Meatloaf

I have those weird kids that love meatloaf. It's like saying we're having a special dinner. Oh well. It is a great way to get them to eat vegetables. Yeah really! And I don't have to lie to them about it either. They help me make it and know exactly what goes in here!

1# ground meat (beef, pork, chicken or turkey all work great)
3-4 leaves of kale, stripped from large vein
2 peeled carrots
1/2 medium yellow onion
1/3 C flax meal
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Spike
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Place kale, carrots, and onion in food processor. Run until veggies are finely chopped. Mix this in with all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to a greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 375F oven for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer (this will vary with the meat you use, obviously). Let rest in pan for 5 minutes before serving.

Pie Crust

I love this pie crust. There is a bit of a trick to it, but it's simple. Just like wheat flour crust, keep everything cold. Sometimes, if I am filling the crust to bake a fruit pie, I'll make up the crust and store it in the fridge while I get the fruit ready.

Pie Crust

1 C brown rice flour
¾ C tapioca or arrowroot starch
½ C millet flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
½ C shortening or Earth Balance
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
½ C ice cold water

Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add vinegar and start mixing on low speed in mixer or food processor. Slowly pour in cold water until mixture forms a ball. You may not use all the water. Dough should be soft but not too sticky. Dough will not hold together as well as wheat pie dough. For a bottom crust, roll out ½ of dough on waxed paper and carefully transfer to a lightly oiled pie pan. Invert over pan and slowly peel back paper. Crust may need to be finger pieced.

For a top crust. Roll out and refrigerate until firm. Invert crust over filled pie. Slowly peel back paper. This may need to be pieced as well. As an alternative, we often roll out the crust and cut out pieces with cookie cutters and arrange these on top of filled pie. For a slick looking fluted edge, trim the crust even with the pie pan. Roll a slim "snake" of leftover pie dough and fix around the edge. Use your fingers to make the fluted edge.

Biscuits Light and Fluffy

These are my favorite biscuit recipe. They are light, fluffy and split just right for a good spreading of honey or jam. Stored in an airtight container, they are even good the next day with some leftovers spread over the top. Biscuits and gravy anyone?

Biscuits

2 C brown rice flour
1 C tapioca starch
½ C sorghum flour
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
½ Tbsp baking soda
½ Tbsp guar or xanthan gum
1tsp salt
2 Tbsp sweetener (honey, rapadura, agave...)
½ C Earth Balance or Spectrum shortening
1 ½ C water or milk substitute

Combine dry ingredients in mixer and mix well. Add shortening and mix until crumbly. Pour in water all at once and mix until just combined. Roll out on flour dusted wax paper and cut into rounds. Or use cookie cutters for fun shapes. Bake on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake at 425^o 10-15 minutes or until light brown.

Bread

I can't use this recipe anymore for us, since we have gone to a grain rotation diet. But I worked for years to come up with this recipe. It is the best bread recipe I found that uses no eggs or dairy or legumes. And it really does taste like bread.

2 C brown rice flour
1 ½ C tapioca flour
1 C sorghum flour
½ C teff flour
¾ C flaxmeal (or use 3 large eggs, slightly beaten)
½ Tbsp guar gum
2 tsp salt
2 C warm (110F ) water
¼ C honey
2 Tbsp instant-type dry yeast (Red Starr is gluten free)

Add honey and yeast to warm water. Let
stand about 5 minutes. Mix flours, flax meal, guar gum and salt
together in mixer bowl. Pour liquid into flour mixture. Add more
water if needed to make a thick, sticky batter. Spoon into 2 small,
well oiled loaf pans. Let rise 20-30 minutes. Bake 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until golden brown and bread begins to pull
away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan 5 minutes and then turn
out onto rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before slicing as GF
baked goods tend to be gummy while hot.

This recipe tastes the most like whole wheat bread to us.

Teff Muffins

Teff the super grain. Teff the mighty snack maker! These muffins hold together just well enough to make it until mid-morning snack time in a container in a backpack. With the flax and coconut, you'll be able to make it until lunch, even if it's a bit late.

Teff Muffins
2 C teff flour
3/4 C flax meal
3/4 Coconut meal (I make this by grinding coconut in a coffee grinder--same as I use for making flax meal)
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp quar gum
1/4 tsp salt
Mix well and add:
1/2 C honey
1/2 C melted coconut oil
1 C water

Mix until combined and spoon into muffin tins. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 20 minutes.

Millet Banana Pancakes

These pancakes are light and fluffy-just like mom used to make (or in my case--Dad!). You can vary the sweetener to get just the taste you want. Try using maple or honey.
We like these topped with maple syrup or homemade jam. Or try slicing up some more bananas.

Millet banana pancakes
2 med mashed bananas
1/4 melted coconut oil
1 C water
2/3 C tapioca starch (or other starch if tapioca is not okay)
2 C millet flour
1/3 C coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar or use 2 tsp vinegar in the liquids if c of t is out
1/4 tsp stevia powder
1 tsp quar gum
dash salt
Mix all together with additional water to make a thick, pourable batter. You can use fruit juice or add honey if you don't want to use stevia.

Pour onto hot griddle and cook like regular pancakes.