SNAP............Those are some Delicious Vegan Gluten Free Ginger Snap Cookies

Yummy, yummy, yummy I've got Ginger Snaps in my tummy!!!!!

These are so GOOD. And clean. And lowish crab (relatively).

I made them vegan so my daughter could enjoy them with me...........and she did. She LOVES them.

They are so soft. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Can't you tell I like them.

I generally try to stay away from grains but I did use a bit of gluten-free flour blend in these. Choose your battles. The coconut and arrowroot help to keep them low grain and lowish carb so there are a lot worse things you can eat. And no refined sugar of course.

Snap.....Vegan Gluten Free Ginger Snap Cookies

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Keywords: bake dessert gluten-free vegan almond flour coconut flour gluten-free flour ginger cookie

6063070

Ingredients (15 cookies)

• Ingredients
• 1/3 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond)
• 1 Tbsp ground golden flax
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• +1/2 cup organic palm coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp black-strap molasses
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance (vegan margarine - or replace with more coconut oil)+
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp applesauce
• Dry Ingredients
• 1/2 cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend
• 1/2 cup almond flour (or almond meal)
• 1/4 cup organic coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch fine sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together first 3 ingredients. Let stand for a couple of minutes.

In a second bowl, whip together oil/butter and sugar. Mix until fully combined and slightly fluffy. Add molasses, applesauce and vanilla.

Mix together two separate bowls of wet ingredients.

Add dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Scoop out a heaping Tbsp at a time. Form into balls and then flatten out slightly with the back of a fork.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool before eating.

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MamaGetsFit - Forearms and Fun.......with a little anxiety on the side

Up, Up and AWAY! I can do them. If very briefly. Next time I'll wear my hair back so you can see that my head is not touching the ground.

Hey Folks.

Happy May Long Weekend.

The sun is finally shining in Winnipeg. We are FINALLY getting spring.

That makes me happy.

And the fact that the ANXIETY that was gripping me for the past week or two seems to have left the building also makes me happy. Very happy. So happy I could do handstands.

Actually, my cousin sent me a pin (and a challenge) that she wanted to see me do forearm handstands.

So I have been working on them. My daughter had to take this picture when we were at the park. Poor kid..............I am really embarrassing to go places with.

Easy. No. Do-able. Barely. Fun. Hell yeah!

So far the longest one I have been able to hold was about 5 seconds. The falling out of a forearm handstand part is not really that fun............

So just a little progress update for my cuz! Thanks for the challenge.............always good to get some new goals and a little muscle confusion.

I will give another update on my anxiety when I feel confident I have licked it. Day 2 of being anxiety free so I don't want to shout my solutions from the rooftops and jinx myself.

So if all goes well I will do a post soon on how I licked my anxiety. And my kids have been busy licking lots of spoons -  so I've got some really great new recipes coming too!

Hope you all have a tasty, up-side-down, anxiety-free long weekend!

Yeah - that hurts.............I like it much better when I fall back down the other way.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs with Candied Walnuts and Balsamic Glaze - Dairy-Free & Gluten Free

Ha, ha, ha. I could barely type the name of this recipe (or say it for that matter) without cracking up. I'm such a redneck under it all that it just seems way too sophisticated for me. I'm such a fraud.

But I have to say that this was a delicious appetizer and I felt like such a grown up serving these (I know I'm 37 but I still feel like I should sit at the kids table).

I bought the figs at Costco. And then started experimenting because I have never cooked or baked with a fig in my life.

Success.

The combination of sweet figs, nutty walnuts, creamy goat cheese and balsamic vinegar is just to die for. And you can prepare it and then refrigerate it so you can relax when guests arrive to play the part of super sophisticated, calm and cool hostess. Or maybe you can - I'm frazzled most of the time no matter how prepared I think I am. If only I still had a shot of home-brew at parties I'd be a bit more zen......until I got crazy. That's why I don't drink anymore. That and it was poisoning me.

But I still like a good party. And a good appetizer. So here's a new one for the rotation. Hope you enjoy! Serve it with some red wine if you want to really endear your girlfriends..............or some home brew if you want to impress your redneck friends.............or some rooibos tea if you want to keep it clean like me!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs with Candied Walnuts and Balsamic Glaze

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Keywords: bake appetizer snack vegetarian Dried figs Goat cheese Walnuts

6062859

Ingredients (20 stuffed figs)

• 20 dried figs (I used Golden Delicious Calimyrna figs from Costco)
• 20 tsp soft unripened Goat cheese
• 20 walnuts (full pieces)
• 1 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacement)
• 1 Tbsp organic palm coconut sugar (or sweetener of choice)

Glaze

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp organic EVOO
• 1/2 Tbsp organic palm coconut sugar (or sweetener of choice)

Instructions

To prepare figs

The figs may be quite flattened when they come out of the bag. I formed/plumped them up with my fingers so they were full. Then I cut off the top stem and make a small incision (butter knife width) at the top of the fig. I put the top of the knife in the fig and wiggled it around to make a cavity for the goat cheese to go in. I used a knife to stuff the goat cheese into the fig.

To prepare the candied Walnuts

In a saucepan, melt Earth balance and then add walnuts and sugar. Fry over medium heat for about 3 minutes until the walnuts are cooked through and a bit crunchy.

To prepare the Balsamic glaze

Bring the balsamic vinegar to a low boil over medium high heat and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Using a whisk, stir the vinegar frequently until it starts to thicken (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add EVOO and sugar and continue mixing until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Assemble and Bake

I put the stuffed figs into a small glass casserole dish and topped each one with a candied walnut. I then drizzled with the balsamic glaze. When you are ready to serve, bake the figs at 325 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until warned through. Serve and enjoy!

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Anxiety my old Friend.........

Digestion is good. Sleeps okay. Moods are stable. Stress is low. I was feeling great. Happy. Blessed. Joyful.

And then a couple of days ago my old friend anxiety decided to pay me a visit.  WTF.  Not impressed. Not happy to see you. Not welcome here.

Very confusing. I have three theories on what might have triggered this episode: I ate wheat three days in a row (nothing major but maybe?), I am due for my monthly B12 shot this week and/or I missed taking my iron and B12 a couple days in a row. But I'm skeptical. None of those seem serious enough to cause may anxiety to move back in.

And lets clarify here. I don't mean anxiety in the sense of "oh - I'm feeling stressed out". I used to bandy about the term "I'm having a panic attack" all the time (feel really bad about that now). Until having a real panic attack I thought it was just feeling really stressed out and being on that adrenal rush. NOPE. WRONG.

If you've had a real panic attack you will know it and it will shake you to your core. The scariest feeling you will ever go through. And if you've had anxiety. Real anxiety. You will also know that its not just feeling stressed. Its FEAR. You feel extremely scared. Or I do. My brain tends to latch onto something (usually some end of the world scenario - my current fascination is extreme weather and climate change) and I can not stop thinking, worrying, stressing about it. I feel like someone took a syringe full of fear and injected me. Like something has moved into my body (unwelcome guest I might add) and my brain.

And for the record anxiety and depression are not the same thing. I feel scared not sad.

Why am I sharing this. So you will all think I"m crazy? No. Because something got off balance in my body and for a couple of days I have been fixated on worrying about our lack of plant biodiversity, food shortages, floods, pollution, clean water, the poor bee population - ya da, ya da, ya da.  Or I WAS fixated on it.

And I decided to try something different this time. Instead of spending 50% of my time fixating on my worries (reading online blogs, websites, comments on climate change and weather patters) and the other 50% of the time trying to wrack my brain (and search the internet) on what physically triggered this episode (wheat, B12.......or maybe over training last week or maybe the chemicals in our water system or maybe ____) I decided to try something different. I know there is a trigger, and I know I need to figure it out and correct it, but what I need to do more is figure out how to mentally work my way through and out of my current anxiety so I can enjoy my life - because things are great right now. And frankly, if our future is doomed, shouldn't I be enjoying the present instead of worrying about it.

I have a friend who has often coached me to "stay in the present and don't give power to your fear". I can be a bit smug so I thought, oh I don't need to do that, my anxiety stems from my digestive problems not my mental state (sorry - I'm often wrong or misguided). But I finally decided maybe I should listen: when the student is ready the teacher will come.

So I was finally ready.

I spend all my energy last night just focusing on staying in the moment. Not letting my mind go to a dark place. I read inspiration quotes and watched Brene Brown video's instead of stories about disappearing bees. Every time my mind tried to go back to that place of fear I said NO and focused on the now.

And instead of letting myself feel the fear of uncertainty that comes with faith I just let my faith be a comfort.

And I felt better. I fell asleep like a baby (I hate that saying but you all know what I mean). And I woke up feeling better.

And I took the bus this morning and packed a vegan lunch (with no wheat)........because I might be a spec of a spec on this planet but I can take action to help slow climate change rather than just worrying about it! 

So maybe you think I'm crazy. Or maybe you will be inspired to be in the moment or maybe to pray. At the very least try to recycle today!!! Please.
 

Dairy & Gluten Free Potato Perogy Filling - Cheesy with a few Polka's on the side!

Hey Folks.

I took a bit of a "break" from blogging but I'm back.

We were busy on a mini-vacation and then had a "Ukrainian weekend". My daughter wanted the theme of her 5th Birthday party to be "Ukrainian". Who am I to complain? And then we had my daughters' first ever Ukrainian Dance Recital.

So I have been busy. And so HAPPY! For those of you that don't know me well - the idea of spending the weekend immersed in Ukrainian music, food and dance is kinda my thing.

I'll share a couple of pictures from the party just for kicks. We love theme parties.

But the key to any good party is the food. And unfortunately the staple of the Ukrainian feast is the good ol' perogy. The cheesy, wheaty, inflammation-inducing perogy.

A while back I developed a gluten-free, vegan perogy dough. That's the dough I used again and it worked out just fine. Warning: gluten-free dough is not that forgiving. I'm an experienced roller and pincher so I managed to make it work. If you are a newbee to perogies I apologize in advance if you struggle with it. You can always just use this filling with gluten-free lasagna noodles to make a perogy casserole if you aren't a fully-qualified Baba like me. Or look for an alternative gluten-free perogy dough. The one I made was purposefully simple (i.e. few ingredients) so I used an all purpose gluten-free flour blend. If you want to get fancy (and use more flours/ingredients) you might be able to make something a bit more pliable (and forgivable).

Just a couple other tips:

• Obviously, omit the bacon if you want to keep these vegan; 
• Fully cooled and refrigerated filling is MUCH easier to work with than when it is still warm. Don't rush it; 
• After trying it both ways, I found that freezing the perogies raw (if you aren't going to eat them immediately) works better than boiling and freezing them, which I would normally do with wheat perogies; 
• When you are ready to eat them, take them directly out of the freezer and boil them immediately. Make sure you boil them on a LOW GENTLE ROLLING BOIL so they don't fall apart. Be patient and let them cook slowly. When they float to the top let them boil for a couple extra minutes and then drain and serve doused in melted Earth Balance;

These were a big hit with my daughters'. And I think my guests were pleasantly surprised that gluten and cheese free perogies could be so PLEASANT.

There is life after gluten and cheese people. I promise. And parties...............

Really Cheesy - Gluten & Dairy Free Potato Perogy Filling

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 1/2 hour plus chill time

Cook Time: NA

Keywords: boil entree gluten-free dairy free bacon potato nutritional yeast Ukrainian

6062815

Ingredients (Enough for 4 - 5 dozen perogie)

• 3 Tbsp Earth Balance - or other dairy free butter
• 1/4 cup finely diced white onion
• 3 sliced bacon finely chopped
• 4 cups hot cooked white potatoes (about 6 medium sized potatoes boiled in salted water until tender and then drained)
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup Daiya dairy-free shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp Herbamare or fine sea salt
• dash of black pepper

Instructions

Peel and boil your potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking, fry the bacon and diced onion with 1 Tbsp Earth balance until tender. About 4-5 minutes on medium heat.

After the potatoes are boiled and drained, put them back in the pot. Add all remaining ingredients.

Mash together until fully combined and smooth.

Let cook on counter until warm and then put in fridge to cool entirely. This will take a few hours so you may want to do it the night before you are assembling the perogies.

Use the filling with your favorite gluten free perogy dough recipe. Or layer the mixture in between cooked gluten free lasagna noodles and baked for a delicious perogy lasagna.

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Our Ukrainian Weekend - well some of it...........Mommy with her little Uki at her first concert, Avery blowing out the candles on her Matryoska doll cupcake-cake (not my best decorating job but vegan and the kids actually gobbled them up), the little guests with their VINOK's (yep- that was a major glue gun project) - don't they look pretty, the vinok's, and a my creepy decorations - my daughter's face superseded on an old dancing poster of mine. LOL. I love it. She hated it.

We also did a Matryoska doll craft, had a Polka inspired Freeze dance party and ate cabbage rolls and Kulbasa. Mommy did a bad job of getting pictures.

Weekend Reflections - Blogging, Burpees, Baskets and Blessings

Easter Weekend. 

A time to celebrate. A time for tradition. A time to be thankful. 

A time to do burpees? 

I'm playing with blogger. Now that I don't "have" to blog twice a week I feel like blogging. And I felt like trying to see if I could add a video to my blog. My first one EVER!

So my 4 year old took a video of me doing burpees this morning (she nailed it). I have no idea if its going to work. If it does, that's me. And yes, it is April 19th and our front yard is still covered in snow. 

I LOVE doing burpees. Full - hit the floor and then jump in the air- burpees. I know some people will hate me for saying that. Sorry. Maybe you like jogging. Well I hate jogging. We're even.  

Seriously though. I have three kids, I work, I make most of our food from scratch - I don't have much time to work out. So I go hard when I do. I've had a few people ask me what I'm training for - life. Keeping up with three kids. But don't ask me to run. I don't run. 

So if you want to get in shape - try doing three sets of 10 - even if that is ALL you do you will have had a good workout. They are killer and AWESOME! But start slow - work up to the full burpees - work up to 10. I don't want anyone to hurt themselves. 

And we are counting our blessings this weekend. I am happy to say that I am feeling REALLY good. I've had lots of ups and downs the past 5 years. Some really LOW lows. But right now, today, I feel pretty great. The stars have aligned for me. I've worked for it. I keep working for it. I can't let my guard down. I take care of myself. It might seem selfish sometimes - always protecting my sleep, getting my workouts in, taking my supplements, eating a certain way (which can be a pain for others if they feel the need to feed me), saying NO. But the pay off for those around me is that I am happy. I have energy. My husband told me yesterday - I've been really liking you lately. Thanks hubby. I like you too. I'm more likable when I'm healthy and I like others a lot more.   

Rather than being trapped in survival mode, I have energy to do fun things with my kids. And actually be in the moment with them to enjoy it. 

So here are a couple of other fun things we have been doing this weekend................

Our Good Friday craft. Making stamps out of potato's. That was followed by making perogies out of potatoes. Recipe to come sometimes this week. 

We went to church to get our baskets blessed!  A little non-traditional twist on a very traditional part of my childhood. Are those Caramilk clean? NO. Did I have one. Yes!

I hope everyone has a very blessed and beautiful Easter! 

Христос Воскрес! (Khrystos Voskres!)

Christ is Risen!

BTW if someone happens to say that to you "in person" this is how you should respond........

Воїстину Воскрес! (Voyistynu Voskres!)

 Truly He is Risen! 

Vegan GF Peanut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I first went CLEAN I was doing the Wheat Belly Diet. Dr. Davis, of Wheat  Belly fame, uses lots of peanuts in his recipes. So I scoured Winnipeg for peanut flour. And when I didn't find any, I scoured the internet and ordered some on-line.

But then I went PALEO.........and then I went on the Candida diet.........and then I found out my daughter had peanuts on her "no go" list. So the peanut flour just sat there in the freezer.

But I've come full circle. I'm trying not to be scared of food. I don't think a half cup of peanut flour is going to make me so moldy, acidic (etc, etc, etc insert scary word) that I won't survive. I'm trying to be more balanced with my eating. Because the stress you can cause yourself from being insanely strict with your diet can wipe out all the awesome benefits of eating clean.

So I pulled out the peanut flour and decided to make some peanut cookies. If you don't have peanut flour, I don't see why these wouldn't work with almond flour or almond meal. And damn I am enjoying them. They aren't fully PALEO, fully Candida diet friendly, or fully grain-free. But they are full of great "clean" ingredients and they are FULLY VEGAN. I'm choosing to pick my battles.

Gotta run. I feel like eating a cookie!

Vegan & Gluten Free Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Keywords: bake snack dessert gluten-free low-carb vegan chocolate peanut cookie

6062022

Ingredients (15 cookies)

• 1/3 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond)
• 1 Tbsp ground golden flax
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• +1/2 cup organic palm coconut sugar
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance (vegan margarine - or replace with more coconut oil)+
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp applesauce

Dry Ingredients

• 1/2 cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend
• 1/2 cup peanut flour (or other nut flour)
• 1/4 cup organic coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch fine sea salt
• Hand ful of vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together first 3 ingredients. Let stand for a couple of minutes.

In a second bowl, whip together oil/butter and sugar. Mix until fully combined and slightly fluffy. Add applesauce and vanilla.

Mix together two separate bowls of wet ingredients.

Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined.

Scoop out a heaping Tbsp at a time. Form into balls and then flatten out slightly with the back of a fork.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool before eating. I dare ya!

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