Broccoli Flatbread

During summer, although I'm ecstatic to have the break, I invariably complain that I'm bored. (I think I just need to be constantly busy, actually.) One thing that alleviates boredom is cooking!

Experimenting with food is one of my favorite pastimes; has been, in fact, since I was around five. My mom would graciously let me make "cupcakes" . . . sometimes they were hockey pucks, once they were salty (that was after my sister suggested that I put in a little salt because they were so bland. Well, she never said how much). . . . Another of my pastimes is refusing to look at instructions.
Over the years I've gotten much better at food improvisation, though.

A few weeks ago, when I was wondering what to do with myself, I decided I would make some interesting side dish for lunch. Seeing a container of leftover broccoli in the fridge (who likes plain leftover broccoli, anyway?), I began to experiment. To my surprise and delight, the result was delicious! I made it again (with measurements this time) so that I could share it here.

• 2 packed cups cooked broccoli
• Heaping 1/4 cup shelled walnuts
• 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp. tapioca starch
• 3 tbsp. water

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. Put the broccoli and walnuts in a blender and blend them until they are roughly chopped up.

3. Add the rest of your ingredients and blend them to death. By the time you're done, you should have green paste.

3. Spread the paste thinly on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. FYI, it takes some time and patience to spread it out nicely so it doesn't lump. It will look like it'll just fall apart right out of the oven, but it doesn't. It just needs a couple minutes (5 to 10) to firm up. Instead of making one large flatbread, you could also make several smaller flatbreads. I haven't tried that yet, but it would probably decrease wetness in the middle.

4. Bake it for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are crispy and browned.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Lovely Lavender Cookies

It's almost summer, and the lavender is blooming!! On our way out of the house this morning, I noticed the beautiful purple flowers and thought, Hm, I should do something with that. Well, since I love baking, the first idea that popped into my mind was lavender cookies!

After perusing Pinterest to get a general sense of what and how much to put in these cookies, I cobbled together my own recipe and embarked on a kitchen adventure (my family can tell you that I adore pioneering new recipes in the kitchen).

Perhaps best of all is that these cookies are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and sweetened with honey!

• 1 cup of flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose gluten-free flour mix)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp. lavender (or more to taste)

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).

3. Melt the coconut oil and pour it in the bowl with the dry ingredients, but don't combine yet.

4. Add the lemon juice and honey.

5. Now combine your ingredients thoroughly and add the lavender! Mix it in.

6. Form your dough into balls. The size of these balls is completely up to you! I love big cookies. 

7. Bake them for 10 minutes. Don't worry if they seem super squishy when they come out. They'll firm up nicely as they cool. (In fact, once they cool completely, they're kind of like shortbread.)

8. Enjoy!

AIP Coconut-Free Dinner Rolls

For half a year now, my family has been AIP (which stands for Autoimmune Protocol). My mom and I both enjoy baking, but with limited resources (no grain, no eggs, no nuts), baking has become difficult. Since "normal" baking is out of the question, we've turned to cassava and coconut flour to provide us with the occasional batch of biscuits. Recently, however, I've had to start rotating coconut in my diet, which makes it even harder to bake . . . most AIP bread recipes include at least one coconut product, if not two or three.
So anyway, one night last week I was commissioned with finishing up dinner preparations: should I make stewed apples, or some kind of bread product? I asked my dad which he would prefer and he said, "MMMMM . . . bread product."
Well, after that enthusiastic reaction I didn't want to disappoint, so I had to find a recipe that was both AIP and coconut-free (it wasn't a coconut day). So I pulled up Pinterest (ah, what a lifesaver!) and started to browse . . . and browse . . . but nothing was AIP and coconut-free. Finally I just decided to wing it (with a hefty amount of advice from my mom (Thanks, Mommy!)). Here's what I came up with:

• 1/2 cup cassava flour
• 1 tb. tapioca flour (arrowroot flour will also work)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3 tb. water
• 1 tb. olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Mix in the wet ingredients. Your dough will be clumpy and hard to stir (wow, I'm excelling at making this recipe sound good). It shouldn't be sticky. If it's too dry, you can add water a tablespoon at a time until it's the right consistency, or add another tablespoon or two of applesauce for a sweeter roll!
4. Roll the dough into small balls and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Deconstructed Apple Pie in a Bowl

Good morning!
What's better than eating hot apple pie for breakfast? . . . (Okay, I'm sure we could brainstorm lots of things, but hot apple pie for breakfast sounds pretty sweet, doesn't it?) . . . Deconstructed apple pie in a bowl!! It tastes a lot better than it sounds, trust me.

Apologies for the mediocre photography. It was horrendous before my mom rescued me . . .

Who knew that taking pictures of food could be so hard?? Anyway, since we food bloggers are expected to gush about the food we make, I'll just say that this is a really easy-to-make breakfast that's super delicious and here's the recipe:

• 1 large apple (I used a Red Delicious, but you can use any kind)
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. ghee (or clarified butter, which is just the butter fat without all the harmful proteins)

1. Peel the apple and cut it into bite-size pieces.

2. Put the apple chunks into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it up for about 2 and a half minutes. It's a good idea to stop it halfway through to stir the apples.

3. When the chunks are soft, add the walnuts, cinnamon and ghee and stir. Voila! Deconstructed apple pie in a bowl!

Oops, I almost forgot . . . 

Step #4. Enjoy!!