Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Agave Nectar

If you’re not allowed to have sugar or wheat, you know how hard it is to find acceptable chocolate cake for purchase.  In short, you have to make it yourself.  Good luck finding a decent recipe.  I found it easiest to find a regular recipe and substitute ingredients.

I will say that this cake was delicious.  I ate much more than I should have.  It was that good.

I used the vegan cake recipe from here and the icing recipe from here.

For the cake, I used 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour and 3/4 tsp xanthan gum (instead of 1 cup white flour).  I used 1/2 cup of agave nectar and 3/4 cup of water (instead of the 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in the recipe).  I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar instead of white vinegar.

I liked that you mixed the batter in the pan.  It saved on dishes!

I made a half batch of the icing.  I used EVOO instead of grapeseed oil.  The frosting mixed together very easily and I was able to pour it on top of the cake and spread it with no problems.

This was one very good cake!

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Raw Brownies

I recently made some raw brownies.  Click here for the recipe.  I chose the recipe, because it used agave nectar and dates instead of sugar.

Above:  dates, agave nectar, coconut, pecans, salt, and cocoa.

Using my blender, I chopped the pecans.  You can also use a food processor.

I took the pits out of the dates.

I added the dates to the pecans in the blender (above).  Then, I added the other ingredients.  My blender has a tamper, which I used to push everything into the blades.  If you don’t have a temper, then you have to stop and use a spatula to push everything around.

The mixture soon changed color to look like what you see in the above photo.  You then press the mixture into a container.  I used a sandwich food storage container.  (There was not a giant amount of brownie produced.) Then, you refrigerate them.  There may be some liquid, so you can mop it up with a paper towel.

I felt they tasted like dates.  Still, they were good.  I sliced mine and stuck them in the freezer, although they didn’t last very long.  They got eaten very quickly!

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Spinach Green Smoothie

 

 

Normally, I make my green smoothies with kale.  This time, I used spinach.  I thought the colors of the layered strawberry banana mixture, yogurt, and spinach looked pretty cool, so I snapped a picture.

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The Green Smoothie

I recently started making green smoothies in my blender.

A few reasons to make a green smoothie (in a blender):

• I want to get more kale in my diet, but I won’t eat it cooked or in a salad
• Using a blender gets you more fiber than juicing kale
• A blender is easier to clean than a juicer

Ingredients:

• 2-3 kale leaves, stemmed (or 2-3 handfuls pre-washed baby kale)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1 scoop protein powder (optional)
• 1/2 cup water

*If your fruit is not frozen, consider adding ice cubes

I put all of this in my blender and blend until smooth!  Note:  If you do not have a very powerful blender, chop your kale very finely first!

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Snacks for Work

These are some examples of some of the snacks I’ve been taking to work.  If I’m still hungry at lunch, I’ll munch on these as well.  The fuller I am, the less likely I am to hit the chocolate stash in the school office.

In the picture:  green apple slices with peanut butter, red bell pepper, banana.

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Green Apples

In the past when making green lemonade, I’ve used Gala apples.  This time around, I used green apples.  I also used a whole large lemon.  What a difference in flavor!  So yummy!  So lemony!

Ingredients I used for Green Lemonade (based on Original Mean Green Juice Recipe here):

• 1 bunch kale
• 1/2 English cucumber
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 large lemon
• 2 green apples
• 5 celery sticks

*This makes about 3-4 cups of juice (Champion Juicer).

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Blueberries from the Local Box

Yummy breakfast:  plain yogurt, organic granola, and blueberries (local box)

Here’s a smoothie based on a recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Cookbook:

• vanilla almond milk
• banana
• strawberries
• blueberries (local box)
• walnuts & cashews
• quick cook oats
• vanilla whey protein powder
• honey (local)

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Armenian Cucumber

We got a beautiful Armenian cucumber in one of our local boxes.  I peeled it, sliced it in strips, and put it in a storage container for snacking.

 

It’s great to set out fresh (raw) veggies at meal times.  I’m finding myself snacking on them instead of junk food as well.

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Watermelon

We were very pleased to get a watermelon in one of our local boxes.  We sliced into the watermelon right away.  It was very refreshing and juicy.

 

 

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Potatoes and Onions from the Family Farm

Recently, we visited family at their farm.  They have beautiful vegetable gardens right now.  Our family was kind enough to send us home with onions, bell peppers, corn, and potatoes.  Of course, we had to help harvest it!

The last time we brought potatoes home, they had been put into bags after being washed (still wet).  When we got home, we left them in the bags, and some of them rotted.  We put the baskets up on canned goods or soda cases.

This time, we didn’t wash them, and we put them in baskets to fully dry, as well as to check for any bad ones.

It took three baskets to hold the potatoes.

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Vegan Sausage & Cheese Kolaches

Before I went raw, I made some vegan sausage and cheese kolaches.  I took a kolache dough recipe from the Internet and substituted a few things.  I used almond milk for dairy milk, raw sugar for white sugar, and applesauce instead of eggs.  I also used veggie cheese and sausage.

I learned the hard way that it’s a really good idea to defrost the sausage first.  Otherwise, your dough will chill and not rise any more.

Get a ball of dough, flatten it, and add the sausage and cheese.  Roll up the sides and then roll the top and bottom over to create a kolache.

I ran out of veggie sausage links, so I used some veggie sausage crumbles.

Here’s what the veggie sausage crumbles look like.

Here they are rising.

When they were done, I brushed melted Smart Balance butter on top.  These kolaches freeze well and are great for breakfast on the go.  Just stick them in the microwave.

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Ginger Green Beans

I made some ginger green beans in my rice cooker/steamer.  When I made my rice, I put green beans in the steamer tray.

When the green beans were done, I added Earth Balance butter, lemon, and ground ginger.

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