Gluten Free Strawberry Yogurt Cake

This cake is amazing. Its addicting and its going to be made again! It is sweet, so you could reduce the sugar, but we liked the tangy lemon combined with the acidity of the strawberries and the sweetness of the sugar. The glaze once dried gives a crunchy sweet crust and the cake is moist and delicious. YUM! For my wheat-eating friends, you could use a regular baking mix or combine flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt for similar results.

Ingredients:

1 cup of grass fed butter
1 3/4 cups of Sucanat or evaporated cane juice or sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp lemon powder*
2 1/2 cups of Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Baking Mix, divided
1 cup of Brown Cow plain yogurt
1 cup of chopped fresh strawberries

glaze
1 cup organic powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon powder
2 T water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10" bundt pan and set aside. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on high speed. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated in the batter. Add the lemon powder and lower the speed to mix the flour and yogurt in. I switched to a batter attachment at this point. Alternate between adding the 2 1/4 cups of flour(dry) and the yogurt (wet) until you have a thick batter. Start with about a 1/4 of the flour, mix well then add a 1/4 or so of the yogurt and mix well. Repeat until you have used all of both the dry and wet ingredients. Do not overmix or your cake will be tough. Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and fold into the batter carefully. Spoon the thick batter into the bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for a while before removing from the pan. Once it is cool enough, transfer to a plate and top with the glaze below. Serve warm or cool. Refrigerate any unused portions...if there are any.


Glaze
Pour all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to mix well. Set aside until ready to use. If too thick, you can add a little more water until it is somewhere between honey and syrup in consistency.

*I get my lemon powder from frontier because I can't always count on getting organic lemons fresh from the store. You can use lemon juice(1 T of lemon juice is similar to 1 tsp lemon powder) but adjust your liquids or flour accordingly.

The Consequence Jar

"I can't do this...its too haaarrrdddd...."
"I don't want to get in my pajamas..."

We've all got whiners. Some more than others. I have one child that could win awards for his whining skills. I have tried time outs and more recently pulling privileges or special snacks. I find that I get really fed up with it if he's having a particularly whiny day. To some extent I understand whining. I don't want to clean the house and if I had someone to whine to, I just might, but when its a daily practice, an HOURLY practice, it needs to be curbed. So my futile attempts were made.

Now meet the consequence jar. Sitting on the counter in the kitchen, looking quite innocent. Inside are consequences for whining, or not doing chores, or bad attitudes...its really quite effective. And humorous at times. For example, one item says "clean the glass on the back door while singing a song" another says "hop on one foot while getting the mail" then the more serious..."scrub the toilet" or "sweep the front porch"  There are even some "grace" cards. Grace meaning, they get this incident free(no chore)but you never know what will happen next time.
I typed up a sheet of them and folded the slips of paper and put them in a glass jar on the counter. Its waiting for the first infraction...and within minutes we have one. He pulls a piece of paper from the jar and is told to "hand wash the dishes." Since its between meals he gets off easy with only about 6 items, but he starts to put up a fuss. I tell him if he would like to pull a second slip from the jar to keep on talking.

And there is silence.

So far, this has been very effective... :-)


Here are some other examples:

Empty recycling can in pantry

Rub mommy or daddy’s feet for 10 minutes

Clean your room

Wipe down upstairs bathroom floor

Clean a glass on back door while singing a song.

Clean out silverware drawer

Remove the magnets and pictures and wipe down outside of fridge.

Do 25 sit ups while singing "I will not _______ anymore" really loud.(fill in infraction for that time)

You have been given Grace

Vacuum garage floor mats

Scrub upstairs bathtub

Empty all garbage cans

Fold 10 pairs of socks

Sweep front porch.

Sweep back porch.

Clean out your closet

Dust living room

Wipe off railings on front porch

You have been given Grace

Write “I will not _______” on a sheet of paper 50 times(fill in infraction for that time)

Do 25 push ups while singing "I will not _______ anymore" really loud.(fill in infraction for that time)

Run around the house 3 times and pick 20 dandelion flowers for the chickens.

Wipe all the wood railings on the chairs in the kitchen and under the table

Wipe all the wood railings on the chairs in the dining room and under the table

While hopping on one foot, go get the mail.

Choose 2 items of yours to donate to Goodwill.

Vacuum your bedroom

Hand wash dirty dishes

Scrub your toilet while singing “I love to clean when I am misbehaving”

Pick up backyard putting all sticks in the burn pile

Pick up frontyard putting all sticks in the burn pile

Lomo Saltado

comfort food in Peruvian form

This Peruvian comfort food is traditionally served with rice on the side. I didn't find it necessary when we used more potatoes. Its very tasty and its quite filling and economical too since you don't need much meat to feed everyone.  You can use frozen fries, but fresh potatoes taste much better and you eliminate the added dextrose and preservatives that most bagged fries have. This recipe should serve 6, but you can easily extend it with more potatoes, adding rice or a side vegetable.

1 1/2-2 lbs of fresh potatoes, sliced and soaked before hand
3/4 -1 lb of grass-fed sirloin, ribeye, stir-fry beef or other steak
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and 1/4 cup, divided
1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos and 2 T, divided
1 large red onion, sliced thin
1 peruvian aji pepper sliced thin(optional)
1 large tomato, cored and chopped
Grass-fed Lard
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Fresh cilantro, chopped


Slice and soak your fries the night before if desired.

About 45 minutes before you plan to eat, slice your meat in thin strips against the grain. Place in dish and pour the vinegar and liquid aminos over them. Toss and sprinkle with garlic powder. Let marinade. Meanwhile, cut up all your other vegetables and set aside. When all your ingredients are prepped, drain your potatoes and fry them in hot lard until light brown and crispy, draining them well and salting with sea salt. Set them in a pan in a warm oven to hold until you are ready to eat.

Heat a large skillet with a few tablespoons of lard. Add the drained meat and saute until juices just start to release. Move meat to a saucepan on low. Continue sauteing the meet until all is cooked and in the saucepan. Place the onions and pepper in the frying pan and saute till slightly browned and tender. Add more lard if needed. Add this to the sauce pan and add the additional 1/4 cup of vinegar and 2T of liquid aminos. This combined with the meat's juices forms your sauce. Add the chopped tomato to the saucepan and over and heat on low until the tomatoes begin to break down(about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. I add a little more garlic powder and black pepper at this point to taste.

To serve, place a portion of hot fries on the plate. Ladle the meat mixture over the top of the fries and sprinkle with some fresh cilantro. Add a little of the sauce, which soaks into the fries and tastes delicious.

Marshmallow Fluff

 

Marshmallow fluff is not that hard to make.  Making it at home also eliminates all the chemicals that you will get if you get a jar of Fluff off the shelf. Making fluff with honey will impart a honey taste, but I find it quite pleasant and actually very addicting. Its actually very easy to make too.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites from pastured hens
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups of mild honey(clover or alfalfa for example)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

The How Tos:
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, place your three egg whites, sea salt and honey. Mix on a medium speed until the mixture starts to firm up. In the meantime you can be doing other things in the kitchen as the mixing process will take a minimum of 5 minutes. Once you see the mixture starting to show soft peaks, change your speed to high and continue to whip until you have a thick mixture resembling marshmallow cream. Lower the speed and gradually pour in your powdered sugar, sifting it if its not freshly made and is caking up a bit. You can add this to taste if you like. After adding about a cup, you will find that your fluff looks ready to use. The additional sugar only adds more sweetness. Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, you can whip on high again until it is mixed well and light and fluffy.

Gooey, sticky and just like fluff...only better!

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
I used part of this batch as a frosting on a chocolate cake this afternoon. The rest will go to smore bars later this week.

Citrus Carnitas

This recipe is really tasty and another way to use the very versatile pork shoulder or pork butt. For the tortillas I used homemade corn tortillas made with masa flour, but you could also use whole wheat tortillas
While this recipe has several elements, they can be used in multiple ways. For instance, I had made the coleslaw to eat with fried chicken the day before and the left over tortillas could be used in the chicken enchiladas or baked until crisp and used to top tortilla soup. The key to putting this all together is planning. I start my pork butt the night before. Its fall-apart tender by morning and then I just have to cook off the liquid. Assembly is easy so its just a matter of getting all the parts together for the party.

Ingredients:
3 to 5lb pork shoulder or butt
1 large orange
2-3 limes
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 T ground cumin
1 jalapeno, cored, seeded and finely chopped(optional)
1 t sea salt, plus more to taste

Garnishes
fresh coleslaw
chopped cilantro
avocado
onions
pickled jalapeno slices

tortillas (corn or wheat)

The How To's:
Place your pork, fat side up in a crockpot. Squeeze the orange and limes over the meat. Spread the crushed garlic over the fat, sprinkle with the cumin, optional jalapeno and salt. Pour about a cup of water in, careful not to pour on the meat and wash off all the seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I do this the night before. You can also prepare your garnishes and even your tortillas then so its just a matter of assembly at dinner time.

Make your coleslaw and tortillas.

When the pork is tender, remove the remaining slab of fat from the top and slip off the chunks of meat from the bone and into a cast iron pan. Pour the remaining liquid over the meat and place over high heat, allowing the liquid to start to cook off and the remaining fat to render off. When the liquid is almost gone, transfer the skillet to your oven on broil to brown and caramelize the surface of the meat. I use the convection feature on my oven for this part. The liquid will completely disappear leaving a moist meat with an almost crunchy top. Do not stir the meat during the last part so it doesn't dry out.

To serve, place a spoonful of meat on a tortilla and top with your choice of garnishes. We used coleslaw and hot sauce for this meal, but I really like the onion and cilantro flavors as well. Another option would be to serve in taco shells or as tostadas. Its a kid-friendly meal and the leftovers are superb.

Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1/4 Bragg's apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Sucanat or Rapadura

1/2 tsp celery seed

1 c mayonaise(homemade if possible)
1 T yellow mustard

2 c shredded organic cabbage

The How Tos:
Heat vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the celery seed and set aside for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, shred(or chop) your cabbage and place in a large bowl and set aside. When vinegar mixture has cooled slightly, add the mayonaise and mustard and combine well. Pour over the cabbage and mix well. Chill for about an hour for best flavor.

Easy-Peasy Caramel Sauce

Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks has me *needing* to have caramel in the house so we can make our own. Finding a caramel that is made with healthy and safe ingredients  that is under $10 a jar is a challenge all by itself so I really needed to figure out how to make it easily. Caramel is milk and sugar, right? So why not utilize some sweetened condensed milk to make it? Its really that easy...

Take one or two cans of sweetened condensed milk...This brand uses organic milk, sugar and sea salt. 

Place the unopened can in a crockpot. Add water up to the rim of the can. Cover and turn the crockpot on low. Allow to cook for about 18 hours. (I let the batch I photographed go for 24 hours) The label will come off in the water.

After allowing it to cook, remove the can(s) from the hot water and allow to cool slightly. Open it and your "caramel" is ready to use. It can be thinned with milk if it gets too thick but since I am using this to dissolve into cider, I am happy with its peanut butter type consistency. I spoon it into a pint sized mason jar, add a used lid and ring and stick it in the fridge until its time to use. The unopened cans are safe to stick on a shelf.


There you have it. No stirring constantly, no softball stages, no candy thermometers...its hands off for most of the time and easy to do when you don't have time to make the real stuff. Its great in cider or as an apple dip. Put it on ice cream or dip a graham cracker in it.

Now if you have a dairy free person in the house, I have a recipe for you that will work really well as a substitute.  I will post that soon!

Let me know what you think!