Recipe Sucess!

I am happy to report I made my first batch of homemade gluten free bread today. It turned out yummy enough that we all liked it. I have been making Maura bread from a mix. Mark, Kaley and I all thought it was awful, although Maura never complained. Our yummy bread was based on a recipe in a cookbook called, 'Cooking Free'. It was recommended to me by a midwife friend whose family is allergic to gluten. It's been a real gem. So it was a combination of quinoa, potato, buckwheat and brown rice flours. I made that part up myself, as the book suggests some different grains and those were some I had on hand. Then I added milk, eggs, xanthan gum, butter, vinegar and yeast with just a tiny bit of honey. I am so glad it is good, it's always a little nerve racking when you try a new recipe and with no gluten you have to learn new ingredients to get the familiar bread like results.

Another good recipe we tried for a special treat was a flourless chocolate cake. It was low in sugar and carbs, high in protein so it was a good treat for Maura and we all loved it. It turns out like a healthy brownie that tastes like a not so healthy brownie! Here is the recipe:

2 c walnut halves
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c light olive oil (I used coconut)
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
5 large eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8-9in nonstick spring form pan.
2. Grind nuts in food processor to cornmeal like texture. Add sugar, oil, cocoa, vanilla, salt and egg yolks and blend until thoroughly mixed.
3. In a separate mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
4. Gently fold cocoa mixture into beaten egg whites, adding 1/4 of the mixture at a time.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 min, or until wooden tooth pick comes out clean. Cake rises as it bakes, then falls slightly as it cools. Cool for 15m in pan on wire rack. Cut around edges to loosen. Release pan sides. Slice into 8 pieces. You can top with frosting, glaze with melted chocolate or dust with powdered sugar.

We didn't put a topping on ours, and we cut into 9 pieces to go around for each of us :) It has 6g of protein and 21g of carbs for each slice. We loved it! Maura's blood sugar level did not spike after it either. I just included the carb count into her dinner dose of insulin, and we ate it right after dinner. So she dealt with the cake just fine, whereas when I made her rice pasta by bedtime her sugar was very high.

No pictures today, maybe I can get one up of the bread in the future.

blessings