Cherry Apricot Pan Jam

Pan Jams are one of my favorite things to make. They are so easy and in a short amount of time you have delicious jam! No one will know the difference. Lately I’ve been using my last batch of strawberry jam to top my yogurt and granola in the mornings. It’s a great way to flavor and lightly sweeten plain Greek yogurt using natural sugars from the fruit and honey. This jam is also great as a topping for pancakes, added into smoothies or even muddled in cocktails. Since there is no canning process required, the jam needs to be kept refrigerated. It usually keeps for about a week or two in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer. One batch  yields 16oz. This jam in particular is on the tart side which I prefer. If you would like a sweeter jam, add 1-2 more tablespoons of honey.


Ingredients:

2½ cups cherries, halved and pitted
2½ cups apricots, pitted and diced
½ cup honey
Juice from 1 lemon
Pinch of salt

To make:

In a large saucepan, add prepared fruit, honey, lemon juice and salt. Turn heat to medium high and stir to incorporate ingredients. Once the mixture reaches a boil, cook for about 18-20 minutes stirring frequently.  About ¾ of the way through you may need to turn the heat down to medium low to prevent thickening jam from burning. Once jam is done, pour into two glass jars. Top with lids and place in fridge or freezer. I usually keep the second jar in the freezer until ready to use.

Quinoa Porridge With Caramelized Banana

This is a super easy recipe you can make with leftover cooked quinoa. It's a filling breakfast and an excellent post workout recovery meal. You get your carbs, protein, and sugar (from honey) to help build and repair your muscles.  The sugar from the honey will bring your blood sugar back up. During an intense workout it can drop very low. It can also provide energy for the rest of your day.

Quinoa Porridge With Caramelized Banana

Gluten Free & Refined Sugar Free

Ingredients:

Quinoa Porridge

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)

2 tablespoon PB2

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Caramelized Banana 

1 teaspoon butter

1 small banana, sliced

sprinkle of cinnamon

To make:

In a small sauce pan with heat on low, add milk, PB2, honey and cinnamon. 

Whisk well to incorporate.

Add cooked quinoa and gently mix well. 

Continue to stir every few minutes until porridge is hot.

While the porridge is cooking, you can caramelize the banana.

In a small pan, heat on medium, melt butter. 

Add sliced banana and sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Cook for about a minutes on each side.

Transfer porridge to bowl and top with caramelized banana.

Enjoy :)

Food For Your Skin - Sugar Scrub

It's just as important to use clean natural ingredients on your skin as it is to eat a clean healthy diet. The skin is our largest organ so it makes sense to take good care of it. Many commercial brands use harsh chemicals and fragrances in their skin care products which can not only be harmful for your skin but if you are sensitive enough, they will cause a rash. This happens to me often. :(

Today I'll be sharing a recipe for a sugar scrub that can be used on your face and body. It's made from natural ingredients that your skin will love. Sugar scrubs are great for all skin types. Yes, including you, sensitive skin. The grapeseed oil used in this recipe is light so it leaves your skin smooth but not overly greasy. This stuff is great to use prior to shaving. The oils give your skin extra moisture and it helps prevent itchy legs which can happen after shaving.

Sugar Scrub

Ingredients:

4 cups cane sugar

16oz bag of brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder (optional)

1 cup melted coconut butter

2 cups grapeseed oil

1/4 cup honey

The choices are unlimited for adding scent to your scrub. There are a variety of essential oils and you can blend them to your preference. Below are the ones I chose but feel free to be creative and choose what you like.

30 drops sweet orange essential oil

30 drops bergamot essential oil

2 teaspoons honeysuckle perfume oil (Sunshine Spa brand)

 To make:

In a large bowl add the brown sugar, cane sugar and vanilla if you decide to do so. Gently mix to combine. You may need to use your hands to break up any clumps from the brown sugar.

In a medium bowl add your honey, grapeseed oil,  melted coconut butter and scent of choice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well to combine. Use a spoon to scoop scrub into jars. 

I was able to fill 10 wide mouth 8oz mason jars. Create your own gift tags and give these out for presents this Christmas. These also make a great hostess gift. 

Cranberry Orange Pan Jam

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. My love for recipes with cranberries is so great this time of year. One of my favorites is what we do at work. We top cupcakes with the sugared berries. It's just so pretty with the contrast of the deep berry color and the whiteness of the sugar. Definitely brings on that joyous feeling of winter.

During the summer, I made a few batches of pan jams using stone fruit. I thought it would be great to make a batch using cranberries. I love pan jams because they are so easy to make. Since there is no canning process required, they need to be kept refrigerated. They usually keep for about a week or two in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer.

Cranberry Orange Pan Jam 

Ingredients:

1 12oz bag of cranberries

1 orange - zest and juice

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

2 stevia packets 

(If you don't use stevia, I would suggest adding more coconut sugar since the berries are so tart.)

1oz Grand Marnier (Optional)

To Make:

Rinse cranberries and place in large bowl.

Heat 3 cups water in a pot just until it starts to boil. 

Pour water over cranberries and let sit for 10 minutes.

During this time, zest the orange and set both zest and orange aside. 

You will need the juice from the orange in the next step.

Drain cranberries and place back in the pot along with zest, 

juice from the whole orange, honey, coconut sugar, and stevia. 

Turn heat to medium-high and stir gently to combine all ingredients. 

Continue to stir every few minutes.

After about 5 minutes cranberries will begin to burst. 

Use a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to mash berries down.  

Turn heat slightly lower after 5 more minutes and add 1oz Grand Marnier.

Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until jam looks thick.

Store jam in glass jars in the fridge or freezer. 

This jam makes a great topping for pancakes as well as oatmeal and ice cream. 

Spelt Lemon & Chia Pancakes Topped With Blueberry Honey Compote

Mondays are my Saturdays. After having worked with cupcakes all weekend, you would think the last thing I would want to do is bake or cook. Wrong. I find myself staying awake after I've gone to bed on Sunday nights thinking of what I can create on my days off. As breakfast will be my next meal, pancake recipe ideas tend to float around my head quite a bit. So this morning I got into my kitchen with the intent of making lemon pancakes. The end result was Spelt Lemon and Chia Pancakes with a Blueberry Honey Compote. These pancakes are full of fiber from the flax and chia seeds and made with stevia as the sweetener. The compote is sweetened with honey, and for serving, I drizzled a little more honey on top.

Spelt Lemon and Chia Pancakes with a Blueberry Honey Compote 

Ingredients for Pancakes (makes 6 pancakes)

Dry Ingredients:

1/2 cup spelt flour

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1 Tablespoon ground flax seed

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 packets of stevia (I use NuNaturals brand.)

Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

3/4 cup almond milk

2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

How to Prepare:

Preheat large frying pan on stove over low heat.

In a medium-large bowl, sift all of your dry ingredients (expect chia seeds). Once everything is sifted, add chia seeds and mix together till flour mixture is evenly blended.

In another medium size bowl, add all of your wet ingredients and whisk together. 

Add the wet ingredients to dry and mix well till evenly combined. 

Adjust heat on stove to medium-high. Grease frying pan with oil or butter.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop pancake batter into pan. 

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. If you are familiar with making pancakes, you will be able to tell when they need to be flipped (when you see bubbles forming around sides.)

Blueberry Honey Compote

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen).

2 Tablespoons honey

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 pinches of lemon zest

In a medium size frying pan over medium-high heat, add blueberries, honey, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Mix well.  Turn the heat up to high and let cook, stirring frequently until compote thickens. Cooking time varies depending on how thick you like it.

Lauren's Fruit Cobbler

Years ago my dad dated a women named Lauren. I remember the night my brother and I met her for the first time. I had a preconceived notion she was going to be some young bimbo. I guess that says more about my dad. Anyway, she was great. She was a lovely woman. Over the years we spent a lot of time together. I will always remember what a great cook she was. On our beach outings, she would pack a picnic with the most amazing sandwiches. One day she served us a piece of her fruit cobbler. Oh my, it was amazing! The best cobbler I had ever tasted. So buttery and delicious. It was always such a treat when she would make it. I had gotten the recipe from her but never made it until now. I had been thinking in my head of how I wanted to make a gluten free version. The original recipe calls for self rising flour and sugar. I tweaked the recipe to make it gluten and refined sugar free. It still tastes just like that amazing cobbler I had years ago.

This recipe is great because you can use whatever fresh fruit you prefer. The first time I made it, I used strawberries and blueberries. This time around I used fresh apricots from my friend Wallace’s tree.

Lauren's Fruit Cobbler,
Gluten and Refined Sugar Free

What you will need:

1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 almond milk, unsweetened (soy or regular would work as well.)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cups fresh fruit of your choice (if using stone fruits, pit first and then measure.)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut sugar

To make:

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a 9 inch baking dish, preferably glass or ceramic. I just do this right over the burner on the stove.

In another bowl, sift together your flour blend and coconut sugar. Add milk and mix well to combine.

In a pot add your fruit, honey and coconut sugar. Substitute honey for the coconut sugar if you prefer. You can always adjust the amount of sweetener used depending on how sweet the fruit is. Heat until the sugar has melted and fruit is warm but not cooked.

To assemble, take the baking dish with melted butter, pour batter mixture into the middle. Again, into the middle, add the warm fruit mixture. Do not spread out!

Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden and crisp on top. Serve warm or cool. I like it best served with vanilla ice cream.

Carob Cherry Granola, Gluten Free

Carob Cherry Granola, GF


Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups gluten free oats
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/4 cup carob powder
3 packets stevia (NuNaturals brand)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch of salt
1/2 cup dried cherries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
In a large bowl, add oats, sesame seeds, flax seeds, carob powder, and pinch of salt. Mix well to incorporate ingredients evenly.
In a medium bowl, add honey, olive oil, and stevia packets and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry and toss to coat evenly.
Spread out on greased baking sheet or silpat mat placed on top of baking sheet.
 Bake for 30 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, add 1/2 cup dried cherries.
Let cool completely before storing.

Gluten Free Strawberry Pancakes

Gluten and Refined Sugar Free Strawberry Pancakes Topped with Marinated Strawberries in a Ginger Honey Syrup.



In my last post, I created a recipe for ginger honey syrup to be used in a drink recipe. I still had half a jar left so I thought of what else I could use it in. As a lover of pancakes, it could make a nice alternative to maple syrup. Although the consistency was much thinner I decided to use it as a marinade for chopped strawberries and use that as the topping.
Prep the strawberries before you start on the pancakes so they have time to soak up the flavor of the syrup. 

Marinade:

1 heaping cup of strawberries, chopped.
Place in a shallow dish and pour syrup (see previous post) over to coat the chopped berries.
Set aside until ready to top pancakes.

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 tapioca flour
1/4 ground flax seeds
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 packets stevia (I use NuNaturals brand)
Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 egg
1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup Seascape strawberry jam from Sweet Lady Cook (sweetened with honey)

Instructions:

Preheat a large pan on the stove top.
In a medium bowl, add all of your dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
In a larger bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the rest of the wet ingredients.
Add the dry to the wet while continually whisking. Beat until there are no more lumps.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter into heated greased pan on medium heat.
Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Makes 10 pancakes.
Plate pancakes and top with marinated strawberries. I also topped my pancakes with a scoop of plain Greek yogurt.

Clementine Marmalade Granola, GF

Gluten Free Clementine Marmalade Granola

Ingredients

3 cups gluten free oats

1/4 cup sesame seeds

3 Tbs ground flax seed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

1/4 clementine marmalade from Sweet Lady Cook 

(I'm sure any orange marmalade would work just fine)

2 packets stevia

1/2 cup golden raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine oats, sesame seeds, ground flax seeds, and cinnamon (to taste.)

Gently stir to incorporate ingredients evenly.

In a medium bowl, mix together honey, olive oil, marmalade and stevia. 

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry and mix well to evenly coat the oat mixture.

Transfer mixture to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Spread out evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes stirring about every 10 minutes or so. 

Remove from oven and add raisins.

Let cool completely before transferring to container... or bowl if you want to snack immediately.