DIY Wednesday: Spice Blends

May 20, 2015May 20, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

I’m starting a new Wednesday series, a DIY series. Every Wednesday I’m going to show you how to make your own version of usually store-bought staples. Companies want you to think you can’t live without their products, but you totally can. It’s easier than you think, not to mention healthier and cheaper.

Today I’m going to show you how to make your own spice blends. I used to buy these blends at the grocery store and thought nothing of it. Then I started to read labels and noticed there were some funky ingredients in there. Things like MSG and anti-caking agents. Things that I did not want to be sprinkling over my food and ingesting. So I started to make my own and haven’t looked back. Make these when you have some free time and you will have all the seasonings you could ever want ready to go when you cook.

These are four of my favorite and most used blends.

Ranch Seasoning Blend

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp dill

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery seed

Onion Soup Blend

1 tbsp dried onion, minced

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Pumpkin Pie Blend

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Taco Seasoning Blend

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

3 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional (if you want a spicier mix)

Measure out all the seasonings, mix together, and then store in an airtight container like a mason or bell jar. You can adjust the seasonings to your taste or remove the salt to make each blend salt free.

Use the ranch or onion mix for dips by adding to plain greek yogurt, sour cream, or plain cashew ricotta.

Use the taco blend in place of store bought packets and add either tapioca starch or cornstarch to help thicken the sauce you pour over your taco filling.

Sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice over oatmeal or cereal for a little taste of fall.

Of course you can use these blends anywhere, on your vegetables, in your marinades and dressings, in desserts or snacks. It really just takes a few minutes to put these mixes together and the flavor and price can’t be beat. So use your DIY skills and get to blending!

Butternut Spinach Gnudi

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Have you ever heard of gnudi? Don’t worry I hadn’t either until a little while ago. It’s kind of like the big brother of gnocchi (also pronounced with a silent “G”) and it’s delicious. I saw a recipe for it in the Clean Eating magazine and at first I dismissed it as too time consuming to make. Then I had a free Saturday and decided to see if I could tackle the gnudi. I changed a few things, put my own spin on it and while it does take a little bit of time to put together, it isn’t as hard to make as I thought it would be.

I love the dumpling-like texture of this dish. It’s filling but not too heavy especially topped with a fresh tomato sauce, plus it gets in all the good nutrients that come with spinach and butternut squash.

If you aren’t like me and don’t have 10 lbs of butternut squash in your freezer you can substitute canned butternut squash or pumpkin instead. Also, make sure to leave enough time for the gnudi to rest in the refrigerator before you cook them or else they will fall apart in the hot water.

Onto the gnudi!

Butternut Spinach Gnudi- adapted from Clean Eating’s Ricotta, Spinach & Sweet Potato Gnudi

1 cup pureed butternut squash (or canned pumpkin)
6 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
1 cup cashew ricotta
2/3 cup almond meal
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped spinach (frozen or fresh, I used frozen and just made sure it was thawed)
4 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 batch of my tomato sauce or your favorite store bought sauce (make sure to check the label!)

In a large bowl, whisk the 6 tbsp of aquafaba until it’s frothy. Then whisk in the cashew ricotta, almond meal, and all the seasonings.
Once that is all well combined mix in the spinach and fold in the butternut squash. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup of the brown rice flour and stir to combine.
Spread out 2 cups of the brown rice flour onto a large baking sheet. Using your hands, form the butternut mix into medium sized balls, about the size of a golf ball. Place the balls onto the baking sheet and repeat until all the mixture is used up. Cover the balls with the remaining flour and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Warm up your tomato sauce in a medium saucepan. Once the balls have set, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Working in batches of 4-5 balls, gently immerse them into the boiling water and cook until they float to the top. Remove from the water and set aside until all the gnudi is cooked.
Plate a few of the gnudi and top with tomato sauce. You can also sprinkle a little parmesan cheese or my vegan version.

Yes it looks like a lot and it looks like it will take forever and you wonder if I think you’re an Italian grandmother who has nothing to do but make gnudi. Trust me you can do this and it isn’t that hard. Plus you’ll be rewarded with a delicious healthy meal that will have everyone coming back for seconds. So give it a try, you might just surprise yourself!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Soft Taco Shells and Aquafaba

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I will get to the Aquafaba in just a second, but let’s talk about these taco shells.

I have always liked tacos but ever since going gluten-free a few years ago I have missed the texture and fold-ability (totally a real word, trust me) of regular flour tacos. I usually use corn tortillas, which are good but they just aren’t the same as flour tortillas.

There are plenty of recipes out there for Paleo versions of taco shells and I have tried a few of them and they are really good. Pretty much all of them though use eggs and while that’s not a bad thing if you eat eggs, it poses a problem if you don’t. Sure, it is really easy to find egg free taco shells at the store or online, but they more often than not have some weird ingredients that I would rather not consume.

Then I read about aquafaba.

Yes that’s a real word and it isn’t as exotic or strange as it sounds. Technically it’s just the liquid that beans are cooked in. So bean juice to be precise. Bean juice apparently doesn’t sound appealing so people have started calling it aquafaba. Whatever floats their boat. The important thing to me is that aquafaba acts like eggs in most recipes, plus it’s fairly easy and cheap to get. You can either buy canned chickpeas and reserve the liquid they are sitting in or cook your own chickpeas and save that liquid.

Armed with this new “fancy” ingredient, I decided to take a stab at making egg free, gluten free, soft taco shells. Luckily I struck success with my first batch and now I have a simple go-to soft taco shell! Now just a few quick notes:

These don’t have the same taste as regular flour shells, but that isn’t a huge problem for me. I actually really like the taste
You can use canned chickpea liquid if you don’t want to cook your own beans and save that liquid like I did.
You want your plantains to be slightly yellow. Not super green and not brown. The really green ones won’t blend as well and the brown ones will give you a sweet taco shell and that might not be what you’re looking for.

Ok enough talking about bean juice, let’s make some tacos!

Soft Shell Tacos

1 large plantain, slightly yellow (you can also get a few small plantains, you want about a pound once it’s peeled)
6 tbsp aquafaba (either from a can of chickpeas, or cook your own beans and reserve the liquid)
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
juice of one lime
a pinch or two of salt (based on your salt preference)

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and cut your plantain into bite size chunks. Add everything into your blender or food processor and blend until everything is smooth. You want it to look sort of like pancake batter.
Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Scoop about 1 tbsp of batter out onto the baking sheet. With the back of a spoon, spread out the batter into a fairly thin circle. Don’t leave it too thick or it won’t cook through and don’t spread it too thin because it will just burn. You have to be like Goldilocks and get it jusssttttt right 🙂
Do this a few more times, you will have to work in batches because you will only be able to fit 4 to 5 shells on the pan at once. Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let them cool for at least five minutes. Now this is the slightly tricky part, but just have patience at it will all be just fine. Slowly peel the shells off the baking sheet and move to a wire rack to cool. If you notice the shell starting to stick just use a spatula to help loosen it from the pan. As long as you let the shells cool a bit before you lift them up you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.
Repeat until you have used all the batter.

I used two baking sheets when I made these so I could make more at once, but you can work in batches too. Once the shells are totally cool fill them with your favorite taco filling and enjoy!

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend! Don’t forget to wish your mom a Happy Mothers Day on Sunday!

Lemon Pistachio Cookies

May 1, 2015May 1, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I found pistachios on sale and on a whim bought about a pound. I wanted to do something with them other than just shove them all into my mouth, which was my first instinct. Since I had access to a Vitamix at the time I of course turned those pistachios into pistachio butter. I had never had pistachio butter before and it was delicious. It had a nice light flavor to it and I thought it would be good in some baked goods.

There are a ton of recipes out there for peanut butter cookies and almond butter cookies, but not that many using pistachio butter. I decided to remedy that and made these lemon pistachio cookies. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I knocked it out of the park on these ones. They are the perfect cookie for springtime. The are light and the hit of lemon adds a nice freshness to them. I added in a little bit of coconut for some texture but it doesn’t overwhelm the cookie with a coconut flavor.

If you don’t have pistachio butter on hand, you can make these with almond butter or cashew butter. I wouldn’t use peanut butter though because I think it would overwhelm the lemon flavor. Ok enough talk more cookie.

Lemon Pistachio Cookie- Makes 12-15 cookies

1/2 cup pistachio butter (almond butter or cashew butter would also work)
3 tbsp maple syrup (if you like a sweeter cookie add in another tbsp)
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350.
In a small bowl mix together all the wet ingredients. Add in the shredded coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and lemon zest. Combine everything. It will seem really wet and like it won’t stick together but don’t worry that is fine.
On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, scoop out about a tbsp of the dough. Spread it out a little with the back of a spoon as these cookies won’t rise.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges just start to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

One word of caution, these cookies can go from being perfect to burnt really quick if you don’t watch them. I would suggest checking at the 10 minute mark especially if your oven runs hot. Nothing is worse than a burnt batch of cookies. Not that that stops me from eating them….

Have a great Friday and enjoy the cookies!

Hobo Skillet Casserole

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Sunday is usually my big chore day. It’s the day that I do all the laundry, clean the bathroom, super clean the kitchen, clean all the floors, and any other cleaning that is needed. I also get my blog ready for the next day and finish up any other odds and ends that need to be taken care of. Sometimes when dinner rolls around, I really don’t want to put a lot of effort into my meal.

This is where a well stocked freezer and pantry come in hand. You can come up with a delicious and healthy meal in a matter of minutes with just a few staples. I made this meal last Sunday and asked you guys if you would be interested in how to make it. I got a fairly good response so here it is! Keep in mind that you can totally customize this dinner with the ingredients you have on hand.

Hobo Skillet Casserole

1 cup pasta (I used gluten free penne but you can use whatever you normally do)
1 potato, cut into cubes
1 cup butternut squash, cubed (can also use any other squash or sweet potatoes)
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed (can use any green you have like chard, collard, or kale)
1/2 cup assorted vegetables (I used a frozen mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup almond milk or any other non-dairy milk
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
gluten free breadcrumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package, drain, and set aside.
While pasta is cooking, mix tomato sauce, almond milk, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside for later.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. If you do not have a cast iron skillet you can use a regular skillet and transfer the casserole into a casserole dish.
Add a little olive oil to the pan and then saute the onions and potatoes until the potatoes are lightly browned. Transfer the potatoes and onions to a bowl with the pasta.
Add the vegetables and butternut squash to the skillet and cook until slightly brown. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Place the vegetables into the bowl with the potatoes and pasta.
Pour the tomato sauce mix into the other bowl and stir everything to combine. Add everything back into your skillet or casserole dish. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with the bread crumbs if you’re using and bake for another 5 minutes.

This is a great meal to make at the end of the week to use up any food that you have leftover in the fridge. You can use whatever you have on hand. If you don’t want to use pasta you can try brown rice, quinoa, or any beans you have. If want add ground beef or turkey, shredded chicken or pulled pork. Choose your favorite vegetables or whatever is in season. Use different seasonings to change up the flavor or try a different sauce like salsa or hummus or cashew cream.

Meals like this are awesome because they are easy to make and can taste different every time you make it depending on what you use. Get creative and get eating!

Oh and don’t forget I am still hosting a giveaway on my Facebook page. If I get to 100 likes I’ll give away two $10 gift cards of their choice to two of my followers. Make sure you go check out my page and like it!

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!