Applesauce Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

As you can probably tell, I've been in a cake mood recently. This cake recipe is adapted from a recipe for applesauce cake from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook that my mom gave me way back when. The reason I asked my mom for the cookbook is that it has my favorite recipe for French toast, but I'm discovering more and more recipes in it that I like. So I shouldn't make fun of it, even though the cover is bright orange and most of the pictures are orange and green -- it's like they decided to take pictures of only orange and green food, so that the food would all go with the '70s color theme.

But I digress. What I really wanted to say is that this is a great cake: the applesauce makes it so moist, and the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice give it a nice complexity. However, the cream cheese frosting is really what turns it into a fabulous cake. Even though the girls and I try to avoid dairy products, we make an exception for this frosting. I tell myself that each piece of cake doesn't have that much frosting on it anyway. But then I eat another piece. Fortunately, Michael and the girls finished off the cake for snack today, so I can no longer be tempted.

Applesauce Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
makes an 8"x8" cake

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening. Try to use Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening, which is made from palm oil and doesn't contain any soy.
  
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup water

Instructions for the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" cake pan. In a medium-size bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the sugar. Put the sugar, shortening, and egg in a large bowl and blend with a mixer for a couple of minutes until they are well combined and have a creamy consistency. Add the applesauce and water and mix again on low speed until combined. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the large bowl while mixing on low speed until all of the ingredients are combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then let the cake cook completely before spreading on the frosting.

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 4 ounces cream cheese (not low-fat)
  
• 1 cup of extra fine granulated sugar. (Domino's brand is called superfine sugar.) This is different from powdered sugar, which contains cornstarch.
  
• 1/3 stick (2 1/2 Tbsp.) butter
• 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's vanilla or another vanilla extract that does not contact corn syrup.
  

Instructions for the frosting:

Let the cream cheese and butter sit at room temperature until they soften. Then put the cream cheese, sugar, and butter in a mixer and beat on low speed for several minutes until the ingredients have combined and have a creamy consistency.

Black Beans and Rice

I made the pulled pork recipe a couple of days ago, not thinking about how much pork it would make. Only afterward did it dawn on me that I had enough pork for at least three meals, possibly four. And as much as Naomi would be happy eating just pork for dinner all week, I wanted to make something else to eat in addition to the pork. Then I had an inspiration: rice! There had to be a rice dish that would go well with pulled pork. So I did a search and found the following recipe for black beans and rice. When I saw that both the pulled pork and the rice and bean dish called for a squeeze of lime as a garnish, I figured it was a sign that they would go well together.

I based my black bean and rice dish on the following recipe for Easy Black Beans and Rice. However, Michael and I don't prefer bell peppers and we like things a little spicier than what the recipe called for, so I decided to have fun and tweak things a bit.

Black Beans and Rice
serves 4 adults as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 to 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
  
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper, depending on how hot you like it
  
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  
• 1 15-ounce black beans, drained and rinsed. Look for a can that has just black beans, water, and salt.
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

Instructions:

Cook the rice according to the package. Mine took 20 minutes to cook and then I let it rest for 10 minutes. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat and then saute the chopped onions until they are tender. Add the garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, Cayenne pepper, black pepper, and sea salt. Stir and saute for another minute. Add the black beans and apple cider vinegar and stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice, turn heat down to low, cover, and let sit over low heat for a few minutes. Garnish with lime juice and cilantro.

Chocolate Cake

I can't tell you how happy I am finally to have found a wheat-free, corn-free, dairy-free, and soy-free chocolate cake recipe that turns out well. Last year for Sabrina's birthday I tried a couple of chocolate cake recipes, but they were both too crumbly. I tried a boxed cake mix, but it was just okay. This cake, however, has exactly the texture and consistency that a cake should have. It's moist, and it has a great chocolate flavor. Because of the chocolate chips sprinkled on top of the cake, you don't even need to add a frosting. The only thing I would change the next time I make the cake is that I might use more than 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, since, in my opinion, the more chocolate the better.

This cake has a little secret to it, though, one that I hesitate to mention because it might put you off from trying the cake. However, since I want to share the recipe, I have to tell you the secret ingredient. It's beets. This cake contains a can of beets. I made the cake last night for our church small group, and I felt a little bit bad that I didn't tell anyone about the cake's secret ingredient. But I didn't want to prejudice them against the cake before they tried it because, once it is cooked and has cooled, you would never be able to tell that it contains beets. They are just the special ingredient that turns a wheat-free, corn-free, dairy-free, and soy-free cake into a great chocolate cake.

Here is the chocolate beet cake recipe, which makes a 9"x13" cake. Since I don't have many occasions when I need to make that much cake, I scaled the recipe down to make an 8"x8" cake. Below is my modified ingredient list, and you can refer to the original recipe for the instructions.

Chocolate Beet Cake
makes an 8"x8" cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 small 8-ounce can of cooked, unsalted beets. Drain the beets, but reserve the liquid.
  
• 1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup juice from the can of beets
• 1 and 1/2 large eggs. For the 1/2 egg, I whisked the egg in a measuring cup. My large egg was about 1/4 cup of liquid, so I used half of that, 2 Tbsp., for the cake.
• 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another one that does not contain corn syrup.
• 2 ounces (2 squares) of unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are the two brands I have found that do not contain any milkfat.
  

Pulled Pork

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking to myself, there must be a recipe somewhere for cooking pork in the crock pot. I searched on the internet for a while and found a recipe for pulled pork. I took the plunge and purchased the 7.5-pound pork shoulder. Then I felt a bit like a mad scientist as I concocted the spice rub. I decided to halve the spices of the original recipe because I wanted the girls to be able to eat the pork, and because I didn't want to deplete the jars of half of my spices for a recipe that I had never made before and didn't know how it would turn out.

I am happy to say that the pulled pork turned out wonderfully. I didn't take a picture because pulled pork just isn't the most attractive food ever. But what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in smell and taste. We have been smelling the delicious aromas of pork and spices since 9 o'clock this morning. And dinner was strangely quiet as everyone scarfed down his or her portion of pork. Rarely have I seen Naomi eat anything so quickly. We all went back for seconds.

Here is the original slow-cooker pulled pork recipe, and below is my modified version. Michael thought that we could have had a bit more spice, but the level of spice was just right for the girls and me.

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
serves 6 to 8 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 6 to 8-pound pork shoulder (also called Boston butt)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 gallon-size Ziploc bag
  
• 1/2 Tbsp. (1 and 1/2 tsp.) ground black pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp. (1 and 1/2 tsp.) ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp. paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp (1 and 1/2 tsp.) dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. (1 and 1/2 tsp.) granulated white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. kosher salt
• limes for garnish
  

Instructions:

The day or night before you want to serve the pulled pork, follow these instructions: In a small bowl mix together the black pepper, white pepper, Cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano, brown sugar, white sugar, and salt. Rinse the pork in water, pat it dry with paper towels, and then cut off any excess fat on the outside of the pork. Rub all sides of the pork with the spice rub. Put the pork into a gallon-size Ziploc bag and seal it; or if the pork is too big to fit into the bag, wrap it tightly on all sides with saran wrap. Place the bag of pork or the plastic-wrapped pork on a plate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

About 9 hours before you would like to serve the pork, pour 1/4 cup of water into the slow cooker. Remove the pork from its bag or plastic wrapping and place it in the slow cooker on low heat. After 1 hour, turn the pork over. After 1 more hour, turn the pork over again. After the pork has been cooking for at least 6 hours, try to pull the pork apart to shred it. If it doesn't shred easily, let it cook another hour and then attempt to shred it again, taking out large pieces of the pork and pulling them apart using two forks to create bite-size pieces. Return all of the pork to the slow cooker and let it cook until it is all tender, about 8 or 9 hours in total.

Serve with a squeeze of lime as a garnish.

Vegetable Soup

This is my favorite vegetable soup. I found the recipe in a Real Simple magazine issue a few years ago and have been making it ever since. I like it because it is simple yet delicious. I like it because it makes me feel healthy to eat all of those vegetables. And I like it because it warms me up on a cold winter day.

Usually I put one or two Yukon Gold potatoes in the soup, but this time I put in some uncooked quinoa instead. I liked the flavor and texture of the quinoa in the soup, and I liked that measuring the quinoa was a lot easier and quicker than cutting up a potato. If you're not familiar with quinoa, you can find it in the health food section of a grocery store, usually next to the rice and barley. The original recipe also calls for just 1/4 pound of green beans and 1 cup of broccoli, but we really like both of those vegetables, so I tend to add a bit more, probably about 1/2 pound of green beans and 2 cups of broccoli.

Here is the original vegetable soup recipe, and my modified version is below.

Vegetable Soup
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 or 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 32-ounce box of Imagine Organic free range chicken broth (not low-sodium). The quality of the chicken broth is really important for this soup, so I would recommend using either the Imagine chicken broth or a homemade chicken stock.
• about 1/2 pound Yukon gold potatoes (1 or 2 medium-size potatoes), cut into 1-inch chunks
  
• OR, instead of the potato, 1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes and their juices, no salt added
• 1/4 to 1/2 pound green beans, ends cut off and then cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 to 2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 15-ounce can chick peas, drained and rinsed. Look for a can that has just chick peas, water, and salt.

Instructions:

Chop the onion, carrots, and celery. Place a 4-quart pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and saute until softened. Add the thyme and salt, and stir thoroughly. Then add the broth and either the potatoes or quinoa. Increase the heat to high to bring the broth to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pot partially, and let simmer for 7 minutes. Then add the green beans, tomatoes, and chick peas to the pot and stir. When the soup begins simmering again, set the timer for another 7 minutes. After those 7 minutes, add the broccoli. If there is not enough liquid, add 1 or 2 cups of hot water. Cook until the broccoli and green beans are tender, about 5 to 10 more minutes.

Asparagus with Red Wine Vinaigrette

When I made this vinaigrette tonight, I wasn't so sure how it was going to turn out. I tasted the vinaigrette by itself, and it seemed quite strong. However, I thought I should still give it a try, so at dinner I drizzled some onto my steamed asparagus. Wow! The flavors of the vinaigrette complemented the flavor of the asparagus so well and gave it an extra complexity. Naomi liked the vinaigrette so much that she asked for more! I didn't take a picture, but I wanted to post the recipe anyway so that I will remember for next time how to make this zingy vinaigrette for my asparagus.

Asparagus with Red Wine Vinaigrette
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 grocery-store bundle of asparagus
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• dash of pepper
  
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:

Wash the asparagus and snap the ends off. Cut the asparagus into bite-size pieces and then steam until tender.

While the asparagus is steaming, mix together in a small bowl the minced garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Then pour the olive oil, one tablespoon at a time, into the bowl while constantly whisking, so that the the vinaigrette emulsifies.

Serve the asparagus on individual plates and let each person drizzle the vinaigrette on their individual serving.

Banana Bread

This week at our church small group Laurie brought a gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and corn-free banana bread. It tasted great! She found the banana bread recipe on a link I had put up on my blog. I had hoped to try the recipe at some point, and I'm so glad that Laurie did. I'm also glad that she let me take home the leftovers. Sabrina liked the bread so much that she asked to have it for snack the next day instead of a cookie.

Banana Bread

This is one of those rare recipes that does not require me to make any comments or modifications except for one: instead of 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. baking soda, use 3/4 tsp. cream of tartar and 1 tsp. baking soda. In addition, if you don't have a vanilla bean, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Just remember to use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another one that does not contain corn syrup.

Peanut Butter (or other butter) Cookies with Brown Sugar

I can tell it's the middle of the winter, not only because of the bare branches and piles of snow I see outside. I can tell it's the middle of the winter because my craving for sweets has gone through the roof. Normally I have a bit of a sweet tooth, but in the winter it's like a mouthful of sweet teeth. I can spend hours looking at cookie recipes online and in my cookbooks. Fortunately, the girls enjoy helping me bake, and they really enjoy sampling the baked goods. Sabrina especially likes to pour the ingredients into the bowl and help to mix them, and Naomi likes to sit in front of the oven and watch the cookies while they're baking.

While looking through my binder of dessert recipes, I found the following variation on the usual recipe I use for making peanut butter (or other butter) cookies. The brown sugar in the following recipe gives the cookies a chewier texture and a richer flavor than the cookies containing white sugar. So if you also are experiencing mid-winter carb cravings, try out these satisfying and easy cookies.

I also found another recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies that calls for just 3/4 cup of brown sugar and no baking soda, so I'm curious to try that one and see how it turns out. But that will have to wait until the next sugar craving hits.

Peanut Butter (or other butter) Cookies with Brown Sugar
makes about 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup of light brown sugar, packed. (Another recipe I found suggested using just 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, so I think I'll try that next time.) Try to use a brown sugar that is made from pure cane sugar without any molasses added, since molasses can sometimes be made from corn syrup. Check the ingredient list on the back of the package to be sure.
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract. If you cannot find Trader Joe's vanilla, then try to buy an alcohol-free vanilla extract that does not contain corn syrup.
• 1 cup Natural Jif creamy peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter or almond butter)
• Optional: 1/2 cup of dairy-free chocolate chips. Look for chocolate chips that do not contain any milk fat. I use Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I think that Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips may also be free of milk fat.
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-size bowl, combine the egg, brown sugar, baking soda, vanilla, and peanut butter (or other butter). Then fold in the chocolate chips, if you would like to add them. Place rounded tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough on two baking sheets, leaving at least two inches between each spoonful of dough. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Coleslaw

A few years ago our friend April made coleslaw when she and her husband invited us over for dinner. I don't think I had had coleslaw since living in Germany for a year in high school, and I had forgotten how much I liked it. Michael also liked April's coleslaw, which is saying a lot because he only likes coleslaw that lives up to his memory of what A&W coleslaw tastes like. Consequently, I knew that I had to ask April for her recipe. Since then coleslaw has become a staple at our house, especially with Indian food. Something about the lemon and mayonnaise contrasts nicely with Indian spices. We also like to eat it in the summer with hamburgers and a pickle, or two, on the side.

Coleslaw
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Hellmann's Real mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 3 1/2 cups (8 ounces) shredded green cabbage
• raisins and sunflower seeds to taste

Instructions:

At least 30 minutes before serving, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sugar, and sea salt in a medium-size bowl. Add in the shredded cabbage and stir thoroughly. Put the bowl in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Before serving, add the raisins and sunflower seeds to the coleslaw, or let people sprinkle them onto their individual servings.

Turkey and Black-Bean Soup

This soup is amazing. And it's easy. I highly encourage you to try out this recipe for Turkey and Black-Bean Soup.

Even though the ingredients in the soup are quite basic, I still have to modify the recipe a little bit and check the labels on several of the ingredients. Corn could be lurking anywhere! Therefore, I thought it would be simpler if I just gave you the entire ingredient list as I've modified it.

The only suggestions I would make to the cooking instructions are at the end of the recipe. Michael and I like adding a splash of lime juice to the pot of soup just before serving. If you are not serving the soup all at once, then do not add the spinach to the pot of soup. Instead, put 1 cup of cut spinach leaves in each bowl. Then pour the soup on top of the spinach leaves and stir to combine the soup and spinach. We like to eat this soup with potato chips on the side, but if you're not allergic to corn, I imagine that tortilla chips would probably be more in line with the cultural affinities of the soup.

Turkey and Black-Bean Soup
serves 4 people as a main dish

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices), cut into 1/4 inch strips. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I recommend a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture.
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• OMIT the Tabasco sauce found in the original recipe. If you would like your soup a little spicier, add a dash of Cayenne pepper instead of the Tabasco sauce.
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. sea salt. Because I use regular chicken broth, rather than low-sodium, I decrease the amount of salt that I added to the soup.
  
• 1 3/4 cups (1 15-ounce can) of pureed tomatoes. We prefer the consistency of pureed tomatoes and the fact that they don't have any seeds. Try to get a can of tomatoes that contains only tomatoes and no additives, such as citric acid.
  
• 1 quart of homemade stock or regular (NOT low-sodium) chicken broth. If you use store-bought chicken broth, look on the label to make sure it does not contain any corn, wheat, soy, dextrose, MSG, xanthan gum, mono and diglycerides, natural flavoring, organic flavors, or vegetable flavor. The brand that I think tastes the best is Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth. If you cannot find that one, Pacific Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and Trader Joe's Free Range Chicken Broth (but not the low-sodium version) are also safe to use.
• 1 2/3 cups (1 15-ounce can) of black beans, drained and rinsed. Try to get a can with just black beans, water, and salt.
• 1 1-pound pre-cooked turkey breast. A pre-cooked turkey breast is much less likely than deli turkey to have corn products added. The ingredient list should be very basic and not contain much more than turkey breast, turkey broth, sugar, and salt. I purchased Jennie-O Turkey Store All Natural Golden Roast Premium Turkey Breast.
  
• 1 6-ounce bag of pre-washed baby spinach, cut into strips. I was not all that exact with the cutting and just chopped a bit at the pile of spinach on my cutting board.
• a splash of lime juice. The original recipe didn't call for this, but it adds even another layer of flavor to a great soup.
  

Broccoli Salad

I don't have a picture because we ate it all. Yesterday I made broccoli salad for our church small group, and I forgot how much people like it. Michael was hoping for leftovers, but we didn't have any remaining salad to eat the next day, let alone take a picture of. Now I am going to write down my modifications to the recipe so that next time maybe I'll get a picture and Michael will get his leftovers.

I've based my recipe on the following broccoli salad recipe, in case you're interested in the source. This is a great salad for a summer picnic, but it turns out well any time of year because, even in the dead of winter, the broccoli in our New Hampshire grocery stores still looks surprisingly good. I'm sure it's shipped from somewhere far far away, and I feel a little twinge of regret because I prefer to buy food grown in the USA, but I'm doubtful that anything green grows anywhere near New Hampshire this time of year.

Broccoli Salad
serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of raw broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces (about 4 small heads of broccoli florets). This is about 1 1/2 cups of raw florets per person.
• 1/2 cup Hellmann's Real mayonnaise. This mayonnaise is labeled gluten-free and has minimal, if any, corn. It contains soybean oil, but the soy doesn't seem to bother Sabrina since the amount of dressing she eats is usually pretty small.
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion or shallot
  
• 1/3 cup of raisins
• 4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch wide pieces. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I usually use a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture, all of which can come from corn.
• 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds

Instructions:

At least one hour before you would like to serve the broccoli salad, fill a large pot with water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. While the water is heating, rinse the broccoli florets and cut them into bite-size pieces. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and honey. Finely chop the red onion or shallot and put 1/4 cup of onion into the dressing. Then add the raisins to the dressing as well.

When the water on the stove has come to a boil, add the broccoli florets to the pot and set the timer for one minute. Place a large bowl in the sink and fill it with cold water. When the timer beeps, remove the broccoli from the pot using a slotted spoon and place the broccoli into a colander. Then place the colander in the bowl of cold water so that the broccoli cools off and stops cooking. Gently rinse the broccoli until it is room-temperature. Take the colander containing the broccoli out of the bowl and shake gently to remove excess water from the broccoli. Pour the water out of the large bowl. Then transfer the broccoli from the colander to the bowl. Pour the dressing onto the broccoli and toss so that the dressing coats all of the broccoli. Put the broccoli salad in the refrigerator. Take the salad out every 15 minutes or so to toss again so that all of the broccoli continues to marinate in the dressing.

While the salad is chilling, cut the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Place a pan over medium heat and fry the bacon, stirring frequently, until it is browned and crispy. Put a paper towel on a plate. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon bits from the pan and transfer them to the plate.

When you are ready to serve the salad, add the bacon bits and the 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and toss again to mix them with the rest of the salad.

Blueberry Oatmeal

I have been feeding the girls oatmeal for breakfast for probably a year now, and I've slowly been perfecting my recipe. When I first heard from my friend Tiffany that she made her kids oatmeal for breakfast, I couldn't imagine taking the time every morning to make oatmeal from scratch. I mean, it has to take longer than pouring cereal out of a box. But making oatmeal has become part of my morning ritual, something that I look forward to and wouldn't want to do without. You see, sometime between 7 and 7:30 a.m., I stumble out of bed into the girls' room. I get Naomi out of her crib and put her pajamas back on her (because her latest idea of what would be fun in bed is to take her pajamas off), and I give each girl three small graham cracker cookies. Then I tell them that I will be back when breakfast is ready, and I leave them in their room to play while I go downstairs to make our oatmeal. And for the next 15 minutes or so, while I make oatmeal, I have some time to wake up, drink a cup of hot tea, and enjoy the stillness and quiet before the craziness of the day begins.

Blueberry Oatmeal
serves 2 adults, or 1 adult and 2 small children

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of old-fashioned oats
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 cups of water
  
• 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries (I like the small size of the wild blueberries.)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  
• cinnamon, brown sugar, and raisins to taste

Instructions:

The evening before you want to have oatmeal for breakfast, put 1 cup of old-fashioned oats in a small pot. Heat 1 cup of water in the microwave until it is warm, and then add 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice to the water. Pour the water and lemon juice mixture into the pot with the oats and stir until combined. Put a lid on the pot and let it sit overnight.
You may never have heard of soaking oats overnight and wonder why I would tell you to do this. There are some health benefits, but the main reason I soak oats is that the resulting oatmeal is thicker, creamier, and so much better tasting.

In the morning, transfer the water and oat mixture to a bowl. Put 1 cup of water into the now empty pot and let it come to a simmer. Return the soaked oat mixture to the pot and stir to combine it with the simmering water. When everything comes back to a simmer, turn the heat down to medium low and let cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring once a minute so that the oats do not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the oat mixture has thickened and the oats are cooked, take the pot off the heat.

Put 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries in a bowl and microwave them until the berries are defrosted and warm. It is normal for some of the juices to ooze out of the berries. Pour the berries and their juices into the pot with the oatmeal. Add 1/2 cup of apple sauce and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Stir everything together until it is well mixed and then serve. I like to put a teaspoon of brown sugar on mine. The girls like me to sprinkle a few raisins on top of theirs.

The recipe makes about 3 cups of oatmeal. I give the girls 3/4 cup each, which is just 100 calories, and I eat 1 and 1/2 cups, which is about 200 calories. I figure it's about the same number of calories as a bowl of cereal with milk, and it keeps me full longer.

Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

I revised the recipe to make the dressing a little less potent.  The girls, Michael, and I all enjoy it now.

I really like to make spinach salad, and I have a great recipe from my mom that uses fresh fruit and honey balsamic vinaigrette. However, winter is not the best season for much fresh fruit. And besides, sometimes I'm in the mood for something a little different. That is when I remember a great recipe from Cook's Illustrated for spinach salad with bacon dressing. The problem is then that I can't remember in which Cook's Illustrated magazine the recipe is located. And after looking through my stack of magazines until I find the right one, I realize that I also have forgotten (and forgotten to write down previously) the modifications that I make to the recipe so that it tastes even better. All of this reminds me of why I am keeping a food blog, so that the next time I want to make spinach salad with bacon dressing, I can just turn here. Tonight, as I was eating my spinach salad, I remembered again that I like the dressing so much that I always wish I had doubled it.

Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing
Cook's Illustrated, March & April 2003, p. 8

For 4 people as a side dish, use the following ingredients:

• 1 or 2 large eggs, hard boiled and then cut to the size you prefer
• 4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch wide pieces. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I usually use a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture, all of which can come from corn.
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 small garlic clove, minced (about 1/2 tsp.)
• 3 1/2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• a 6-ounce bag of baby spinach

Instructions:

Cook the eggs so that they are hard-boiled.  Then cut them to the size you prefer.  Cut the bacon into small pieces.  Place a medium frying pan over medium heat and add the bacon.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has been rendered and the bacon is browned.  Remove the bacon from the pan and let drain on a paper-towel lined plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.  Chop the onion and add to the pan.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened.  Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.  Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the cider vinegar, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan.  Then stir in the sugar, pepper, and salt.  Transfer the bag of baby spinach into a serving bowl.  Pour the hot dressing over the spinach and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.  Sprinkle the bacon pieces and egg pieces over each plate of salad.

Potato Leek Soup

My favorite potato soup used to be potato Cheddar soup. It was almost like a cheeseburger in soup form, on account of the beef broth, bacon, sauteed onions, and cupfuls of Cheddar cheese. However, since the girls and I now are trying to avoid dairy products, I have had to search for a new favorite potato soup, one that would still be thick and creamy, even without using any cream, milk, butter, or cheese. This fall I found a potato leek soup recipe that exceeded my expectations: the resulting soup is flavorful and creamy, and Michael likes it even better than our old favorite!

Potato Leek Soup:

I was able to follow the ingredient list and instructions on the recipe, except for the following modifications:

• Bacon instead of Butter: Instead of sauteing the leeks in butter, saute them in bacon drippings. Chop two slices of bacon into small pieces, fry the bacon over medium heat until it is browned and crispy, then remove the bacon from the pot, leaving the drippings. Add the leeks to the pot and followed the instructions to saute the leeks over low heat until softened. When you add the potatoes and broth to the soup, put the bacon bits back in as well. If you would like to make this recipe for us using bacon, look for one without any sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture, all of which can come from corn. I recommend Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon, which can be found at Trader Joe's. If you cannot find a Michael-friendly bacon, saute the leeks in olive oil or canola oil.

• Chicken Broth: Before having kids, I used to make home-made chicken broth, and perhaps one of these days I'll get around to doing that again. In the mean time, I use boxed chicken broth. If you also prefer the convenience of store-bought chicken broth, look on the label to make sure it does not contain any corn, wheat, soy, dextrose, MSG, xanthan gum, mono and diglycerides, natural flavoring, organic flavors, or vegetable flavor. The brand that I think tastes the best is Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth. If you cannot find that one, Pacific Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and Trader Joe's Free Range Chicken Broth (but not the low-sodium version) are also safe to use.
  

• Potatoes: After trying several different kinds of potatoes, I recommend Russet potatoes for the creamiest consistency.

• Spices: Instead of Tabasco sauce or red chili sauce, use a dash of Cayenne red pepper and a bit of paprika. If you like a spicier soup, you can add more of these as well as more black pepper.
  

Spicy Honey Marinated Chicken

Tonight was one of those happy nights when I tried out a new recipe and it turned out really well the first time. I started off with a recipe from "Cooking Light" called Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs, which I then modified to suit my family's preferences. Not only does the spicy honey marinade lock the moisture into the chicken so that it doesn't dry out in the oven, but it also gives the chicken a great flavor and a beautiful bronze color. I served the chicken with quinoa, but I think it might go better with something else, perhaps a Mexican or Caribbean rice, like the one in Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room. Michael thought it would go well with something lime-flavored. If it were summer and not 27 degrees outside with piles of snow everywhere, I would love to grill the chicken breasts on our deck and then serve them on top of a leafy salad with a honey and lime dressing. I could add some fresh tomatoes from the tomato plant we will have on the deck, and perhaps some fresh herbs.... But I shouldn't start thinking too much about that, because winter has only just begun and, really, these chicken breasts were quite tasty cooked in the oven in our nice warm kitchen.

Spicy Honey Marinated Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt, without any anti-caking agent added
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• dash of ground red pepper
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 to 3 boneless, skinless half chicken breasts

Instructions:

In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken breasts, to form the spicy honey marinade. Then on a cutting board trim any fatty bits off of the chicken. Place a piece of wax paper over the chicken breasts and pound the thicker parts with the flat side of a meat mallet until the breasts are a uniform thickness. Then place the chicken in a quart-size zip-loc bag. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal the bag, and move the chicken around until the marinade covers all of the surfaces of the chicken. Put the zip-loc bag in the refrigerator to let the chicken marinate for about 1 hour. After 30 minutes I would recommend turning the bag over and moving the chicken around again.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet for the chicken breasts by placing a piece of aluminum foil across the entire surface of the baking sheet. (This will make clean-up much easier.) After the chicken has marinated for an hour, take the chicken breasts out of the bag and place them on the baking sheet. Do not wipe the marinade off of the chicken; in fact, if any parts of the chicken do not have a thin layer of marinade still on them after you have put them on the baking sheet, pour a little bit more marinade on top of the chicken pieces. Then put the baking sheet on the middle oven rack and bake the chicken for 15-20 minutes, until it is done.

Peanut Butter (or other butter) Cookies

We had friends over on Friday and I made my favorite easy dessert: peanut butter cookies. I have been making this cookie recipe for years now since it is so quick to make and doesn't require any flour. However, on Friday I decided to modify the recipe by using sunflower seed butter, since Naomi and our friend's daughter both react to peanut butter. The cookies still turned out great, and I think they would work just as well with almond butter. I'll have to try that next time.

Peanut Butter (or almond or sunflower seed butter) Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of peanut butter. I have switched to using Jif Natural peanut butter because it's less likely to have hidden corn in it. You could also substitute the peanut butter with 1 cup of almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
  
• 3/4 cup to 1 cup of granulated sugar. I put the range of sugar because it depends on the consistency of your nut butter. If the nut butter is on the oily side, use 1 cup of sugar; if it is on the drier side, use 3/4 cup of sugar.

Optional Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Look on the label to make sure the chocolate chips do not have any milk fat or other milk products in them. I recommend Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips or Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the peanut butter (or other butter), egg, baking soda, and sugar until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Put teaspoonfuls of cookie dough onto baking sheets, leaving a couple of inches between the balls of dough. Press down lightly on each of the balls with the prongs of a fork to make a cross-hatch pattern. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies look slightly golden brown. The cookies are a bit fragile when they are hot, so they need to be handled gently. Remove the trays from the oven and let the cookies cool on the trays for 1 minute. Then, using a spatula, transfer the cookies onto a rack to cool. You don't need to wait until they have cooled completely to eat them, though. I prefer mine when the cookies are still warm and the chocolate from the chocolate chips is nice and gooey. The recipe makes about 24 cookies, but they don't last long.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

This past week I had the inspiration to start a food blog. I know what you're thinking, isn't everyone starting a food blog? Perhaps it's because I finally got around to watching the movie "Julie and Julia," in which Julie blogs about her experiences attempting to cook Julia Child's recipes. Perhaps it's because we just took Sabrina for allergy testing, which confirmed that she really is allergic to certain foods, including soy, shellfish, some tree nuts, and possibly corn. Or perhaps it's because we just got back from visiting my parents for Christmas and I realized that it's getting more and more complicated for other people to make food for my family and me. In light of this, I would like to create a blog for our friends and family to help them out in the case that they want to cook for us, and for me so that I will remember the recipes and ingredients that taste good and work for my family.

For New Year's Eve Michael and I had two other couples over for dessert and bubbly alcoholic drinks. The two women who came are confessed chocoholics, just like I am, so I decided to make hot fudge pudding cake. This dessert is also my father-in-law's favorite, which he requests whenever he visits us or we visit him. It is ridiculously good. In one 8"x8" Pyrex pan you have rich chocolate cake on the top and a hot gooey chocolate pudding on the bottom. It serves 6 people easily, or 8 people if they are willing to share. If you don't already have the recipe, you can ask me or find it at www.cooksillustrated.com.


Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

from "Cook's Illustrated," May & June 2002, pp. 24-25

Ingredients that I used to modify the recipe:

• 2/3 cup Ghirardelli All Natural Premium Baking Cocoa, Natural Unsweetened Cocoa

• 2 ounces of Baker's bittersweet chocolate. If you cannot find this particular chocolate, look for another bittersweet chocolate with about 70% cacao that does not contain any milk fat or other milk products in it.

• 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour

• 2 tsp. homemade baking powder, made by combining 4/3 tsp. cream of tartar and 2/3 tsp. baking soda

• 1 Tbsp. Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract. If you cannot find Trader Joe's vanilla, then try to buy an alcohol-free vanilla extract that also does not contain corn syrup.

• 1/3 cup Lactaid milk
  

• 1/4 tsp. sea salt. Check to make sure there are not any anti-caking agents added.

Other ingredients:

• The other ingredients are ones that you probably have on hand: brown sugar, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, and 1 large egg yolk.

Optional ingredients:

• The cake can be served with vanilla ice cream. Since dairy products don't agree with me and the girls, I would recommend getting a coconut "ice cream" called Purely Decadent Made With Coconut Milk non-dairy frozen dessert. This ice cream is so good that we eat it even when we don't have the hot fudge pudding cake to go with it.