Brownies

These brownies are my perfect brownie; not too cake-y, not too fudge-y.  They appear a little on the cake side, but when you bite into them they cross over to the fudge side.  I've adapted the recipe from the Saco Foods cocoa container.  Here goes...

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup quinoa flour

3/8 cup almond flour (don't get too crazy here, use the 1/4 cup measure and use 1 full and 1 half full)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Melt the butter in a medium bowl.  Whisk in the cocoa until smooth.  Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.  Add eggs and mix again.  Add remaining ingredients and stir only until all flour is incorporated.  

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before cutting.  Or just use a fork and eat them hot.  Yummmmmy!

Blueberry Muffins

So here is the first recipe post of the official Quinoa and Buckwheat blog.  Not much of a story behind it other than I'm tired of feeling like I can't eat the foods I love without "cheating" or knowingly sabotaging my health.  

Blueberry Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Place paper muffin cups or generously grease twelve muffin cups.

In a smaller bowl combine:

3/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flakes (hot breakfast cereal)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar or equivalent sweetener

pinch of salt

In a larger bowl combine:

1 egg

3/4 cup almond milk

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add 2/3 cup blueberries and fold in gently.

Fill muffin cups about 1/2 full and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I will be working on an egg-free version in the future so stay tuned.

The test that started it all!

I will forever remember the day that I opened the email with the test results telling me that if I wanted to be healthy, I couldn't eat most of the foods that I loved and had created my whole diet around.

I had been to the doctor the year before and found out that I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  After a recommendation from my doc, I went gluten-free.  The next year my test results were still not in the normal range, but at least they were measureable.  More food related blood tests...then the shocking results...my test numbers were way out of range for most grains, eggs, milk, milk chocolate, coffee, and potatoes (which means all nightshade veges like tomatoes and peppers).  I laughed because some of the grains on the list I had never even knowingly eaten like teff and hemp.  The only things on the entire test which were in a normal range were yeast, buckwheat, and quinoa.  I started to cry.  What in the world was I going to eat?  Could I eat my favorite foods without feeling like I was cheating or preventing myself from being healthy?  It took a while...almost a year for me to reconcile the fact that I wasn't going to be enjoying food like I used to.  I gave in to the fact that I would be eating to live, not savoring every meal because I loved the food I was eating.  

I haven't given up everything on the list yet.  As of today, October 5, 2013 I still have three things left to give up cheese, milk chocolate, and eggs.  Although I don't eat eggs by themselves anymore, like scrambled for breakfast, I still occasionally eat them in baked goods like Almond Brownies and muffins, etc.  

I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons.  First, to save my recipes for myself and second, to share my recipes with others.  I realize that my situation is quite unique with the foods I can and can't eat.  I'm hoping to share with others who have strange dietary needs.  Gluten free recipes often have grains that are off-limits for me.  Paleo recipes are great, but I don't feel the need to eat quite so much almond anything.