Buckwheat recipes for Day 4

Buckwheat is another one of those gluten-free "supergrains." Actually, buckwheat is a fruit seed. So does that make it a "super flower seed"? Whatever it is, buckwheat is a nutritious food. The protein found in buckwheat contains the eight essential amino acids. It's rich in B vitamins as well as phosphorous, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese. Buckwheat also gets credit for being high in fiber and flavenoids, and a good oil source of Alpha-Linolenic Acid (an essential fatty acid). If that isn't enough, it helps lower blood pressure and glucose levels, and reduces cholesterol. Sounds like everyone should be eating it instead of wheat. Some places where it is widely cultivated and consumed are China, Russia, Poland, Canada and France.



Get acquainted with buckwheat and its health benefits by giving some of my Day 4 recipes a try.



Shopping List: buckwheat groats (Kasha), buckwheat flour, buckwheat soba noodles, cherries, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, bok choy, Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, shrimp, pollock.


Hot Apple Kasha or Bengali Buckwheat: see picture posted December 28
(for one serving)

1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup kasha
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. cardamon seeds or coriander seeds
1/2 peeled, diced apple
1 cup water
1 T. apple juice concentrate
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon


Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Add kasha (buckwheat groats) and seeds. Toast for a few minutes, stirring the kasha and seeds. Add the water with apple juice concentrate and other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 12-15 minutes or until moisture is absorbed. Serve with milk, additional cooked apples, walnuts or almonds.





Shrimp and Broccoli over Soba Noodles

Note: Soba noodles are a delicious way to get your buckwheat.
Recipe serves 2

2 cups cooked soba noodles
1 T. dry sherry
3/4 cup paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 T. Chinese chili sauce (less if you don't like the heat)
3/4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 T. water
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups chopped bok choy
salt and black pepper to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the soba noodles and cook until tender. Drain.
Place the shrimp in a bowl with the sherry, paprika, garlic and chili sauce. Stir to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or longer. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the water, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the broccoli and bok choy. Stir fry for several minutes until veggies are tender crisp. Add the shrimp mixture; stir fry to another 5 minutes until the shrimp are pink and opaque. Add the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Cook for one minute or until the sauce thickens. Add the soba noodles, stir to combine. Remove from heat and serve.

Amaranth flour tortilla recipe for Day 3

Amaranth, another gluten-free super grain, is the staple of Day 3 recipes. Amaranth packs a wallop when it comes to nutrition but the whole grains can be a bit tricky to work with. It took me three tries before I realized you have to toast the whole grains first before you cook them. No wonder some folks and cats, like Oreo, prefer convenience when it comes to food as you can see from the picture. Oreo investigates a display of pre-packaged energy foods set up by my husband for a newspaper article he was writing.

Amaranth has an interesting history just like quinoa. Amaranth was a staple food to the Aztecs who believed the grain had supernatural powers. Human sacrifices to the grain lead Spanish conquerors in the 1500s to ban its use. As a result, the grain virtually disappeared except for in a few remote places where it was cultivated in Mexico and the Andes.

You don't have to be on a rotation diet or eating gluten-free to enjoy Amaranth. This alternative grain is both nutritious and tasty for anyone. Keep both Amaranth flour and the whole grains on hand.

Amaranth is amazingly versatile as I am discovering. You can cook it as a cereal, grind it into flour, pop it like popcorn, sprout or toast it. Before I discovered grains like amaranth, I thought that brown rice was the only whole grain alternative to wheat. Amaranth is far superior nutritionally with 15-18 percent protein as well lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are usually not in grains. It contains calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, and Vitamins A and C. Compared to wheat, it has three times the fiber and five times the iron. It also is credited with having two times more calcium than an equivalent serving of milk.

Main ingredients list for Day 3 with amaranth, and menus and recipes follow.

Shopping List: whole amaranth grains, amaranth flour, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, gluten/free baking powder, taro veggie burgers (Hawaii Taro Co.), fresh spinach, 1 red onion, frozen green beans with baby carrots, sunflower and olive oils, cornish game hens, olive tapenade, soy milk, toasted carob powder, frozen mango chunks.

Breakfast: Cooked amaranth whole grains topped with toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Lunch: Amaranth flour tortilla served with a taro veggie burger (Hawaii Taro Co.) spread with olive tapenade. A spinach, red onion ring and green bean salad tossed with sunflower oil on the side.

Snack: Smoothie made with 1 cup soy milk, 2 T. carob powder, 2/3 cup mango chunks.

Dinner: Roasted cornish game hen served with steamed green beans and baby carrots.

Amaranth Flour Tortillas

1 1/3 cup Amaranth flour

1/3 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sunflower or olive oil

2/3 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup warm water

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in the vegetable oil. Add the water, working the liquid into the dough. Add additional flour if needed. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 6-8 balls. Lightly dust a pastry board and roll out each ball into a circle about 1/4-inch thick. Heat a heavy skillet. Cook the tortillas about 30 seconds on each side. Keep them wrapped in aluminum foil or a damp towel until ready to eat. Extras store nicely in the freezer.

Grilled lime salmon with avocado sauce for Day 2

On Day 2 I can eat corn or rice for grains so it's easier to utilize some already prepared foods. If pressed for time, I reach for Nature Path corn flakes or Bob's Red Mill rice cereal for breakfast. Food for Life brand brown rice tortillas make great wraps for lunch. Other foods on the menu for Day 2 include wild Alaskan salmon, fresh avocado and avocado oil, mustard greens, red or green cabbage, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, jicama, tahini or sesame seeds, and peaches. Below is the menu plan and recipes for avocado dressing, tahini dressing and grilled lime salmon. Pumpkin, at right, will do whatever it takes to get some salmon.





Breakfast: Nature Path cornflakes served with frozen peaches (thawed) and rice milk, and sprinkled with 1 T. toasted black sesame seeds.





Lunch: Brown rice tortilla wrap with grilled salmon, 1 sliver of avocado diced, and 2 cups chopped veggies, including mustard greens, purple cabbage and water chestnuts. Drizzle the wrap ingredients with tahini dressing, roll up and enjoy. Save some of the tahini dressing for dipping.





Dinner: Grilled lime salmon served on a bed of sauted chopped jicama, water chestnuts, mustard greens, and green and purple cabbage, and drizzled with avocado dressing.








Avocado Dressing Recipe
2 ripe avocados
1 lime or lime juice
1 clove garlic (optional)
1 tsp. sea salt
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/4-1/3 cup avocado oil (or olive oil if not on rotation diet)

Scoop the flesh from avocados into food processor. Add chopped garlic and other ingredients and pulse until blended. Stop and taste. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Lime Tahini Dressing

1/2 cup tahini

1/3 cup lime juice

2 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)

2 T. low sodim soy sauce (optional)

1/2 tsp. salt

water

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add water to desired consistency. Store extra in a container in refrigerator.

Grilled Lime Salmon

1 fresh lime or lime juice

2 salmon steaks

1 tsp. avocado oil or olive oil

Dash of salt

Dash of black pepper

Brush the fish with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place on a grill pan and grill either in over or barbecue. When done, squeeze on some lime juice. Serve on a bed of greens with extra avocado slices and drizzled with avocado dressing,

Quinoa recipes

The rotation diet has forced me to incorporate more alternative grains into my menus. I've discovered a whole new world of grains with quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat (kasha). These gluten-free grains are actually superfoods nutritionally. Quinoa, the grain I plan my meals around for Day 1, is an ancient grain with origins tracing to the Andes Mountains of South America. It was one of three staple foods, along with corn and potatoes, of the Inca civilization. Quinoa (pronounced "Keen-wa") contains more protein than any other grain, an average of 16.2 percent, which means it rivals the protein content of meat. It's also a complete protein with an essential amino acid balance close to ideal. It's a versatile grain as I've come to find out. Each time I sample a new recipe it leaves me begging for more just like Pumpkin, my orange kitty, at the right. Recipes and menu plans for Day 1, a new round, which features quinoa, are below. Other key ingredients for these meals are safflower oil, mushrooms, lettuce, zucchini, peas, beets, kiwi, blueberries and starfruit.


Breakfast: Ancient grains quinoa flakes with blueberries

Lunch: Homemade quinoa flour roll with pea soup (recipes below)

Dinner: Quinoa/mushroom veggie burger (recipe follows) with grilled portabello mushrooms and zucchinis, and sliced star fruit


Quinoa and Mushroom Burger Recipe
Difficulty rating: medium
(pictured with starfruit at right)

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/4 tsp. cumin seed
1/4 tsp. coriander
8 chopped mushrooms
3 T. safflower oil
1 can garbanzo beans
4 T. quinoa flour or brown rice flour
2 egg equivalents made with egg replacer
Additional safflower oil and pan spray for cooking
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the quinoa according to instructions on package. In the meantime, put the mushrooms, garbanzo beans, spices and safflower oil in the food processor and blend until it forms a thick paste. You may need to add more oil. Put the quinoa, along with mixture from the food processor, into a large bowl and blend. Add the egg replacer and additional quinoa flour and mix. Shape burgers from the mixture. If the mixture is too wet, add additional quinoa flour. Cook the burgers in a heavy skillet with oil. The mixture makes about eight good-sized burgers. Extras keep well in the freezer. To freeze, place each burger on a square of wax paper, stack them up, and store in a ziploc bag. The wax paper trick will help you remove one at a time for heating and eating. Serve quinoa/mushroom burgers on homemade quinoa buns (next recipe).


Quinoa Flour Hamburger Buns
Difficulty rating: hard
Note: I altered a gluten-free bread recipe to make these buns. They are extremely dense in texture.

1 3/4 cup quinoa flour
1 cup tapioca starch
2 T. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. xanthum gum
2 tsp. yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 1/4 sea salt
2 tsp. cider vinegar
2 T. safflower oil
3 eggs or equivalent of egg replacer
parchment paper

Mix together the wet ingredients in stand mixer. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients, beating together on low. Place the mixer on a speed of 2 to knead the mixture for four minutes. Add more flour if needed to reduce stickiness of dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out balls of dough for the hamburger buns, space them evenly on the baking sheet. Allow to "rise" in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. Keep in mind that these buns will not rise like wheat rolls or bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the buns to cool completely before slicing.

Fresh Pea Soup with Mint
Difficulty rating: easy
(serves 2)
1/2 T. safflower oil
1 rib celery, green parts only, cut into small pieces
Optional: 1 scallions, green parts only, cut into 4-in. pieces, and 1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups peas, fresh, or frozen, thawed
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the celery tops and optional scallions and onions. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the peas and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the mint leaves and puree until smooth. Serve warm or chill for at least one hour before serving.

Menus for Day 4

I discovered a delicious hot breakfast cereal, Bengali Kasha (buckwheat cereal), that I wish I could eat every day but that would probably get me into trouble. Pumpkin, my little nibbler cat, could care less. He'd just as soon drink water.

Breakfast: Bengali Kasha with pear, apple and tahini topping

Recipe for 1 serving:
1 tsp. canola oil
1/2 cup coarse-ground kasha or buckwheat
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 cup rice or soy milk or water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. ground cardamon
1/2 each apple and pear, sliced thin
1 T. tahini

Heat oil in heavy saucepan. Add kasha and fennel seeds and toast for several minutes. Stir in milk or water, vanilla, cardamon, salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and simmer until moist, about 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, cook apple and pear slices until soft. Spoon into bowl. Top with apple/pear combination and 1 T. tahini.

Lunch: Grilled halibut with warm buckwheat salad

• grilled halibut reserved from another meal
• 1/2 cup buckwheat (kasha) saved from a previous meal
• 1/2 cup each. bok choy and chard, chopped
• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1 T. honey mustard vinaigrette

Spray a skillet. Heat canola oil. Saute veggies until tender crisp. Throw in halibut and heat. Add buckwheat. Stir and cook all ingredients until warmed. Place on a plate and top with vinaigrette.

Dinner: My family and I went out to eat.

Menus for Day 3

I went all out and made Grilled Tuna Steaks with Olive
Tapenade and Basil Oil for dinner and Pumpkin
Amaranth/Flax/Sunflower Seed Pancakes for breakfast.
It definitely didn't seem like I was deprived by being on a
rotation diet. In fact, I haven't felt that way at all on this
food-eating plan. If anything, it has forced me to experience
new foods and not just eat the same old stuff day in and day out.
As you can see, Pumpkin and her canine pal, Kona, were
hoping and waiting for me to share some of my creations in the kitchen.









Breakfast: Pumpkin Amaranth/Flax/Sunflower Seed Pancakes topped with pumpkin puree and toasted pumpkin seeds

• Amaranth pancakes
• 2 T. pumpkin puree mixed with agave nectar for syrup
• 1 T. toasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 Shelton's gluten-free turkey sausage for those not on rotation plan

Recipe for Amaranth Pancakes (makes about 6 medium pancakes)

1/2 cup pumpkin puree ( I used canned.)

2 T. agave nectar

EnerG egg replacer for 1 egg

1/2 cup amaranth flour

2 T. ground flax

1/4 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 tsp. g/f baking powder

1 T. sunflower oil

2 tsp. pumpkin spice

1/4-1/2 cup water or more if needed

pan spray and additional oil for pan

1 T. toasted pumpkin seeds and 2 T. additional pumpkin puree mixed with 1 tsp. agave nectar for topping per serving

(optional: carob chips)

Just mix it all together. Heat your pan. Cook the pancakes. Keep them warm in the oven while you are making additional ones. Toast the pumpkin seeds. Heat the pumpkin puree topping in the pan. Serve topped with pumpkin puree and toasted pumpkin seeds

Lunch: Taro veggie burger topped with olive tapenade on a soy flour tortilla

• Hawaii Taro Company veggie burgers
• Sauteed spinach, endive, red onion
• 1 T. olive tapenade per veggie burger
• Soy flour tortillas (follow recipe from previous post)
• 1 T. olive oil for cooking
  
  

Dinner: Grilled Ahi Tuna Steaks with Olive Tapenade and Basil Oil Topping

• Tuna steaks
• Olive tapenade
• Steamed green beans
• Sauteed spinach, endive and red onion
• Sauteed winter squash with sage

Recipe for Ahi Tuna Steaks with Olive Tapenade and Basil Oil

1 bunch fresh basil

1 cup olive oil

Olive Tapenade (purchased)

bag of fresh spinach

1 small red onion

2 Belgian endive

1 acorn squash (peeled and diced)

2-3 T. olive oil

4 tuna steaks

Make basil oil. Separate basil leaves from stems. Blanch leaves in boiling water until they wilt. Then drain and plunge into icy water. Drain and squeeze dry. Blend leaves with 1 cup olive oil in blender or food processor. Let stand for 2 hours, then press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. I didn't do this part. I just used it without straining. The basil oil will keep in refrigerator for a week.

Prepare spinach, endive and onion for sauteeing in several tablespoons of oil. Cover and keep warm. Repeat with acorn squash or other winter sqash.

Brush tuna steaks with remaining olive oil. Salt both sides. Pepper is optional if you're not on rotation diet. Grill until medium done. I did this in a grill pan on the stove but a hot charcoal fire would be great. Serve on warm plates, placing tuna on bed of veggies. Spread tops with olive tapenade and drizzle with basil oil. My husband said these were better than any steak he'd ever eaten.

Dessert: Sunbutter/Carob Cups

1 bag Sunspire vegan carob chips

1/4 cup Sunbutter (sunflower butter)

1 mini-muffin pan

Melt carob chips in microwave. Stir. Spoon 1 tsp. or so into each section of the mini-muffin pan. Top with 1 tsp. sunbutter. You can top with additional melted carob chips but I forgot to do that. Refrigerate until set. Makes 12 cups. Very scrumptious.

Menus for Day 2 of Rotation Diet

I discovered there are some foods I can eat on the rotation diet that I don't have to make from scratch. On Day 2, I really took advantage of them. I found some delicious gluten-free corn tortillas and brown rice tortillas from Food for Life and corn flakes from Nature's Path. I could eat these everyday but then it wouldn't be a rotation diet. Oreo scopes out some non-gluten-free lunch stuff for my husband.






Breakfast: Gluten-free corn flakes, apricots and rice milk

• Nature's Path corn flakes (gluten-free)
  
• 3 apricots


• 1 cup rice milk


• 1 tsp. each black sesame seed and poppy seeds
  
  

Lunch: Salmon wrap with greens and cabbage and lime tahini dressing

• Food for Life brown rice tortilla


• grilled wild salmon brushed with 1 tsp. avocado oil
  
• sauteed mustard greens, water chestnuts, purple cabbage in avocado oil


• 1 T. tahini dressing
  
  

Recipe for Tahini Dressing:

1/3 cup lime juice

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 tsp. salt

2 garlic cloves (It tastes great without. I can't use garlic on this rotation day.)

water or white wine vinegar (not allowed for me)

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add more liquid for desired consistency. Extras save well in refrigerator

Dinner: Ground turkey burger tacos with avocado dressing and shredded cabbage

• Food for Life Sprouted Grain corn tortillas
  
• turkey burger taco meat (no seasoning except salt)
  
• diced avocado


• shredded green and red cabbage


• avocado dressing

Recipe for Avocado Dressing:

2 ripe avocados

juice of one lime

1 tsp. sea salt

2 T. white wine vinegar or water

1/3 cup avocado or corn oil

Blend all ingredients until smooth in a food processor. Add liquid for desired consistency.

Lemony Sole Recipe for Day 1

Here is the recipe I promised for Lemony Sole Roll-ups. I made it for Day 1. I cheated and used lemon even though it wasn't part of Day 1's food options.

Lemony Sole Roll-ups

serves 2

Ingredients:

2 sole fillets

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 cup yellow squash sauteed in 1 tsp. sunflower oil

1 tsp. additonal sunflower oil

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 tsp. sunflower oil mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

Serve with roasted red potato wedges.

Directions:

Start the roasted potatoes first. Wash potatoes. Cut into wedges. Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Place in a shallow baking pan that has been sprayed once with pan spray. Bake at 450 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Start the fish about 15 minutes before potatoes are done.

Season both sides of sole fillets with salt and pepper. Spread 2 T. of sauteed squash evenly over the top. Roll up each fillet into a cylinder and secure with a toothpick.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the fish roll-ups, seam side down. Cook 2 minutes. Then add white wine. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Transfer fish to plates. Add the additional sunflower oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the pan. Heat and mix. Remove from heat and spoon half over each fish roll-up. Remove the toothpicks and sprinkle the fish with the parsley.

Serve with roasted red potatoes, sauteed chard and mushrooms. Add a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts to the top of the chard.

Four days of Rotation Diet menus: Day 1

I've learned a lot in just the short time I've being using a Rotation Diet to plan my menus. It definitely takes planning and organization and no mindless eating. You need to sit down every week with your list of allowed foods for the four-day plan and list out what you're going to eat each day. Be sure to include snacks and beverages. Search for recipes if needed. Make sure you keep your furry friend under control when using the printer to print recipes. As you can see Pumpkin was ready to do battle with my printer. Check what ingredients you have on hand and make your shopping list. Always keep in mind you're going to all this trouble to make yourself feel better. Don't give up easily because it may take several weeks before you see the benefit.





Here's my menu plan for Day 1 of a four-day cycle. I will keep posting menus daily. I am using rice milk at every meal as I have not found any acceptable replacement milks at this point. I can drink some soy but it affects the effectiveness of the thyroid hormones that I take.





Day 1:


Breakfast: Hot quinoa with blueberries and pine nuts
1/3 cup Ancient Grains quinoa flakes cooked
1/2 cup blueberries
2 T. pine nuts
1/2 cup rice milk

Lunch: Tortilla wrap with veggies and chicken
gluten-free quninoa/potato flour tortilla (I used the same recipe from my previous post but changed the flours to half quinoa and half potato flour.) These were scrumptious but a bit crumbly.
2 T. pine nuts
2 cups sauteed chard
1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms
1/2 cup sauteed zucchini
1 tsp. safflower oil
2 oz. grilled chicken cut into pieces
1/4 cup roasted beets tossed with balsalmic vinegar on the side. Below you see Oreo eyeing my plate of beets. To make the beets, clean and trim whole beets. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees for up to one hour depending on the size the beets. You may need to test with a fork kind of like testing a baked potato for doneness. After the beets cool, peel and slice. Toss with 1-2 T. of balsalmic vinegar and a bit of salt. Tip: if you can handle the beets when they are still a little warm, they will really soak up the flavor of the vinegar.





Dinner: Lemony stuffed sole with yellow squash and roasted red potatoes
4-5 oz. sole fillet
1 cup sauteed yellow squash
1/2 cup oven-roasted red potatoes
1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms
1 cup sauteed chard
1 T. toasted pumpkin seeds
Note: I wasn't supposed to have lemon or pumpkin seeds on this day but I won't have them again for four days. This diet isn't perfect so what the heck.

Next up: The recipe for the lemony stuffed sole and Day 2.

Thoughts on the Rotation Diet and some recipes for Round 1

I started out very gung-ho on the first four-day round of my rotation diet. I think I was a bit of an overachiever and wanted to do this perfectly. It's a good thing Pumpkin was there (as you can see in picture to the left) to keep me grounded. Here are some lessons I learned after just four days.

• Lesson 1: If you're going to follow your plan perfectly and never cheat--- have a really big family to feed or lots of freezer space.




• Lesson 2: Start out slowly. At first, try rotating one category, such as protein or grains. Gradually add in new categories over the course of several rotations. This isn't what I did but now I will follow my own advice.




• Lesson 3: Sometimes you're going to foul up and eat something two days in a row. Remind yourself, that it's still better for you and your food allergies than eating the same thing day in and day out.
  

With those lessons in mind, here are some other recipes I tried for round 1.

Recipes for days when you can eat amaranth or soy flour, and arrowroot.





Amaranth Drop
Biscuits




For breakfast, I made up a batch of these. I thought they were pretty tasty but my son, who doesn't have to avoid gluten, tried one and only one. He normally gobbles up biscuits by the handfuls. My advice is cut the recipe in half unless you have someone in your house who will help you polish these off.





Ingredients:

• 1 cup amaranth flour


• 1 cup arrowroot starch


• 2 tsp. honey or other sweetener


• 4 tsp. gluten-free baking powder


• 1 tsp. baking soda


• 1 tsp. xanthum gum


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• in place of 2 eggs, use an additional teaspoon of baking powder, 1 T. of liquid, 1 T. of vinegar or your favorite egg replacer


• 1/2 cup almond oil or other allowed vegetable oil or shortening


• 2/3 cup allowed milk or water or a mixture of the two

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees


• Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together


• Add the vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix together


• Mix in the milk/water. Increase the liquid by 1 T. if you are skipping eggs and egg replacer and add 1 T. of vinegar. Or add in the eggs or egg replacer at this point.


• Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or well greased


• Bake for 10-12 minutes. They were yummy and flaky! I saved the extras in the freezer. I'm not sure yet how they will be the second-time around since I have to wait four days, unless I want to sneak one out of sequence. (Note: I actually did thaw one out four days later and they were still quite tasty.)

Soy Flour Tortillas

These tortillas are quick and easy to make. The amazing thing is you can change the type of flour you use each time you make them. They also require no yeast.






Ingredients for 4 small tortillas:

• 1 1/3 cups flour (you can use soy, amaranth, buckwheat or a mixture of flours. Your choice.)


• 1/3 tsp. salt


• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil.)


• 2/3 tsp. g/f baking powder


• 1/3 to 3/4 cup warm water or milk of your choice (or a mixture of the two.)
  
  

Directions:

• Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.


• Add oil and mix with spoon or fingers to combine.


• Add water or milk or combo. Mix until a sticky ball forms.


• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. I made it early in the morning and allowed it to rest all day in the fridge before using it.)


• Divide the dough into four balls.


• Dust a pastry board with additional flour and roll out each ball of dough into a circle approximately 1/4-inch thick.


• Heat a heavy skillet over high heat. I pre-sprayed the pan with pan spray. Cook tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until dough looks dry, puffy and brown spots form on both surfaces.I saved extras in the freezer.
  
  

Note: These were yummy even though they were made with soy flour.

Pumpkin kept himself busy with a makeshift toy while I was cooking the
soy flour tortillas. Wouldn't it be nice to be so easily entertained?