Grain Free Crescent Rolls

We are celebrating a little mans 3rd birthday today - and he requested 'goat cheese pop tarts' is what he calls them but in reality they are a version of grain free stuffed crescent rolls that we adapted to meet his dietary needs! 

 We love these because they are awesome warm out of the oven in the winter months but also just as tasty cold for picnic lunches! 

Grain Free Crescent Rolls

What You Need: Adapted from here

• 2 tablespoon flax seed 
• 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
• 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 3/4 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 4 Large Egg Whites 
• 1 Large Organic Egg Yolk
• 1 tablespoon Ghee or Dairy Free Butter Alternative 
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoon liquid stevia 
• 2 cups of Soy flour  - plus some extra for rolling
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 generous cup of Coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

What You Do:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the flax seed and yeast.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, applesauce, egg whites and extracts. Dump the flax seed/yeast mix on top and quickly whisk together.
• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of soy flour, the coconut palm sugar , baking powder and salt. Dump the dry over the wet and fold together with a rubber spatula.
• Shape the sticky dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm area for 1 hour + 20 minute.
• Measure out your coconut flour. Take about 2 tablespoons out and dust it over the slightly risen dough. Gently fold the mixture until it absorbs the coconut flour, then dust another 2 tablespoon over the dough and fold in again Continue to do this until all the coconut flour is mixed into the dough. Then knead the dough into a ball.
• Using a cutting board or other smooth flat work surface (this is an awesome option) dust with about 2 tablespoons of of soy flour, place the dough on top, then dust again with same amount of soy flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle, then use a pizza cutter to slice the rectangle into 12 tall triangles.
• Line a large cookie sheets parchment paper and set aside.
• Create the crescents by rolling the dough triangle, starting from the widest end and rolling to the triangle point. 
• Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for 1 hour 
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and almond milk.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush the crescents with the egg wash and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. 
• Let crescents cool on the pan. Serve warm!

Bakers Addiitonal Notes:

For a savory version: Stuff with heaping teaspoon of Chevre goat cheese and a raspberry jam and roll up and apply the egg wash as normal.

For a Kids will Love you forever: Stuff with a couple slices of pepperoni and shredded cheese and roll up. Sprinkle some  pizza seasoning on top of the egg wash. Serve with a side of marinara sauce 

 

For the Chocolate Lover: Add 2 teaspoon of Enjoy Life chocolate chips to each crescent as you roll them up. Apple the Egg Wash and than sprinkle some chocolate topper onto them.

For an Apple Pie Version: Dice a Granny Smith apple and marinate in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons coconut sugar and 2 teaspoons Apple Pie spice. When the apples are soft, add a spoonful to each crescent as you roll them up. Apple the Egg Wash and sprinkle with a wee bit more Apple pie spice!

 Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Elf on the Shelf Pancake Portraits

These are an awesome treat for either breakfast or lunch or a balanced snack leading up to the holiday or for Christmas morning ~ a gift left behind by your Elf before heading back to the North Pole ... we make them using our Grain Free pancakes ~ recipe can be found here. 

Elf Pancake Plate

What You Need

•  Pancakes
• Breakfast sausages or bacon would work too
• Raspberries or Strawberries
• Cucumber slices

What You Do

• Cook sausage until well cooked through and set on paper towel to drain excess grease
• Prepare your pancakes
• Slice cucumbers and cut in half
• Arrange food on the plate to resemble an elf and present to children!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life

Elf on the Shelf ~ Santa's Favorite Hot Chocolate

Elf on the Shelf ~  shared Santa's BEST Hot Chocolate recipe!

It has been an amazing month of Holiday Cheer

Santa could not be any prouder of you my dear

You’ve done every task of which Santa could think

So now it is time to sit back and enjoy my favorite drink

A cup of homemade hot chocolate that is so tasty and fine

It is a very delicious and dairy free recipe of mine

I am happy to share it before I had back to the North Pole

I cannot believe the time has come again for me to have to roll!

I will be back again next year at the start of December

With lots of fun tasks and Acts of Kindness for you to remember! 

 The kids were very excited ~ they wanted to make it for lunch however I persuaded them to wait until AFTER nap cause even though it is low sugar I would still rather have it right before we can run it off outside! 

Dairy Free Hot Chocolate 

Serves 1

What You Need

• 1 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened pure cocoa powder
• 1.5 Tbsp dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate square chopped
• Sweetener of choice ~ we use either coconut palm sugar or organic Stevia
• 1/8th tsp peppermint extract or essential oil
• Optional: Whipped Coconut Cream 

Instructions

• Add almond milk to a saucepan over medium heat.
• Once milk is heated through add the cocoa powder, chocolate chips and sweetener and whisk to combine.
• Continue cooking on stove top until completely combined and has reached your preferred temperature.
• Taste and adjust sweetness as needed.
• Lastly, add in your extract of choice – I think peppermint is truly unbeatable. 
• Stir, and top with whipped coconut cream

This has to be my new all time favorite drinks ~ going to have to make an encore tonight and add a splash of Baileys! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Dairy Free Buttercream icing

 

 

 Dairy Free Buttercream Icing

 

What You Need

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance or other non dairy butter substitute
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2-4 Tablespoons coconut milk

What You Do

• With a hand mixer whip coconut oil and Earth Balance together until smooth and creamy.
• Add vanilla extract and confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well between each cup
• Add milk, a little at a time, using less for thicker frosting and more for a thinner frosting.
• Whip after each addition until desired consistency is achieved.
• Colour as desired and spread or pipe onto  your desired dessert.
• Store in airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week. Can 'freeze' if needed and thaw at room temperature.

 

We piped this onto our grain free brownies

You can also flavor this with peppermint extract or lemon extract and so forth as desired depending on what you are icing! 

 

Have an amazing day!

 

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Be Totallyawake4-life.com 

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

So what to eat when you are grain free and recoverying from a Rota-virus and the recommended 'BRAT DIET' of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast ends up being the BA diet of Bananas and applesauce! 

Look in the fridge and throw together what you think might be 'safe' to digest from the leftovers there so you do not to spend too much time standing at the stove and yet will still have lots of healthy benefits to get you back on your feet!

Butternut squash  packs a lovely punch of vitamin B6, essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems so lets use up t hat!

Parsley  is rich in many vital vitamins, including Vitamin C, B 12, K and A. This means parsley keeps your immune system strong, tones your bones and heals the nervous system, too. It helps flush out excess fluid from the body, thus supporting kidney function.

Garlic which helps to boost immunity and detoxify the body so is an awesome aresenol in the diet to fight off sickness! 

Ginger has a long history of use for relieving digestive problems such as nausea, loss of appetite, motion sickness and pain. 

Onions improve the working of Vitamin C in the body, thus gifting you with improved immunity.

Bacon  ~ well everything tastes better with bacon but it is actually GOOD for your health too!

So put them together with a couple clean eating staples like an egg, almond flour and coconut oil and what can you make?  

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

Makes approximately 6 Latkes how many that serves depends on your appetite!

What You Need

• 2 cups of cooked butternut squash ~ scooped out of the skin.
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of almond flour
• 2 slices of cooked bacon very finely diced to help with digestion
• 1/2 an onion finely diced to help with digestion
• 1 Garlic glove minced for its antibacterial punch
• 1 pinch of ginger for its soothing tummy affects
• Few sprigs of fresh parsley 
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

What You Do

• In a bowl beat the egg well and add the remain ingredients to mix.
• Melt coconut oil over medium heat and drop a 'patty full' scoop onto the frying pan and flatten even with flipper. 
• Brown on each side for about 4 minutes until heated through.
• Serve as a meal on their own or as a side with some meat and veggies!

Nutritional Breakdown  

Based on the recipe making 'six' latkes ... the coconut oil and bacon gives it a bad 'saturated fat' rating but you need to decide for yourself if you feel this is a 'healthy fat' option or a 'bad fat' option cause IMO their analysis does not discriminate between fats when I put nuts in there they say they are bad too and nuts are full of healthy fats!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much!

Be  Totallyawake4-life

Savory Paleo Butternut Squash Latkes

Brussel Sprouts that taste like STUFFING??

What You Need
Serves 2 adults as a side dish or replacement for your grain dish

• Brussel sprouts about 20
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup of pecans ~ chopped
• 2 teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Epicure Apple and Sage seasoning or a stuffing season of your choice
• Tin foil

What You Do

•  Wash and cut brussel sprouts in half remove any brown core part
• Place brussel sprouts on a sheet of tin foil ~ add remaining ingredients over top and close up the tinfoil to form a pouch.
• BBQ over 400 F for 30-45 minutes until tender or could bake in the oven the same way I just prefer to cook on the BBQ cause it adds that additional flavor. 
• Pairs well with any meat ~ we had it with Pork chops this week

Have an amazing day!


Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Bacon Chicken Bites

More party pleasers! This were a HUGE hit on Saturday this past weekend they were literally gone in 60 seconds from being placed out on the table and they were so easy to make but packed a nice flavor and not too much heat for those tender palettes at a party!

 Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Bacon Chicken Bites

 

What You Need

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets 
• ½ cup extra virgin oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice ~ freshly squeezed
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
• 1 lb bacon
• Honey-Sriracha Glaze for basting while cooking if desired

 

 

 

 

What You Do

• Whisk together canola oil, lime juice and Sriracha sauce and pour into a gallon sized Ziploc bag.
• Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes and add it to the bag. 
• Seal bag and shake to coat the chicken with the marinade and place in the fridge for at least an 1 hour ~ we marinated ours overnight.
• Take 1 pound of bacon and cut in half down the middle. Wrap the bacon around the chicken pieces and secure with a wooden toothpick seam side down on to a baking tray.
• For extra heat, brush bacon with additional Honey-Sriracha glaze before place in the oven and than few more times while it cooks.
• We prefer to BBQ ours on a tinfoil baking tray on 400F for about 30 minutes. Alternatively you can bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes rack in the middle position and than if needed 'broil' for the last few minutes to caramelize the sugar ~ watching closely that it does not burn.

These were so very tasty ~ I honestly enjoy making them just for dinner and served with a cauli-rice stir fry! They paired great with the bacon wrapped pineapple we brought as well!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Totallyawake4-life