crust and swapping out a few things and came up with one that doesn’t use eggs or grains as the flour. If you’re totally fine with eating quinoa flour and eggs then go ahead and try Sprint 2 The Table’s pizza crust. If you want an eggless and grain-free version try this one below.

I’ll give you a step-by-step tutorial (along with pictures) so you can get the best pizza crust possible then you can go crazy with toppings. And I may have gone crazy with my toppings aka the whole refrigerator on my pizza.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza- Based on this one by Sprint 2 The Table

1 cup of cauliflower with as much of the stems removed as possible
1/4 cup coconut flour
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
6 tbsp water
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 425 and get out a pizza stone/pan or regular baking sheet. Line whatever you’re going to use with parchment paper (I used a pizza stone and cut my parchment paper into circles) and then cut another piece of parchment paper to match the first.
In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water and let it sit and gel for a few minutes.
In a blender or food processor, pulse the cauliflower a few times until it’s in small rice-like pieces and then dump it into a large bowl. Add the flour and seasonings and whisk to combine everything. It’s ok if it’s a little clumpy.
Add in the flaxseed and water mixture and start stirring everything together with a spatula. It should start to form a big dough ball. If it’s too dry, add a little water a tablespoon at a time. Remember that coconut flour likes to soak up water like a sponge so as you add water wait just a few minutes to see if it needs more.
Nice dough ball. Not too dry or too soggy.
Once you have your dough ball place it on your stone or pan that’s lined with parchment paper. Slightly flatten the dough with your hand and then using a rubber spatula start pressing the dough out into a pizza shape.
Spreading out the dough. It takes awhile so don’t rush it
Work from the middle pressing out and keep going until you have about a 10 to 12-inch circle. You want it to be fairly thin so the crust will cook all the way through and not end up soggy. As you press the dough out the edges might crack a little but that’s ok just press them back together.
About how thick you want your crust. You could even go a little thinner for a crispier crust.
Place the other piece of parchment paper on top of the crust and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven.
Ok, this is the slightly tricky part. You’re going to flip the whole crust over. What worked for me was putting on an oven mitt and then using the parchment paper to slide the middle part of the crust onto my hand and then flipping it over in a quick motion. The crust should be mostly cooked at this point and if you rolled it out thin enough won’t break apart on you. Don’t freak out, I’ve made this crust a dozen times and even if I totally botched the flip it hasn’t broken or ruined the crust.
Once it’s flipped remove the parchment paper from the top of the crust and top with your favorite pizza toppings! Bake for another 5 minutes and enjoy!
Ready for toppings!

A few other tips:

Don’t use a crazy amount of sauce because that is just going to turn the pizza to mush. Trust me. My favorite sauce so far has been a light layer of my spinach or cilantro pesto.
If you put on a lot of heavy toppings your pizza may fall a little bit as you pick it up. If you don’t care and want all of the toppings go for it!
You can make this crust in advance and keep it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it. I’ve only done it a few hours in advance so I can’t vouch for the quality after it’s been frozen and thawed but I will update this if I try it.
If you put onions or peppers on your pizza and you want them cooked a little more than the five minutes at the end, saute them before you top your pizza. If not, they might be a little less done than some would prefer.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: