Avocado Salad Dressing

So, now that I am on the hunt for salad dressing, I have come across a few more.

I absolutely love the taste of avocado and use it whenever possible. I would grow it if I could but I do not think my climate lends to good growing conditions. (Although I am going to look that up now :) )

Avocado is an amazing healing food and should be incorporated into your diet at least a couple times per week. When it is in season and at a good price, I eat as many as I can!




1 avocado, pitted and peeled
2 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped or squished
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 lemon, juices
1/2 cup olive oil
pepper to taste

Put all but the olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Then add the olive oil while the processor is still running on low.
If you need to thin it out, add a little water. Pour over a salad of fresh greens and enjoy!

Garlic - This ingredient is a fantastic candida fighter but only when consumed raw. Not only does it help to kill off candida in your system, it helps to balance the natural flora of your digestive system. Dressings are a perfect way to get raw garlic into your system.

Green Onions - These have anti-fungal properties and help to kill off candida in your system. Green onions from the store that come with roots attached |(most do) can be used and regrown in your windowsill or garden. I have a post about this which you can see here.

Italian Salad Dressing

It always amazes me how many things wheat and gluten can find its way into. Salad dressing tends to be loaded with gluten to give it a thicker texture.
For a while I had basic oil and vinegar but it got very boring very quickly. I don't know why I waited so long to look up dressing recipes because there is actually an impressive selection of recipes that are gluten free. Here is one of my new default dressings that is also the base for Poppy-Seed Dressing that I will upload soon.

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 cup olive oil

Mince the garlic first. Then add the rest of the ingredients to a jar or bowl and mix it up until it emulsifies. I like to make it in a jar so that I can pop a top on and save the leftover dressing.


Garlic - this ingredient stimulates the liver and colon, helping the body to detoxify. In order to get the benefits from garlic, it must be eaten raw. It is also an anti-fungal which helps to kill off the candida and helps to increase the good bacteria.

Easy Homemade Yogurt

I go through a lot of yogurt. It is so good for me so I try to have a serving (at least!) every day for breakfast or in my dinner recipes. It is a great base for so many sauces. I use it to replace sour cream in many of my recipes as it is healthier. 


Ingredients:
1L bag of milk
2-3 Tbsp yogurt with active cultures (store bought or leftover from your last batch)
     OR
     a pack of "Yogurt Cultures" 


1) Bring the milk to the boiling point (about 180F). I just wait for the boil to begin and maintain it at that temperature for a minute or two.


2) Take the pot off the heat and let cool to 110F. I usually put my pot in a sink of cool water to cool it down more quickly. It should feel just warm to the touch.


3) Mix your yogurt or pack of cultures in.


4) Pour the mixture into a seal-able container. I used a couple mason jars. Old yogurt containers or anything you have on had works great. 






5) You want to maintain the temperature of 90-120F for at least 4 hours now. I turn my oven on until it reaches 115F, shut it off and put my jars inside. I have heard that slow cookers and rice cookers on "warm" setting will work. You can also wrap them in towels and put it in a cooler. Or alternately, you may live in a climate within that temperature range, in which case just leave them on the counter. 




5) At the 5 hour mark feel free to take a look at the consistency of the yogurt. Keep in mind that it will thicken in the fridge. Some recipes call for as long as 12 hours. The longer the cultures work, the more sour and tangy the yogurt will become. 


6) When it has a custard consistency, put your yogurt in the fridge for an hour or two. Then go ahead and enjoy in your favorite sweet or savory dish!


Remember to keep a couple Tablespoons of yogurt to start your next batch!


Cost to Make: (500g tub)


Milk $6.99/3L  (or 2.32/L)
Leftover Yogurt $free (or a couple cents)
= $1.16/500g


Good To Know:


***If your yogurt is not tangy enough, leave it in a warm place for an extra couple hours.


***1L of milk will give you 1L of yogurt. So, if you have a container you like to fill, use that as your measuring cup.


***Yogurt cultures can now be found in the grocery store in the dairy section. Health food stores carry it or it can be purchased online. I would buy a cup of yogurt to use to start your first batch over the trouble of ordering cultures online. There is no difference to the finished product.


***You may use any milk that you would like. I use homogenized because I like the creaminess of the yogurt and I believe it thickens more quickly. Given the option, I would chose organic, hormone free milk. The better the milk, the better the yogurt.


My Favorite Yogurt Recipes:


Cream Cheese from Yogurt
Tzatziki Sauce
Red Potaoes in Curried Yogurt Sauce
Frozen Yogurt
Yogurt, Honey and Banana Facial




How to get Thicker Yogurt


The thickness of your yogurt is based on a few things. First off, the higher the fat content of your milk, the thicker the yogurt will be.


The longer I allow my yogurt to sit, the thicker it gets.


When you bring your milk to the boiling point, keep it there for up to 10 minutes to evaporate some of the liquid out.


When the yogurt is done, you can strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth/butter-cloth to take some of the moisture out. The whey will fall through leaving a thicker Greek-style yogurt.


You can add some milk powder to the mixture to thicken it up during the milk boiling stage.

Green Pea Soup

This is a recipe that I love all year round. In the summer I use the fresh peas from my garden, and in the winter I use frozen peas.

Ingredients:


3     Tbsp fresh ginger
5-6  cloves of garlic
1      Serrano pepper (or jalapeno)
1/4   tsp cumin

3      Tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
2       bay leaves
1       medium onion

4 1/2 cups vegetable stock
3 1/2 cups peas
1       tsp sea salt
1       squeeze lemon juice

1) Combine the first 4 ingredients in a mortar or food processor into a paste.
2) Heat the oil or ghee in a saucepan over medium-high heat then add bay leaves and onion and saute.
3) Stir in the paste and cook for another minute or two. Add the vegetable stock, peas, salt and lemon juice and cook until peas are tender.
4) Remove from the heat and puree with a hand mixer.

Serve with a dallop of homemade yogurt and a sprig of mint.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Soup

In the fall I was making a batch of pumpkin seeds at the end of the season. The woman who worked the local pumpkin farm told me to take all the pumpkins I could handle... for free! The trick is going a week after Halloween to do your pumpkin shopping! My intention was to gut a few to roast the seeds and throw the flesh to the chickens. But once she helped me fill up my trunk I knew I had way too many. I took the flesh out of them and put them in freezer bags for later use.

All winter I was sneaking pumpkin into chili, pasta sauce and soups. It has a wonderful texture and makes soups smooth and creamy and adds a ton of extra vitamins. Here is a recipe I found for pumpkin soup. Sometimes I season it a little different to suit the meal but this is a great recipe just the way it is!







Ingredients:
1    small pumpkin (about 3 cups pumpkin pulp)
2    Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
4    cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg


To Make Pumpkin Puree:
1) Preheat over to 375F. Wash pumpkin, cut in half and remove the insides. Place cut-side-down on the baking sheet or oven rack and bake for 40 minutes or until soft.
2)Scrape out the insides and puree in the blender.

To Make the Soup:
1) Saute the onions in the butter in a soup pot until onions are translucent.
2) Add the stock, spices and pumpkin. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot with some GF crackers or bread.

Gluten Free Pear Bread Recipe

I found this recipe just today and had to make it right away. I found it on another great gluten free blog site called Simply...Gluten Free. I knew I needed to share it with you all right away!

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2    cup tapioca, corn or potato starch
1       tsp baking powder
1       tsp kosher or sea salt
2       tsp ground cinnamon

2       eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2    cup grapeseed or canola oil
2       tsp vanilla

2       pears, peeled and grated
1       cup walnuts

1) Preheat over to 350F. Grease a 9x5 pan and dust lightly with brown rice flour.
2) Mix together rice, tapioca, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3) In another bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Add the pears and walnuts and mix lightly.
4) Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm with homemade butter :)


Follow @YesNoMabee

Gluten Free Me on Facebook

Quinoa and Black Beans

This is a recipe I found on AllRecipes a little while back. I was hoping to find it to link to it but for now, here is the recipe as I have it written down. Quinoa and black beans are both amazing for you and I love that this recipe combined them together into a super healthy recipe.


1       onion, chopped
3       cloves of garlic, chopped
3/4    cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1       tsp ground cumin
1/4    tsp cayenne pepper
1       cup frozen corn kernals
2 (15oz) cans black beans


1) Heat up a saucepan with some vegetable oil in it. Brown the onions and garlic in it.
2) Mix the quinoa into the saucepan and cover in the broth. Add the cumin, cayenne and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
3) Reduce heat and let simmer 20 minutes. Stir in frozen corn and simmer 5 more minutes. Add the black beans and serve.


Follow @YesNoMabee

Gluten Free Me on Facebook