Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

The chocolate chip cookie is my all time favorite cookie and when I was craving salt while pregnant with Rylan I add a lot to my cookie recipe and amazingly it tasted really good.  This one cookie satisfies your craving for the sweet and the salty.  If I could make these cookies everyday and just eat them I probably would but I hear vegetables are good for you too.

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together the wet ingredients and fold in the dry ones.  Add the chocolate chips and mix well.  Place by the tbsp full onto parchment lined sheets and make at 360 F for 11 minutes.  Let cool on the tray for 5 minutes.

Double Chocolate Cake

Sometimes I look at Rylan with is blond hair and blues and wonder where he came from.  He does not look much like me but there is one thing we both share that lets me know he is mama's boy.  We both have a deep love for chocolate and anytime that I make anything with chocolate he is patiently waiting by the oven for it to come out.  This cake is one of his favs and I am sure if I left him unattended he would eat the entire thing all in one sitting.  The cake is super easy to make and super tasty and is the cake I use for Ry's birthdays!!

Double Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla 
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup boiling water

Mix together all the ingredients except for 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and the boiling water.  Mix in the bowling water and then pour into a greased and floured cake pan.  Top with the rest of the chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Chinese BBQ Pork & Hoisin Sauce

I miss take out.  It is not like we ate out a ton but when you wanted to celebrate or just have a night off you went out or ordered in.  I also used take out to get the things that I could not make myself.  This allergy has forced me to learn how to make some of my favorite dishes so that they are safe for the family.

Growing up my Mom would take us to China town in Edmonton to a little place that had the best BBQ pork that I have ever eaten.  I knew that I really needed to learn how to do it myself so that I can pass on a few things to Ry.  I made this for the first time at Christmas and it was so good and I have made it many more times since.

There are a few steps involved in making but they are so worth it.

Chinese BBQ Pork

Step 1: Make hoisin sauce

4 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp coconut vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp dried chilis
1/8 tsp black pepper

Step 2: Make BBQ Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp coconut aminos
2 tbsp hoisin sauce

Mix the BBQ sauce together.  

Step 3: Marinate

1 lbs pork tenderloin
BBQ Sauce

Poke holes in the pork with a knife and place in a ziploc bag with the sauce and allow to marinate for 6 hours.  Remove the pork from the bag and place in a roasting pan and cook at 450 F for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Puffed Wheat Squares

Everyone has memories growing up of eating puffed wheat squares and I wanted to give those same memories to Rylan.  I never realized how hard it was going to be to replicate them for Rylan.  I went through at least 8 different attempts with various substitutions and they never stuck together.  I was finally able to get it right and seeing the sheer excitement on Ry's face when he got to eat them for the same time was priceless.

We never take food for granted  in this house and we spend a lot of time trying to create foods that will bring joy to Ry's face and his tummy.  The final recipe is a lot like traditional puffed wheat recipes but with a few changes to make it safe for us.

Puffed Wheat Squares

8 cups puffed wheat
7 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut nectar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup palm shortening
1 tbsp coconut oil

Grease a 9 x 13 pan with coconut oil.  Grease a large bowl and spoon and pour the puffed wheat in the bowl.  In a small pot bring the remaining ingredients to a boil and simmer for 1 minute.  Pour over the puffed wheat and mix well.  Press into the pan and let set.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

I always thought that vanilla extract was just vanilla and a liquid.  I had no idea that there were many more ingredients inside the store bought stuff and that all of those extras would make Rylan sick.  For some odd reason I had it in my head that making my own would be really tough and so I just never tried it.  My baking was definitely missing something so I decided to give homemade extract a try.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make my own and how I had much more confidence in the ingredients in them.  I often think back and wonder why I did not try this before and why everyone else is not making there own.

Vanilla Extract

1 pint jar
8-12 vanilla beans, sliced open
vodka to fill the jar

Place the vanilla beans in the jar and fill with vodka.  Close the jar and allow the alcohol to draw out the vanilla for 6-8 weeks.  The longer you let it sit the better it gets.  Once ready use in recipes as needed.

We use a vodka that is 100% potatoes and works for Ry.  You can use any vodka of your choosing.

Strawberry Tart

I am a dessert girl.  I would rather go to a wedding or gala and just eat dessert.  I get my sweet tooth from my Dad and I really do not mind.  Rylan has also inherited that sweet tooth and that brings on the challenge of making him delicious desserts free of his allergens.  I do have to say that I am getting quite good at it.  Most come over and have no clue that what there eating is so pure and basic.  I have often said that real food speaks for itself and when used it makes amazing things.

Most desserts in our house need to have chocolate.  Chocolate is my weakness and anytime that I can pair it with fruit is a great situation to be in.  This tart was work to put together but tasted so good that it took all my will power not to eat the entire thing in one sitting.  This is the dessert you make when company is coming or to celebrate something big.

Strawberry Tart

1 oat crust (recipe in my blog) plus 1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp. coconut oil
1 quart strawberries, washed and sliced
1/4 cup melted chocolate

Mix together the sugar and the flour in a pot.  Over medium heat add the milk and the egg yolks.  Stir constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook for one minute.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and coconut oil.  Pour into the crust and refrigerate for several hours.  Place the sliced strawberries on the top and drizzle with the melted chocolate.  Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens.  Enjoy!!

Turkey Vegetable Soup

There is something about homemade soup that just grounds a person.  No matter how sick I get soup from a can just tastes horrible and tends to not do anything for me.  I always try to have a large container of soup  frozen - enough to feed us all for a meal.  Brayden loves this soup and devours it whenever I make it.

Soup is such a simple thing to learn to make and can easily be frozen in smaller portions to be pulled out as needed.  This soup uses homemade broth.  I make my broth by throwing the turkey in the slow cooker with some leeks and seasoning overnight.  In the morning you have thick broth and deliciously cooked meat.  I peel the meat off and save some for soup and the rest I freeze in small bags to pull out as needed.

Turkey Vegetable Soup

6 cups homemade turkey broth
2 cups water
1 cup chopped turkey meat
5-6 chopped carrots
2 cups chopped green beans
3 cups noodles ( I used kamut noodles in this pic)
1 leek chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a large pot and let simmer until the veggies are tender.  Serve and enjoy.