I Guess I Have Food Allergies!!!...Literally

When I was growing up and was a “normal kid” ( I think)…I ate about anything and everything…I was told once I was dared to eat a bug…well…I ate it…(good thing I don’t remember)…My Mom…bless her heart…was an inventor of recipes that could feed armies…Alexander the Great, would have been proud of my Mom…We would never know on Monday what we would have for dinner…but, sadly…we would know what we would eat on Tuesday, Wednesday because of "leftovers" :-(…you get my point so we obviously looked forward to Mondays…We would wait all day, while my Mom would bang pots and boil this and boil that…fry this and more of that…she might even swear…but since she was Russian she didn’t know what the “American” swear words meant…but, thanks to my Dad…he would tell her what to say sometimes…to our chagrin…some of the more colorful expressions…he told me a story about when they were eating at a coffee shop, they were all sitting at a booth…perusing a menu…my Dad, brother and my Mom and her sister were brothers, that married sisters type of relationship…Well, anyway, of course she had problems reading sometimes and how to say some words in English…Well it was up to my Dad (remember he is 100% Irish), he had sort of the Lucky Charms time of personality, (if you know what I mean)…no he didn’t hop around and click his heels together and wish everyone a…well you get my point…he had one of those twinkles in his eye, if you understand people of that ancestry have a tendency to make jokes and have fun in the weirdest ways…to the detriment of my poor Mother.  Well, anyway my Mom explained what she wanted to eat…so Dad pointed at the menu to make sure she couldn’t read it, and shoot a look at my Uncle with a "evil smile on his face and would tell here it that's a S.O.B. sandwich…well she being an honest person trusted her husband and would order it...when the waitress made her way around the table stopped waiting for her to order…she would say “I want a S.O.B. sandwich…but not spelled out if you get my drift…The waitress eyes would turn into saucers and her face would be red and the other patrons would choke on what they had in their mouths…my Dad and his Evil “twin” (only as jokesters) brother would start to hoot and laugh…well my Aunt...my Mom’s sister would join in the laughter, because being married to my Dad’s brother she experienced her own embarrassing moments…but after a while you expected it from the both of them…Well my Mom learned and had a few tricks up her sleeve as well…that she played on my Dad…just say that he spent a lot of time on the couch when it came to sleeping arrangements…and well deserved!

I know that you have all heard about the depression recipes…an old shoe here and a tire there and boil with a prayer…and voilà…well it wasn’t that bad, but they ate what they had, which was pretty much the same as everyone else…A lot of Pasta, Chicken, Beef (on rare occasions), and Vegetables…more of the latter…but we all had one thing in common, we never broke out in hives or had some “allergic” reactions…no…(sadly,  because of age, that appeared later in life).  Today is a different story, you have to be so careful, because someone has peanut allergies, milk,  wheat, shell fish, processed meats, processed sugar...on an on…I think you know where I am going with this…I think it is their way of saying, I don’t want to eat that…don’t get me wrong…I know that there are a lot of people out there that have “real” allergies…but it seems to me it’s been blown out of proportion .  Well I think since I am on the "D" word or “food loss” (PC) program…I have ALL FOOD ALLERGIES…I would just tell them as a guest that “I can’t eat that because I have some aleregy limitations”…I could be honest and tell them my story of losing weight and how successful I've been, but who wants to bore their host...or make them feel that they should be conscious of their weight. ...so the "A" word makes it easier.  Don't get me wrong...because the host is more than happy to accommodate your food limitations...but, I feel that I shouldn't abuse the hosts gracious sense of loyalty of being my friend.  I don't expect to dictate their menu...that would be very selfish of me.  So I will eat what I know would be "allowed" and deal with it...(after all I still want to be invited to functions).  Most of the younger generation just say okay and go on with their lives…but some of my generation…just think…oh the day…when "no one" had allergies…but we also go with the flow as well...maybe the "A" people are just being difficult because as a kid growing up…it was easier and made more sense…the benefit would be to get what you really wanted…anything that you “really liked” (example below...oh does that look good....

…but, that is them and not the majority...well least I hope not...I am sure I'm going to hear a lot about this posting…As you can see, I am not going to give out any recipes in this post…because I am afraid to let people of a certain bent…tell me later they have the “A” word…do you blame me?  Well, I guess to be true to my blog and to the rest of the world...I have to give you some recipes...Well after a lot of thought I found some that aren't bad...they might have the missing ingredients...but you can always adapt your recipes to add of replace with something else that you can eat...so here it goes.

Hazelnut-Brown-Butter Brownies

 







30 Minutes Active
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
25 Servings

Ingredients:
7 ounces hazelnuts
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups sugar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 percent), chopped
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, pressing it into the corners and leaving overhang on the 2 short sides. Spread the hazelnuts in a pie plate and toast for 15 minutes, until fragrant and the skins blister; transfer to a kitchen towel to cool slightly, then rub off the skins. Let cool completely. Transfer the nuts to a food processor.

Add the cocoa, salt and 1/2 cup of the sugar and pulse until finely ground. In a large saucepan, cook the butter over moderate heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until nutty-smelling and golden and the foam subsides, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate; let stand until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk the butter and chocolate until smooth, scraping up any browned butter solids from the bottom of the pan. Let cool slightly. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the remaining 2 1/2 cups of sugar and the coffee until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Beat in the chocolate-butter mixture. Add the cocoa-hazelnut mixture and beat to combine, scraping down the bowl. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, until the top is glossy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let the brownie cool completely on a rack, then refrigerate until chilled.

Lift the brownie out of the pan and peel off the foil. Cut  and serve with ice cream

Flourless Chocolate Almond Joy Cookies

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Soft, rich and fudgy, these flourless chocolate almond joy cookies are naturally gluten-free! Made with almond butter, cocoa and filled with coconut, almonds and chocolate chips, they're hard to resist!

Yield: 24

Ingredients:

·         ¼ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

·         2 tbsp. special dark cocoa powder or Dutch-process

·         ½ c. brown sugar

·         1 c. almond butter (creamy or crunchy)

·         2 tsp. coconut oil or butter

·         2 eggs

·         1¼ tsp. baking soda

·         1 c. chocolate chips*

·         ½ c. shredded coconut

·         ¼ c. slivered almonds

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.    Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats, set aside.     

3.    In a medium mixing bowl, add the cocoa powders, brown sugar, almond butter, coconut oil, baking soda, coconut and chocolate chips.

4.    Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.

5.    Using a standard size cookie scoop, about 1 ½ tablespoon, place 12 cookies on each sheet.

6.    Gently press 4-5 slivered almonds into the tops and sides of each cookie.

7.    Then with the palm of your hand, slightly flatten the cookies (they don't need much, just a little press). onto prepared baking sheet.     

8.    Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

9.    The cookies will look very soft and slightly under baked in the centers. They will firm up as they cool.

10.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

*This recipe is naturally gluten-free and can be dairy-free by substituting the chocolate chips for a non-dairy chips. They can also be omitted entirely or replaced with nuts or dried fruit.

I found this...

Deep dish dark chocolate cake with almond butter swirl

Yield: one 6" cake

Ingredients for the cake

·         1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons butter or coconut oil

·         1/2 cup chocolate chips

·         2 large eggs

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla

·         1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce

·         3/4 cup blanched almond flour

·         1/2 cup cocoa powder (Special Dark is recommended, natural is fine too)

·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·         2 Tablespoons Norbu monk fruit sweetener, coconut sugar or other    granulated sweetener (or to taste; see note)

·         1/8 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the swirl

·         1/4 cup creamy unsweetened almond butter (or other nut or seed butter of choice)

·         1/2 teaspoon Norbu monk fruit sweetener, coconut sugar or other granulated sweetener (adjust to taste)

·         Pinch salt

·         1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1.    Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat a 6" spring form pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

2.    In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the chocolate chips and butter/coconut oil together by microwaving on high for about 60 seconds until nearly melted, and stirring until completely smooth.

3.    Stir in the rest of the wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, and applesauce).

4.    In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, sweetener, and salt) and then stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture.

5.    Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth into an even layer.

6.    In a separate bowl, prepare the swirl by stirring together the almond butter and granulated sweetener. Distribute spoonfuls of the almond butter across the cake (or pour into a zip top bag, seal it, snip off the corner, and use it to pipe thick lines of almond butter across the cake), then gently drag a butter knife or toothpick through to create the swirl pattern.

7.    Bake for 35-40 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

8.    Melt the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and, while still warm, drizzle over the top of the cake. Allow to set before serving.

Sweetener note: I used semi-sweet chocolate chips when creating this recipe, and I like super-dark chocolate flavor, so I only needed 2 Tablespoons of sweetener. Depending on your chocolate, your cocoa powder, and your sweet tooth, you may prefer a few more Tablespoons of granulated sweetener. Taste the batter and adjust the amount of sweetener to your preference.

If all you have is a 9" spring form pan, you can double the recipe and use your larger pan. However, you may need to adjust the baking time so start at 30 minutes and add more time in 5 minute increments. Just be sure to watch it very carefully.

Serve immediately, or store the leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

SORRY...THIS WAS A VERY DIFFICULT THING TO DO...THE ONLY THINGS I FOUND THAT LOOKED PARTIALLY APPEALING WERE DESSERTS...I LIKE A LITTLE TASTE AND TEXTURE...

THAT SHOW YOU WHAT I'M MADE OF...  :-(