Mickey Mouse Einkorn Flour Pancakes

Recently I ordered two things. A Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker and Young Living’s Einkorn Pancake and Waffle Mix. This weekend my family put both to the test and loved them!

Who doesn’t want a waffle/pancake shaped like Mickey Mouse for breakfast? We added Cocoa powder to the mix on this try. Yummy!

The Mickey Waffle Maker is more like a pancake maker, thinner than a traditional waffle, but each pancake turned out delicious and cooked in two minutes. I bought mine from Kohl’s but see Amazons sells it too. Bryce loves EVERYTHING Mickey Mouse, so we are hoping this will help entice him to eat more. Who doesn’t want a Mickey shaped pancake for breakfast?

Now onto the Einkhorn Flour mix. My husband has been gluten free for seven years now. He takes gluten hits from food just fried in oil that has wheat products in it. When I saw that Young Living sold a Pancake and Waffle Mix and was advertising it had a .53% gluten content I was intrigued. Brian says he was game to try it and see how his body would react. Below is a chart of gluten content of typical wheat flours in comparison with the Einkorn Pancake and Waffle Mix (Gary’s True Grit Mix) .

This gluten chart shows the low-gluten content of Gary’s True Grit Pancake and Waffle Mix in comparison with other grains.

Ingredients of the mix: Whole grain einkorn flour (Triticum monococcum), Brown rice flour, Amaranth flour, Tapioca flour, Sorghum flour (Sorghum bicolor), Dhokla flour (Indian flour made from chickpeas).

Einkorn grain is the oldest form of cultivated wheat. Most of the wheat that is used today is a hybrid.  Hybridization can happen naturally when plants are near each other and the wind blows and cross pollinates. But that is not what we are talking about with the modern hybrid wheat. Modern wheat was engineered to have shorter stalks to create less waste and fuller heads of grain to produce more product. The problem with this hybrid wheat is that it has been engineered to contain 3 genomes and 42 chromosomes while the old Einkorn wheat only has 14 chromosomes! Those extra chromosomes create new proteins that man was never intended to consume. They are foreign to the body and can cause confusion in the digestive system.  This new wheat I believe is a major contributor to the spike in gluten sensitivities we are seeing today.

Einkorn wheat has a higher protein content than common wheat and it is a great antioxidant. In fact, the Einkorn grain has been shown in a study in Italy to be two to four times higher in antioxidants than our modern wheat today. The Young Living Einkorn waffle and pancake mix has 3 grams of protein per serving.

So Sunday morning we made the pancakes and Brian ate one. We waited to see what his body would do. And nothing happened! His reaction time is pretty fast so when two hours went by and still nothing we were shocked. Could we really have potentially found a wheat product that he could eat? This is huge. We will definitely try the Einkorn Spaghetti and Einkorn Flour Young Living sells next. So happy we found this product and found Young Living.

I am not going to claim everyone will have the same experience (Brian doesn’t have Celiac) but if you are gluten intolerant it may be worth a try to see how your body reacts to it. If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I will try and answer. If you wish to order some, click here to do so.

Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies

I love Meringue Cookies. Light and fluffy yet decadent at the same time. Recently my husband made a variation of Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies by adding walnuts and Lime essential oil. Hope you enjoy as much as I have!

INGREDIENTS:

MERINGUE

3 eggs whites

½ teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon almond extract

¼ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sugar

or

3 tablespoons powdered egg whites

½ cup warm water

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon cream of tarter

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon almond extract

¼ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup chopped pecans

CUSTARD

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 ½ cups water

1 cup sugar

juice from one lemon

lemon peel from one lemon

2 tablespoons butter

4 drops of lime or lemon essential oil

sliced pecans

Meringue Directions:

1. Beat egg whites, vinegar, vanilla, and salt at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar slowly until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved.

Or 

1. Add egg white powder to water. Mix and allow to seat 2 minutes. Beat on medium speed until frothy. Add vanilla, almond, salt, and cream of tartar increasing speed to high. Add sugar slowly until stiff glossy peaks form.

Then

1. Fold pecans into meringue.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment. Spoon mixture onto parchment and shape into a cup with a spoon. Cook at 225F for 2 hours. Cool in oven with door ajar for maximum crispiness. Store in airtight container.
3. In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, water, and sugar. Cook over medium heat whisking until thick. Reduce heat and beat in egg yolks.   Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in lemon juice, peel, butter, and lime oil. Cool to room temperature.
5. Just before serving, fill meringue shells with custard and top with sliced pecans.

  If you need to order essential oils, you can do so here

Gluten-Free Hamburger Pie

I came across this recipe last year when I went on Betty Crocker’s website looking for uses for their gluten free Bisquick mix (which is amazing by the way). This was listed as one of them. Do you want dinner in 30 minutes? With a yummy cheesy doughy top that is gluten free? Why yes, yes I do!!!

Picture of ingredients used below. Notice that Badia’s spices are listed as certified gluten free on their label – awesome.

We love the recipe that Betty Crocker came up with, but felt it was missing some flavor (i.e. their version is salt and pepper only). This modification just adds some additional seasonings to their recipe.  Try it and let me know what you think. We love it and it is part of our rotation of meals now. You could also use ground turkey or beans I am thinking instead of ground beef if that is more your thing. Experiment!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tsp steak seasoning
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• ½ cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400F. Oil, grease, or spray a 9-inch pie pan.
2. Cook ground beef with onion until beef is thoroughly cooked. Drain.
3. Stir in steak seasoning and mustard.
4. In medium bowl, combine Bisquick mix, milk, eggs, and mustard. Stir until blended.
5. Arrange beef in the bottom of the pie pan. Top with cheese. Finally, pour Bisquick mixture over the cheese.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

And then DIG in. We cook it in stoneware (LOVE my stoneware) but I am sure it would come out equally as good in other cooking pans. You just may have to adjust the cook time.

Peppermint Fluff (corn syrup free peppermint marshmallows)

My son, Bryce, inspired this recipe.  He has a corn allergy.  He breaks out in a body rash that grows and worsens the more he eats products that contain corn. He has been this way since he was an infant. Since he can’t talk yet, we have just removed ALL products that contain corn or corn derivatives from his diet till we can figure out what is really going on. It has been a challenge finding foods that do not contain corn syrup, corn solids, or cornstarch.  It is especially difficult to find treats that do not contain corn syrup.  Unfortunately, he is a little young for these treats, but I am sure he will learn to love them as he grows older (um, s’mores anyone? lol).  Unlike traditional marshmallow recipes, this recipe utilizes egg whites to stabilize the sugar in the recipe.  I think that you will find these marshmallow treats tantalizing on your taste buds with the icy burst of peppermint the essential oil adds.

Side note: There is evidence that peppermint oil may help indigestion. What that means is, eat two!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 envelops of gelatin (21g or ¾ oz)
• ¾ cup of water
• 2 egg whites or ¼ cup water + 4 tsp of powdered egg whites
• ¼ tsp or 6 drops of peppermint oil

Directions

1. Grease 9” X 12” cake pan (I use coconut oil)
2. Pour ¾ cup of water into a dish and add 3 envelops of gelatin.  Set aside.
3. Combine sugar and 1 cup of water into saucepan and cook over low/medium heat stirring until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to medium and cook until sugar mixture reaches 257F or hardball stage.
4. Whisk egg whites and a pinch of salt in electric mixer until frothy.
5. Add gelatin solution to sugar mixture and mix until gelatin fully dissolves.
6. Gradually add sugar mixture to frothed egg white mixture whisking continuously on medium speed until mixture has doubled in size.  Decrease speed and add peppermint oil.  Continue to whisk until mixture is warm (about 100-110F).
7. Pour into prepared cake pan and allow to set at room temperature for 3 hours.

Topping

• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp coco powder
• ¼ cup chocolate chips

1. In a Vitamix or blender, add sugar and coco powder and process at medium to high speed until powdery.  Add chocolate chips and blend at low speed until incorporated.
2. Sprinkle topping on marshmallow.  Using a sharp knife, cut marshmallow into squares.  Coat all sides with topping.

Note: you can substitute powdered sugar with coco powder however the powdered sugar has cornstarch

Gluten Free Hummingbird Bread

My husband and I got married in St. Lucia. We loved it. I was swimming in the pool two hours before our wedding. Stress-Free. It was relaxing and the island itself just beautiful. One day we hope to go back. If you ever get the chance to go – do it. It is nicknamed the Hawaiian of the Caribbean and a big destination for many celebrities. I also believe one of the Superman movies was filmed by the Piton Mountains on the island.

After the wedding they gave us two, yes TWO wedding cakes for out reception. One of them was a hummingbird cake. Their version was a little dry, more like a spice cake. But to this day that flavor reminds us of our wedding and our wonderful week there.

So over the weekend Brian wanted to attempt a Gluten Free Hummingbird Bread. This is the result. We wanted it moist since gluten free tends to be so dry, so we added extra buttermilk and even a little of the pineapple juice. It worked. We also added coconut flakes which I think adds a nice layer of flavor.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
• 8 oz crushed pineapple (drained)
• ¼ cup of sweetened coconut
• ¼ tsp of salt
• 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil
• 1/3 cup of packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1 ½ cups of gluten free baking mix (We Used Bisquick Gluten Free)
• 3 small bananas

Icing (Optional):

• ¼ cup sweetened coconut toasted (350F for 3-5 min) and cooled
• 8 oz of cream cheese
• ¾ – 1 cup of powdered sugar (adjust to your sweetness level)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

1. Set Oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 9” X 5” loaf pan.
2. Place coconut oil, brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla in a mixer and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and gluten free flour. Beat on low speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Add bananas, coconut, and pineapple and mix on low until well dispersed.
3. Bake 45-50 minutes until lightly browned and toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool before icing (if desired).
5. To make icing, beat cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar together until smooth (3-5 minutes). Spread icing on top of loaf and top with toasted coconut. Enjoy.

Gluten Free Lemon and Lavender Doughnuts with Wild Blueberry Glaze

When I found out you could cook with Young Living Essentials Oils I knew exactly what my first recipe would be – Doughnuts. The perfect food with coffee and a food guaranteed to disappear in work breakrooms everywhere faster than people at 5:00 PM on a Friday. They are just plain delicious.

My husband has been gluten free for several years now, and is always looking for recipes that will mimic the taste and texture of the gluten filled equivalents. This recipe comes pretty damn close. And the oils leave a layer of flavor that enhances the blueberry glaze on top. Try it and let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 
(1/4 ounce) packages yeast
• 1⁄4
 cup warm water
•  ½ 
cup lukewarm milk
• 1/4 
cup lukewarm buttermilk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 ½ cups gluten free flour (I used Natural Gluten Free Café All Purpose Baking Mix)
• 1 egg
• 4 drops of essential lemon oil
• 4 drops of essential lavender oil
•  ¾ cup of lukewarm milk

 DIRECTIONS:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2-quart bowl.
• Add milk (1/2 cup milk and ¼ cup buttermilk), sugar, salt, eggs, butter and flour.
• Beat until mixed.
• Cover and let rise until double, 50-60 minutes.
• Add ¾ cup of milk and briefly mix the dough.  It should now be the consistency of cake mix.  Adjust milk as needed.
• Bake in doughnut pan at 425F for 7-10 minutes.

WILD BLUEBERRY GLAZE:

Blend ½ cup of powder sugar, 3 tablespoons of wild blueberries, ½ teaspoon of vanilla, and 1-2 teaspoons of milk in a blender.  Dip cooled doughnuts in glaze and place on a plate to set.

And then eat. Maybe have two. Enjoy.