Gluten Free, Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

I feel bad I haven't taken the time to blog lately. Things have been busy and tiring (and fun!). Yesterday I dropped off some goodies for a bake sale and we had a small get together. I finally conquered the Snickerdoodle (YAYY!), which got rave reviews along with my lucuma banana cupcakes with vanilla icing. Today I went to discuss renting a commercial kitchen so I can attend farmer's markets on the weekends and potentially do some online sales. There is a lot to getting a baking business started....

There wasn't much leftover...I love how people try to

be polite and not take the last cookie, but people ended up
tearing pieces off

Today I decided to work on a business plan for the bakery and start perfecting more recipes. I have several that are market ready, but I could always use more (many more, preferably). I tend to try to bake the things I loved when I was younger. Cinnamon rolls are something my grandmother really excels at, and my brothers always beg her to make them. I decided to try my hand at them. Gluten free rolls are....not quite the same (at least not the rolls I've made so far). The dough does hold up to rolling for cutting, but it's soft enough that the cinnamon swirl loses its definition and I press into a rectangle rather than attempting to roll. I'm personally allergic to baker's yeast, but my husband tells me they are quite good. He's gotten to be a pretty reliable food critic, and although he isn't always very descriptive as to why he does or doesn't like something, I know I can trust his overall opinion.


Cinnamon Rolls
makes about 8


Rolls
1/2 c Teff Flour
1 c Brown Rice Flour
1/2 c Tapioca Flour
1 1/4 c Sweet Potato (cooked and mashed)
1/2 tsp salt
4 T melted Palm Oil
1/2 c water
2 T Yeast
1 T Maple Syrup


Cinnamon Filling
7 Medjool Dates
1/4 c packed Raisins
1/4 c Coconut Oil
1/2 t Cinnamon
2 T Maple Syrup
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the dates and raisins in water to soak and set aside. Warm a 1/2 cup of water to 110 degrees and add the maple syrup and yeast. If the water is the right temperature, you will see the yeast foam up within the first couple minutes. Combine the dry ingredients for the rolls and melt the palm oil. Add the yeast mixture and palm oil and fold into the dry ingredients. I end up getting my hands dirty to make sure things are well combined (be careful not to overmix/handle).

Drain the dates and raisins and put them in a food processor with an S blade until the dried fruit starts to form a ball (it should be close to a paste at that point). Put the mixture in a mixing bowl and combine the maple syrup, cinnamon, and coconut oil. Set aside.

Put a piece of parchment paper over a cookie sheet and work the dough into a large rectangle shape.


Put tablespoons of the date/filling mixture around the dough and GENTLY spread the mixture with a knife, being careful not to tear the dough underneath.


Once the mixture is evenly spread, roll the dough.


Score the dough and cut into even pieces, about an inch and a half thick.


Bake for 30 minutes or until a nice golden color:


Icing
2 T Palm Oil
1/2 T hot water
2 c Powdered Sugar - approximate
vanilla

Stir the palm oil and hot water together with a hand mixer, along with vanilla bean (1/2 a bean scraped or 1/2 tsp extract). Put 1.5 cups sugar in a fine sifter and sift the sugar. Combine the mix and continue to add sugar as necessary to achieve the right consistency. These measurements may be a little off - I tend to eyeball frosting.

Leek and Potato Soup

Winter makes grocery shopping a little interesting. There isn't a whole lot in season in Washington. Arugula, kale, dandelion greens, mushrooms, and a few root vegetables may resemble something close to in season, but there isn't a whole lot growing without greenhouses. A lot of food is shipped into the area.

I walked through the grocery store the other day and the selection wasn't as vibrant as it is in the late spring, but there were some things that stood out. The garlic at PCC was finally plump and beautiful. Before this week, the garlic was small and a little hit or miss. The leeks looked pretty good so I grabbed them on a whim along with some potatoes, mushrooms, and greens. Soup has been something I crave a lot with the cold weather.

Some mushrooms are more flavorful than others, but most all are subtle. Crimini are only very slightly more earthy than button mushrooms and lend a bit of that flavor to soup. Most store bought stocks or boullion cubes have soy (even those with animal products). I didn't want to take the time to make a full vegetable stock (I had plans for the other ingredients in the fridge), so the mushrooms were a suitable substitute.

Leek and Potato Soup

4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 T olive oil
6-7 washed Crimini mushrooms, diced
1/2-3/4 c white wine
1/2 tsp salt
large pinch each of thyme, tarragon, and rosemary
2 leeks, sliced
1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes (1/2 ")
3-4 cups water
fresh ground pepper

Put a large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When the oil is warm and ready, add the mushrooms and garlic, stirring until the mushrooms absorb most of the oil and become softer.


Add the wine and let reduce to half its original amount and the add the leeks.


Keep stirring until the leeks wilt. I thought my pan was way too small and was amazed how much the leeks reduce.


Add the water and potatoes and bring to a boil. Check the potatoes after 10 minutes. Add fresh ground pepper to each serving.

This is a simple, mild soup that would do well as a side. I think next time I will try pan roasting the potatoes in the oven first next time with a little garlic and olive oil.

Tomorrow we are having some people over and I will be making a couple baked goods for Owen. Mom requested Ginger Cookies. I will also be making some blueberry pancakes in the morning with a blueberry sauce on top (you really can't have too much fruit). I'm personally allergic to blueberries, but I know my husband will enjoy them.

Apple Fennel Roast

Our fridge is running really, really low. In my baking frenzy this weekend, I overlooked real food. It ends up being a good thing when I have to consider something new. I haven't had much cooked fennel. I have heard that it goes with apple. I had no idea what spices went with them, so I kept it simple, and my husband and I both liked it. I think it would go really well with some pasta if the pieces are cut smaller or as a side.

Apple Fennel - Pan Roasted
1 large Fennel Bulb
1/2 large Yellow Onion
3-4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 medium Apples
1/3 c White Wine
1/2 bunch of Kale
1 pinch Salt
1/2 tsp Thyme (dried)

Slice the fennel bulb into 1/4 inch slices. Slice the onion into slightly thinner slices. Core the apple, and slice the apples on a medium setting on the mandolin slicer. Rough chop the kale. Put the fennel, onion, and garlic in a medium sauce pan with olive oil. Cook until the onions are transparent and add the salt and thyme. Add the apples and stir a bit until they are slightly cooked. Add the wine. After the wine has reduced to 1/2, add the Kale.

We have a winner!

The winner of the Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Recipe giveaway is VeRAWnica! Congrats! Please contact me at thediscerningkitchen@gmail.com.

Things haven't been too exciting today. I'm a little baked out, so I've been eating a LOT of salad. I still need to go through the recipe rating cards and decide what I'm going to do with some of them. I already have some ideas for improvements. I work right across the street from Uwajimaya, so I'm excited to try some of the yams, sweet potatoes, and other tubers in baked goods. I want to focus on savory foods and breads for a while, but will probably wait to start baking on Thursday. We have a LOT of leftovers from this weekend, so both Lance and I are taking them to work. I'll start freezing them tomorrow for when Owen comes over.

Blueberry Upsidedown Cake

I am so excited to be blogging tonight. It's the first time that I've had a few quiet moments to spare.

Sunday was a busy day full of baking and family. I got up fairly early in the morning, fed the dog, cleaned the kitchen, and then started baking up a storm. I'm having a bunch of people over to taste test a bunch of my recipes, and I wanted to make some improvements. The day before I had made some chocolate chip oat cookies and snickerdoodles. I made the snickerdoodles with coconut oil instead of palm oil because we have a friend that has a palm allergy. I have to say palm oil works a little better in cookies. Coconut oil is great in cakes, muffins, and cupcakes though.

Snickerdoodles

thin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Next was a batch of Sweet Potato Donuts. A lot of my recipes have improved over time and I wasn't sure if I'd still be impressed with the recipe. It really didn't disappoint though. We don't often fry food. I used canola oil this time and filled a pan enough for the donuts to be completely submerged and cook evenly. I laid out a tray, put paper towels on the tray and then layered a wire cooling rack over the paper towels. It worked really well. I'll admit I made a big mess sprinkling powdered sugar on top with a wire fine mesh strainer.

Donuts on their cooling rack post powdered sugar -
the area was a mess after that sifting

Next up were Cinnamon Rolls. I'm told they are quite good, but I need to work on a thicker filling. This time I used date syrup and palm oil with a little maple syrup. I think next time I will be processing dates without soak water to make a paste.

Frosted Cinnamon Rolls

After the cinnamon rolls, I had a brilliant idea for a blueberry upside down cake. I put too much blueberry sauce in the pan on the first go and not quite enough the second time. Getting the cake to layer on top is a little difficult.

Messy - but tasty! - upside down cake

The neater version - the ideal is somewhere between the two

I also made some pretty decent dinner rolls to go with dinner. While Mom and I were getting dinner ready, the boys were having fun in the living room. Annie is absolutely obsessed with the laser light. Owen loves clicking the button to make the light turn on for the dog, but I have a feeling he doesn't completely understand what's going on....

Owen loves being at our house and whenever Lance was outside, he'd ask "Where Choo Choo??" Apparently, Lance is Uncle Choo Choo. After dinner, my family went home and I got a text message from Mom mid-trip. Owen got into the cookies and really liked how the doughnut fit on his finger like a little hat.

Last night my car broke down, so my evening was shot after work. I found out today that there's an issue with the fuel injectors. The cylinders aren't sealing completely, so the cylinders are flooding with fuel after the engine is shut off, making restarting it any time soon after running an errand impossible. After an hour and a half of letting it sit, I was able to drive it a quarter of a mile, but it was running so rough and smelled horrible, so I pulled in a gas station. Fortunately, Lance was in his car behind me and we were able to go home after the truck came. It was a long night.


Blueberry Upsidedown Cake


Blueberry Sauce/Topping
makes enough for 2 cakes
1 pint Blueberries (fresh is best)
1 tsp+ Orange Zest
1/4 c Sugar
1/3 c Coconut Oil
1 Cinnamon Stick - whole

Put the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until the oil melts and the sugar dissolves.

Keep the cinnamon stick intact, and remove the stick and take off the heat once the mixture has come to a boil.


Maple Cake
makes 1 cake
1 c White Rice Flour
1/2 c Teff Flour
1/4 c Arrowroot Powder
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
3-4 T melted Coconut Oil
2 T Chia seeds, ground
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp Orange zest
Appx 1/2 c. water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift all of the dry ingredients together. Add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and then just enough water to get the batter to the right texture. It needs to be thick enough to sit on top of the blueberry mixture without mixing too much.

Bake the cake for around 40 minutes. The cake is done when you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Run a knife around the side and push the cake in a little bit. Put a plate on top of the pan and flip the cake over. tap the plate and pan on the counter top a little until the cake falls loose.

All Things Green

This morning I got out of bed at 5 AM and had all intentions of getting on that bus and heading into work. My stomach, on the other hand, rebelled. I thought things had calmed down in time to get on the bus, but I ended up scuttling home as quickly as possible and locking myself in the bathroom. Annie was ecstatic that I decided to call in sick and we ended up spending all day curled up on the couch. This morning I decided that it was time for my first green juice feast and to hopefully help balance the bacteria profile in my gut.

My immune system isn't normal, and my stomach seems to be my weak point. It's the first thing to start bugging me before a lupus flare and a good sign that things are wonky. I've struggled for a long time with intestinal candida, and I'm afraid I did myself in yesterday. I'm on Amphotericin (I was on Nystatin and that didn't work) and a low carbohydrate diet. I've been on the low carbohydrate diet a while and baked cookies for a potluck yesterday. I showed amazing will power and resisted shoveling chocolate chip heaven into my mouth. Until we got home. My chocolate chip cookies are amazing...but in the back of my mind I knew there would be a fallout (no pun intended) and couldn't really enjoy my one cookie. It's frustrating.

Green Juice Feast

After this morning, I started juicing everything I had in my crisper. In went cilantro, ginger, kale, cucumber, celery, a little fennel, and romaine lettuce. Right now I'm prepping spinach, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, and celery in a vinegar solution. It's a good thing I've been craving green juices lately! I used to hate them. It's amazing how cravings change.

I tested the juice, and it wasn't half bad. Annie was jumping up and down in the kitchen, so I poured some in her bowl. I'm not going to say she LOVED it, but she drank it all. I am a little proud - she's hard core.


This evening we went to the grocery store and picked up more greens since I drank most of the crisper today. Annie was in hog heaven because I kept dropping pieces of kale and spinach. She always creeps in to the kitchen and skulks off with a big piece of kale (her favorite).

Each batch of green juice contains:
1/2" - 1" long piece of ginger
1/2 a fennel bulb
1 bunch celery (leaves and all)
1 large bunch kale
1/2 bunch spinach
1 head romaine lettuce
1/2 cup cilantro (loose)
1/2 cup parsley (loose)
1 large cucumber


I was expecting to be dizzy with hunger. If I'm late for a meal or don't pack enough calories to work, I'm a mess. A shaky, cranky mess. Today I am surprised how well I feel. I've been sipping the green juice all day and supplementing with tea. I've been using a "Perk Up" tea with burdock and ginger. I'm also supplementing with probiotics. We will see how the next few days go, but don't be surprised if I don't do much baking. I am loving Janet Evanovich's novels right now, but I never realized how much she talked about food until today. The main character is a pastry/baked food addict and some of the descriptions have made me a little hungry.

It's Time to Plan the Garden

This evening I have big plans. I'm going to start checking out the Seattle Tilth's Maritime Northwest Garden Guide calendar and comparing the schedule to our supplies and the Territorial Seed Company catalog I just received. Last year our early garden did quite well. The weather got very strange this summer (so WET all the TIME), so things didn't do very well. We did save a lot of money on groceries regardless of the weather issues, and it is great to have an excuse to play in the dirt and find a closer connection with food.


If I get my act together, we can start planting outside under cloches as early as late February. Cloches are super simple to make and improve things tremendously. They also help keep many pests out initially.

Mango Sauce

This sauce is great for teff waffles, crepes, pancakes, and vanilla Coconut Bliss "ice cream." It's super easy to make, which always helps.

Mango Sauce
makes enough for 2 hungry pancake eaters, or 4 ice cream bowls
6 oz (appx 1 cup) chopped mango (frozen is fine)
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB orange juice
3 TB maple syrup
1 TB tapioca starch

Put the ingredients in a small sauce pan, except the tapioca starch. Turn the pan on to medium, and while the pan is heating up, put the tapioca in a small bowl with enough water to liquefy the starch. Put the starch in the pan and stir occasionally. Once the mixture has gone from cloudy to clear and a little gooey, it's done!

Today is a short, easy post. It was my first day back to work for a full work week and waking up at 5AM to catch the bus. Lance had the day off, and I can tell he and Annie had a lot of fun because she is so tired. And bugging me to sit down and pet her. Lance is her fun time buddy and I'm her snuggle buddy. It all works out.

Pet me, hold me, DO SOMETHING!

Coming soon: Adventures with eliminating tree nuts! A lot of my cookie and breakfast recipes are tree nut free, but I've come to rely on them with cakes and cupcakes for that wonderful, buttery richness. They really help achieve a superior texture, which means I'll be tinkering around with new techniques.

Lemon Cupcakes and Recipe Suggestions

I've posted recipes for lemon cake and cupcakes before, but this is my favorite (so far). The texture meets the traditional cupcake texture and it doesn't have that "gluten free flour taste" that can be unpleasant. This was Lance's favorite by a slim margin over the Lucuma Banana Cupcakes. These cupcakes do not have a trace taste of banana that the lucuma cupcakes do.

Lemon Cupcakes
makes 18
6 oz Teff Flour
1 oz Arrowroot Powder
6 oz Brown Rice Flour
6 oz Sugar
3 T Chia Seeds (ground)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
3 oz Cashews
2 Meyer Lemons, juiced
3 Meyer Lemons, zest
1 large, ripe Banana
3 oz Agave
2 oz Coconut Oil, melted
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Instead of a traditional sifter, I use a fine sieve and use a whisk to break up extra chunks. Strainers are much easier to wash. Zest three Meyer lemons and add the zest to the dry ingredients and stir. Put the cashews, lemon juice, banana, coconut oil, and agave in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth and fluffy. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula, combining thoroughly. After you put cupcake papers in your tin and your oven is preheated, add the apple cider vinegar to the batter and mix vigorously to combine well. Spoon the batter into the cupcake papers until they are a little more than 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.


Please feel free to post any recipe requests in the comments section. I'm trying to widen my repertoire of recipes, but I'm not sure what people are most interested in. Muffins for a quick breakfast? Healthy entrees? More desserts? Any feedback is appreciated!

Lucuma Banana Cupcakes

Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit indigenous to the Andes. In its fresh form, the flesh is very dry and the fruit is very high in B vitamins and beta carotene. The fruit is gaining popularity globally, but is generally only available in powdered form in North America and Europe. On its own, lucuma is very sweet and reminds me of vanilla cake batter. It's a very popular ice cream flavor in Peru, and considered a low sugar sweetener that has more nutrition than some of the empty sweetener substitutes used today. Because lucuma reminded me of cake batter, it only made sense to make cupcakes with lucuma.

Lucuma Banana Cupcakes
Yield: 16-18 cupcakes
4 oz Teff Flour
1 oz Arrowroot Powder
5 oz Brown Rice Flour
3 oz Lacuma Powder
6 oz Sugar
3 T Chia Seeds (ground)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
3 oz melted Coconut Oil
2 small, ripe Bananas
6 oz Water
1.6 oz Cashews
3 oz Agave
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all of the dry ingredients (including the ground chia seeds) in a sifter. Put the coconut oil, bananas, water, cashews, and agave in a high speed blender and blend until fluffy and smooth. Fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients. Put the cupcake liners in your tin and right before you are ready to bake the cupcakes, add the apple cider vinegar to the batter and combine thoroughly. This helps the dough rise and have little air bubbles that make the texture like traditional cupcakes.


One of the pleasant side effects of using lucuma was that it made the top of the cupcake a little bit crunchy, reminding me of a cookie.


I buy my lucuma powder through rawvegansource.com here.

Caesar Salad and Spicy Mustard Sauce

When traveling on business to San Francisco, I had the good fortune to be able to have time to visit Cafe Gratitude. I sampled appetizers and had a Caesar salad for the main course, and it was delicious. The capers really made the dish and I promised that I would attempt the dish at home. Yesterday, we spent the better part of the day at my Grandparent's house and I brought the salad for my dinner.

Caesar Dressing

1/2 tsp Spicy Mustard Sauce (recipe below)

6 whole Black Peppercorns

1 small clove Garlic

1/2 cup Macadamia Nuts

1/4 cup water

juice from one Lemon

salt to taste

Put all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until they are very well combined. The peppercorns should be pulverized and blended well.

Spicy Mustard Sauce

(to be used very sparingly)

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Agave

pinch Salt

Put the mustard seeds in a spice or coffee grinder and grind until fine. Stir in the other ingredients. This is really intended to be added to dressings and sauces, not to be enjoyed straight as it is overpowering. It blew out my palate after I had it with slices of quinoa flatbread, lettuce and sauerkraut. I couldn't taste the sauerkraut after the first helping. I would recommend adding to a little whipped cashews or macadamia nuts if you want a mustard spread for flat breads.

Caesar Salad

1 head Romaine, chopped

1 shredded carrot

sprouts

1/4 c. rough chopped almonds

capers

Caesar Dressing

I put the capers and Caesar dressing in small bowls and let people decide the amounts they want on their salad. Some people dislike capers (I don't understand it, but I'll respect it). The almonds and sprouts add some additional nutrition and texture, but aren't necessary.

I don't understand why people say it's hard to stay vegan over the holidays. Perhaps I'd understand it a bit more if I had any inclination to have dairy. Staying dessert free on the other hand...I made two gluten free vegan lemon pies and didn't follow my own advice so today I had a bit of a sugar hangover. At least it makes it easier to stick to the diet going forward!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! Annie enjoyed her new toys, and we had some fun family moments. There were some awkward and crazy moments too (like when Annie got in a fight with one of the 7 dogs in the house - twice). Seems like there was a dog or two per family segment for about an hour of our visit. It felt like 12 hours. Don't worry, everyone left full and injury free.

Baby "O" really liked Thomas the Train Engine!

My family's beautiful and sweet Bernese Mountain Dog

(definitely not the dog Annie fought with)

Annie with part of her toy stash. Notice the protective

paw over HER reindeer. 100% attitude.

Holidays without the Food Hangover

Happy Holidays from Annie!

I know this is going to be a big surprise, but... I love food. I spend way too much time pouring through food magazines, cookbooks, and, of course, the FoodNetwork. I confess that even while I'm at my day job, I'm fantasizing about the next treat I'll attempt to transform into delicious vegan and allergy friendly sustenance. I suppose I don't consider myself to have much moderation, but I don't give myself enough credit. I haven't purposefully had gluten in 6 years. I haven't had corn, eggs, soy, milk, and many other foods for at least 4 years. Now, I am attempting to go low carb over the holidays! While continuing to create more gluten free goodies! Wish me luck....

Eating with friends and family is difficult at times. It is so important to make sure that cross contamination is kept to a minimum, but that can be difficult to do without hurting people's feelings if you aren't careful. People don't seem to realize how easy it is to contaminate food, and I know restaurants also fall into this category. The better restaurants/bakeries have separate ovens, fryers, and work stations dedicated to gluten free, but those who are celiac or extremely sensitive can become a little ill even from walking into the bakery with all of the flour in the air.

When sitting at a shared dinner table, it's really easy to forget which spoon is being used with which dish. I remember watching in horror as my sister-in-law beat me to the dinner table and proceeded to use the butter knife to help dig into EVERY other dish. I ended up helping myself to the refrigerator and making a salad from fresh ingredients. If you're worried about things staying allergy friendly (or vegan for that matter), the easiest way to go is to bring your own dish and/or help in the kitchen. It also helps cut down on the hurt feelings. My family wasn't too excited about me being vegan (they were great about allergies), but now they are comfortable with my decision and are happy when I offer to bring my own main dish.

Here are some low carb dishes I'm thinking about bringing to Christmas Dinner:

Vegan Cremey Spinach Dip

Made with sauteed garlic and spinach, combined with macadamia nuts, lemon juice, salt, and a little water. Great with celery, carrots, or other chopped vegetables.

Veggie Stir Fry
It is so easy to empty out the veggie crispers and make a delicious stir fry if you know how to use your spices. Last night, Lance and I enjoyed a chickpea coconut curry with spinach. Saffron stir-fry with peppers and ginger is also a favorite. I've linked to the peanut stir fry recipe, but it works just as well with almond butter if you are allergic to peanuts. My husband thought it was delicious.

Pesto on Zucchini Noodles

Pesto is so tasty, and there are more variations than one would think. Going 50/50 with basil and cilantro and adding lime, garlic, and olive oil is delicious.

Vegan Creamy Soup

Onions, garlic, and chopped zucchini combine to make a creamy base for a number of soups. Cream of mushroom and cream of broccoli are my favorite. Making these soups from scratch make me realize how "off" some of the canned versions taste.

Brussels Sprouts with Spaghetti Squash "Noodles" and Vegan Alfredo

It wouldn't be the holidays if I didn't bring cookies and pie. I will be increasing the amount of low carb, veggie dishes I bring to compensate for all the treats surrounding me. When I get hungry, I make really poor food choices. Please learn from my mistakes and bring at least snacks so you don't get hungry if something doesn't look trustworthy.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Holiday. Finding ways to stay allergy free and low sugar mean less New Years resolutions and less symptoms the next day. Standing your ground and bringing your own food means avoiding the bloating, headaches, wheezing, and stomach aches that often come with either purposefully cheating on your diet or accidentally getting a hold of something you weren't aware was contaminated.

I owe my readers more recipes. Tomorrow I'm testing some double chocolate cookies, pecan prints, sugar cookies (it's a classic!), and perhaps another. I should have at least one fabulous recipe to share. I've been a little greedy lately and have kept my pecan pie and chocolate chip cookies to myself....