Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Halloween

Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year. Last night was perfect. Friends came over for pizza before we headed out trick-or-treating. The wind settled a little and the rain stopped about twenty minutes before our monkey, dinosaur, Darth Vader, and kangaroo burst out the door. Dry leaves crunched beneath our feet and clouds tumbled across the moon as we ran from house to house.

Special occasions usually mean lots of treats--treats containing sugar and gluten. We avoid both things in our house because we find Kieran does better without them. Sooo...we have to be creative. And creative we were yesterday. My boy and I were up early mixing and measuring, making all kinds of yummy things to celebrate Halloween.

I'm not going to lie. Switching to a gluten-free, sugar-free diet sucked at first. I love to bake but found flour combinations and xanthan gum unsatisfying. While I still miss truly stretchy dough, I'm starting to gain more confidence in baking without my traditional ingredients. I also find chick pea flour to be more satisfying than wheat flour. If I have a muffin made with chick pea flour for breakfast, I'm sustained longer.

A good friend of mine recently switched over to a gluten-free diet. She bought me a new cookbook called Baby Cakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery by Erin McKenna. Love it! Yesterday, I roasted a small pie pumpkin and had just enough puree to make pumpkin-spice muffins and pumpkin gingerbread. There's even a recipe for icing--I haven't tried it yet but it's on my list. I'm so happy to be baking for my son, finally. These recipes work. And trust me, because gluten-free ingredients are so expensive, when a recipe doesn't work, I growl.

Here's a collection of ingredients I used to make my muffins and gingerbread. As you can see, they aren't really in-line with a 100-Mile Diet approach. However, we can now get buckwheat flour close by and honey can be used in many recipes in place of sugar with a bit of tweaking. Here's some new ingredients I've been using that certainly aren't local but I couldn't live without:

Agave Nectar: natural sweetener produced in Mexico and used in tequila. It's sweeter and more fluid than honey. It takes longer to absorb into the bloodstream so it doesn't spike your blood sugar the same way as refined sugar.

Coconut Oil: what a great find! It must be cold-pressed to maintain its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. I keep reading about the boundless health benefits of this oil--it's even been compared to breast milk. After I work with it, my hands (which spend most of the cold months chapped and bleeding) are actually soft and healthy. Imagine what it does to our insides.

Now, you're probably wondering what we give out for treats. This year, I found tiny play dough tubs for the little kids. We also gave out chips and chocolate bars. If we're going to eat sugar, it better be accompanied by chocolate. Mike actually gave out a bag of organic raisins. I'm waiting for our house to get egged.

Kid-Friendly Yam Fries

I bought ten pounds of yams from Clover Gardens in Soperton. I've had luck getting my young foodie to eat them in the form of "fries."

I found this recipe in my copy of ExtraVeganZa: Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm by Laura Matthias. I highly reccomend both the book and the recipe (which I shortened a little).

Baked Paprika Yam Sticks

3-5 yams
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
dashes paprika and nutmeg


Slice the yams into wedges--place in a bowl and coat with oil and spices--spread onto a cookie sheet--bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes--bake longer for crispier fries

I just have to say that one of my best parenting discoveries has been books on tape/CD. We have signed a bunch out from the library and they provide a wonderful alternative to television. In fact, I'm writing this post in peace thanks to Curious George Goes Camping. I'm also pleased, and somewhat reluctant, to report that the Brockville Public Library has Skippyjon Jones on CD! Our caregiver said that she couldn't get the song out of her head at three in the morning the other night.

Now, Kieran approaches me, extends his arm imploringly, and exclaims, "Not your beans!"

Holy frijoles!

Granola Bars for Crunchy Folk

I've told so many of my friends that I'd pass along my granola bar recipe. The problem is, I don't have a recipe. I was just looking for a way to make gluten-free granola bars and tweaked some older recipes. Eventually, I just stated eye-balling the ingredients until I had the right texture. I keep meaning to pin down exact measurements but I'd probably never be able to make them again if I did that.

In a large sauce pan, cover the bottom with honey.

Add about 2/3 cup of nut or seed butter. I've used almond, cashew, walnut, sunflower, pumpkin, and tahini. They all work.

Melt the two together on low heat. Don't boil.

Add a tsp of vanilla.

If it's too lumpy, I add a bit of olive oil or coconut oil.

Then, add any or all of the following:

brown rice crisps
gluten-free oats
shredded coconut
chopped raisins (apricots and prunes are also good)
seasame, sunflower, and/or hemp seeds

Stir until all ingredients are coated with honey and nut/seed butter.

Press into a square pan and chill.

You can also sprinkle chocolate chips on top when it's still warm.

Chard Pesto

I'm experimenting with pesto. It's raw, easy, freezes well, and has many uses. I can also get the bulk of the ingredients locally--there must be an olive grove around here somewhere! I didn't have a lot of basil on hand so I substituted a bag of garden chard. Here's my list of ingredients. I didn't include measurements because I had to keep tweaking the consistency.

garden chard
walnuts
lime
basil
garlic
olive oil

Blend together until smooth. Pour over cooked pasta (or spread onto pizza, etc). Freezes well.