Who says we can't have your cake and eat it too?

Well since most frostings have sugar in them, we haven't been able to find one without, Rob made us Chocolate Cake today, using our Coconut/Almond Pancake Mix Recipe Found Here:  He added about 1/8-1/4 cup of Cocoa using Special Dark Cocoa, then a little extra sweetener (ZSweet).  Then for the frosting it is any Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, except for storebought powdered sugar which he can't have he made his own using ZSweet/Arrowroot Powder.  For each cup of sugar (Zsweet) you are going to make Powdered sugar out of then add 1-2 Tablespoons of a starch (arrowroot).  He made it powdered in a coffee/spice grinder :-)  Then he added Cocoa to it.  It's REALLY yummy!  We cooked it in a sandwich maker in our office :-)  So the only calories in the icings if from the butter/cream cheese.

For simplicity here's the recipe all in one spot:
Cake Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 T Virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
2 T milk (can use coconut milk)
2 T Stevia or Zsweet
1/4 t salt
1 T sifted coconut flour
2 T Almond Flour
1/2 t baking powder or substitution (1 part Baking Soda, 2 parts Cream of Tartar. 2 parts Starch (we used Arrowroot flour)
capful or Vanilla
1/8-1/4 cup of Cocoa using Special Dark Cocoa
Method:
Blend together eggs, oil, milk, sugar & salt. Combine coconut & almond flours with baking powder & thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet (we've found about 375 on an electric skillet works well for pancakes. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 & 1/2 to 3" in diameter. Batter will be thick, but will flatten out when cooking. Makes about 8 pancakes.


Chocolate Frosting *adjust ingredients as needed to taste
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar (1 cup of ZSweet, 2 T arrowroot powder, blended in blender or coffee/spice grinder).
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Grain Free Pizza Crust!

Rob has been wanting pizza for a while, but since pizza crust has grains in it we haven't been able to find it.  Well he went to walmart this morning and came home with all the toppings/cheese etc for pizza...I think it was a hint :-)  So we found a pizza crust recipe that is grain free!   It turned out WAY yummy, but the next time we want to try and let the dough rise a little first.  For toppings we had homemade pizza sauce (1 can tomato sauce, seasoned with garlic/onion powder, italian seasoning, and parmasan cheese), sharp cheddar & mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, bratwurst (sausage) seasoned, olives, sauteed mushrooms and more cheese.  We love toppings!

GLUTEN-FREE & WHEAT-FREE PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

This crispy pizza crust tastes so delicious that your guests won't know it's wheat and gluten-free.
You can hold a slice in your hand and it won't crumble! You may also shape the dough into four individual pizzas.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon - Gluten-free dry yeast
2/3 cup - Brown rice flour or bean flour
1/2 cup - Tapioca flour
2 tablespoons - Dry milk powder or non-dairy milk powder*
2 teaspoons - Xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon - Salt
1 teaspoon - Unflavored gelatin powder
1 teaspoon - Italian herb seasoning
2/3 cup - Warm water (105 degrees F)
1/2 teaspoon - Sugar or 1/4 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon - Olive oil
1 teaspoon - Cider vinegar
Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In medium bowl using regular beaters (not dough hooks), blend the yeast, flours, dry milk powder, xanthan gum, salt, gelatin powder, and Italian herb seasoning on low speed. Add warm water, sugar (or honey), olive oil, and vinegar. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. (If the mixer bounces around the bowl, the dough is too stiff. Add water if necessary, one tablespoon at a time, until dough does not resist beaters.) The dough will resemble soft bread dough. (You may also mix in bread machine on dough setting.)

Put mixture into 12-inch pizza pan or on baking sheet (for thin, crispy crust), 11 x 7-inch pan (for deep dish version) that has been coated with cooking spray. Liberally sprinkle rice flour onto dough, then press dough into pan, continuing to sprinkle dough with flour to prevent sticking to your hands. Make edges thicker to contain the toppings. Bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Spread pizza crust with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until top is nicely browned.

Serves 6.

Crust only: Calories 138, Fat 1 g, % Fat Cal 8%, Protein 2 g, Carbohydrate 30 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 286 mg, Fiber 2 g Exchanges - Carbohydrate 2, Fat 1/4

* Dairy Alternative: 2 tablespoons tapioca flour or sweet rice flour in place of the 2 tablespoons dry milk powder or non-dairy milk powder. However, the crust won't brown as nicely. Source: Special Diet Solutions - Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

Entire meal on a waffle iron

Coconut & Almond Flour Pancakes

Today's Variation:  Coconut/Almond Flour Waffles

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 T virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
2 T milk (can use coconut milk)
1 t sugar (we used Zsweet instead)
1/4 t salt
1 T sifted Coconut Flour
2 T Almond Flour
1/2 t baking powder (we used this substitution)
capful of Vanilla

Method:
Blend together eggs, oil, milk, sugar & salt.  Combine coconut & almond flours with baking powder & thoroughly mix into batter.  Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet (we've found about 375 on an electric skillet works well for pancakes.  Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 & 1/2 to 3" in diameter.  Batter will be thick, but will flatten out when cooking.  Makes about 8 pancakes.

***We quadrupled the recipe and it made us several yummy waffles.

Today we are having Strawberry or Raspberry Freezer jam on it:

Strawberry or Raspberry Freezer Jam
1 16oz bag of strawberries or Strawberries took a hand blender to them
Agave Syrup to taste sweetness
Ultra Gel Modified Food Starch (thickener), as we didn't want to use Pectin as we didn't think it would set up right without sugar.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 T virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
2 T milk (can use coconut milk)
1 t sugar (we used Zsweet instead)
1/4 t salt
2 T sifted Coconut Flour
1/2 t baking powder (we used this substitution)
capful of Vanilla

Method:
Blend together eggs, oil, milk, sugar & salt.  Combine coconut flour with baking powder & thoroughly mix into batter.  Heat 1 T coconut oil in a skillet (we've found about 375 on an electric skillet works well for pancakes.  Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 & 1/2 to 3" in diameter.  Batter will be thick, but will flatten out when cooking.  Makes about 8 pancakes. 

***We quadrupled the recipe and it made us several yummy waffles.

Lemon Garlic Dill Tilapia

Tonight for dinner we had Tilapia Fillets with Cheesy Brococli & a nice Salad complete with tomatoes, cucumbers & feta cheese!
For the tilapia fillets we sauteed them in butter, with a little lemon, garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper, and dill.  It was VERY good!

Lessons Learned

All the news of Rob's health finally hit me today, have had a VERY upset tummy :-( I know we will get through this together, but it's still so worrisome.....and I'm a worrier, I get it from my Grandma Briggs & my Mom :-) Makes me wonder what lesson HE wants us to learn from this besides quit eating crappy foods full ...of bad things...hmmm...I think that's it! What a wakeup call though.

It is now 11pm and I have taken a nice hot bubble bath, soaked for about an hour and a half, even dozed off for a bit, until my cat Mercedes was either lapping the water or sniffing my ear...scared me to death lol.  My tummy still hurts and is upset, feels like someone is kicking me in the gut repeatedly.  (No I'm not pregnant).  Rob suggested some sleepytime herbal tea, so am going to go make me a cup....here's hoping it works!