Gluten Free Sweetened Condensed Milk - My way

I was thinking today why I started this recipe blog.  One of the reasons for me was very personal.  I wanted to keep my favorite recipes online and be able to find them.  I haven't done a very good job of recording them but I am working on it.  Here's one I think you might be able to use.  It is very basic to a lot of recipes. 

If you are like me, you have a number of recipes that would not be the same without sweetened condensed milk.  I just love the stuff.   To make it dairy free and healthier than  try making it from scratch. 

I must warn you that it might have a slightly brown sugar taste from the coconut sugar.  If you don't care about the calorie count or don't worry about the glycemic index then just use regular sugar.

Give it a try and if you don't like it,  leave me a comment and I will work on it.  If I don't have any canned coconut cream/milk on hand then I always have my unsweetened Almond/Coconut milk in the refrigerator as a substitute.  The regular Almond Coconut milk is a little more difficult to deal with as it may take a little longer to cook.   I store the condensed milk in the refrigerator until I am ready to use. 

Ingredients:

1 can (about 14 fluid ounces) canned (not low-fat) coconut milk or cream

1 cup coconut sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps:
Place  ingredients in a medium-size heavy bottom saucepan.
Whisk to combine well and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.

Stirring the mixture, continue to simmer until it is reduced by about 1/2 and has begun to thicken (approximately 12 minutes).
Pour mixture into a heat-safe container until cooled completely.
Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator.
Try to use within 2 to 4 weeks.

Enjoy.

Black Skillet Frittata

I love this recipe because it is so easy and fun to make.  It is all made in one small black skillet and a bowl.  This means easy clean up.  Also, I enjoy varying the ingredients to make it taste different.  The recipe here can be varied by changing the vege's, adding or changing the meats, or simply changing the cheese in the recipe.  I think it is very healthy and adds quite a bit of protein to your diet.   It is also gluten free.   Try it, I think you will enjoy.

Preheat over to 375 degrees:

Ingredients:

Fluff  in a bowl and set aside:
5 large eggs
1/4 cup unsweet almond coconut milk
salt and pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

In small black skillet:

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil  to saute your ingredients:  (Feel free to vary or change up)

1/4 cup bell pepper
1/8 cup onion
1/4 broccoli florets
1/4 cup chopped canadian bacon (or ham, etc.)
1 Tbls chopped tomatoes or salsa

Saute ingredients until soft.  Pour fluffed egg mixture on top of vegetables.  Let sit on hot eye that has been turned off  about 1 minute.  Place in the oven and cook 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve hot.

These amounts and ingredients can change.  My Mom is now on a soft foods diet and she likes it.  I serve this for breakfast, brunch or lunch.  Really anytime I need a quick meal.

GF Low GI Lentil Soup

It was cool this morning.  In the South we feel the cold so much more than in the North.  I lived up North for some time in Illinois.  I remember coming home and it was so warm here and everyone was carrying on about how cold it was.  I remember thinking that it wasn't cold at all.  In fact it felt very warm.  I was going around without a coat on and do you know that I caught a chill and ended up with a cold.  So much for it being warm I decided that a pot full of soup was called for.  I had a bag of Lentils that were ready to be made into soup.

Lentil Soup is very good as a vegan meal but today I decided I needed a little meat.  I had a half pound of sausage that seemed to fit the bill.  However, if you prefer vegan just leave out the meat and substitute vege broth for some of the water.  Still delicious.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
3 Tbls. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. Hot Sausage (Use anything you have)
1 cup onions (I use sweet vadalia's and keep them chopped up and frozen in my freezer)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2cup chopped carrots
1 Tsp. garlic power (or fresh garlic or minced garlic - whatever you have on hand)
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. black pepper  - or to taste
1 14-15 oz can of diced tomatoes (I usually use my organic frozen tomatoes)
1 bag lentils - washed and cleaned
5 to 8 cups of water

In a large size soup pot put in olive oil and bring to a simmer.  Add in sausage, onions, celery, carrots and brown until sausage is done - Add in seasonings and tomatoes - Continue to saute on low until vegetables are beginning to get tenderize - Add in washed and cleaned lentils along with 5 to 8 cups of water.  Bring to a boil reduce heat and cook for about 30 go 45 minutes.  I usually use 8 cups of water and let it cook for 45 minutes to make sure the lentils are nice and tender. 

I served this with a fresh salad and my GF/Low GI corn fritters.  Big hit with the family today.  Enjoy.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Cornbread/ Gluten Free/ Low GI

I am spending my days trying to cook meals that are in keeping with the UltraMind Solution Diet and incorporate coconut which many people are claiming helps or improves dementia in alzheimer's patients.  This  recipe is healthy, uses whole foods, adds fiber to the diet, incorporates coconut and abides with the UltraMind Solution Diet and the blood type diet my sister feels she should be on. It is also Gluten Free and Low GI.   I took my standard G/F cornbread recipe and tampered with it and came up with a big hit.  The idea came from another website but my ingredients are fewer and easier to make.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Cornbread  Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup G/F Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Coconut Meal
1/2 Cup Sorghum Flour (Sweet White)
1 tsp. cinnamon (Ceylon variety - avoid cassia which is the most common cinnamon)
1 tsp. vanilla (G/F)
1 medium sweet potato cut up/boiled/mashed
1 to 1 1/2 cup almond milk (This may vary)
1 large egg - Free Range
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Optional:
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together.  (Coconut meal, Sorghum flour and Cornmeal)

Add egg, vanilla,  coconut oil, mashed sweet potato to the mixture.    Mix together.

Add in almond milk gradually until the mixture is  the consistency of a regular cornbread cake mixture.  Not like biscuit dough which is too thick and not like cake mix which is too thin.  So the batter should be of  medium consistency.

Grease the Muffin pan with olive oil before putting in the batter.

Pour into Muffin pans.   Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes dependent on your oven.

Discussion of Ingredients:

G/F Cornmeal - Any brand is OK with me.  You can buy regular cornmeal (no cornmeal mix) from the grocery store dependant on whether you are gluten intolerant or celiac.  The best way is to bite the bullet and buy G/F.  I will say that I am going to use less and less of cornmeal because it is higher GI than other flours.  I have begun using Coconut meal for more and more things that I used cornmeal to make.  Coconut meal has a much lower GI value.

Coconut Meal - This is naturally G/F.  I bought this at our local Indian market and it was relatively inexpensive.  I wish that I had a grinder that would turn it into Coconut flour but nothing I have will do the job for me.

Sorghum flour - This is just one of the flours that I keep on hand but you could easily use blanched almond flour which is also low GI and Gluten Free.

Cinnamon - There has been so much controversy over the type of cinnamon that we use.  Cassia is the type of cinnamon that we find most often in the United States and is cheap and readily available. Ceylon cinnamon uses only the thin inner bark, has a finer, less dense, and more crumbly texture, and is considered to be less strong than cassia. Cassia has a much stronger (somewhat harsher) flavor than Ceylon cinnamon.  Cassia cinnamon contains a moderately toxic component called coumarin  and has been  known to cause liver and kidney damage in high concentrations. Ceylon cinnamon has negligible amounts of coumarin.  For that reason, I recommend using Ceylon cinnamon which may result in a slightly different taste in your cooking.  Cinnamon is also known to help lower blood sugar.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil - I am trying to incorporate more coconut into our diet because my Mom has dementia.  I also have focus issues as well.

Sweet Potato - I keep these cut up and frozen.  I just took a few out and popped them in a boiler.  When they were done, I just mashed them up and they were ready.  You can also use a fresh one - Peel,  cut up and boil until done. 

Raisins:  I didn't use these today as we were eating this bread with butter peas and I didn't think we needed the sugar in them.

Family Comments:

My family loved this recipe.  I plan to try it again using organic apples or organic pears that  I have in my freezer that I put up this summer.