Ingredients Archives: Butter

Gluten-Free Brownie Pudding Cake

By Ami on May 17, 2017 in Guilt-Free Treats

When I was a kid, my mom would make brownie pudding cake on cold, wet days. It was so comforting topped with a big scoop of whipped cream that melted into the gooey chocolate. It really doesn’t get more comforting than that. One bowl of that and every problem would disappear. It was basically unicorn tears topped with whipped unicorn tears. Tears of joy that is. There’s no room for sadness here. Best. Thing. Ever.

A few weeks ago we got one of those miserable spring snow storms. Snow in winter is expected, but snow when I’ve spent the last week in skirts and flip flops? Not cool. I needed some warm gooey comfort. But I didn’t want the next day sugar/gluten hangover I get. So I set out to make a grain-free, low sugar version. I was so pleased with the results, the unicorns and I cried together.

This brownie pudding cake is super rich and dark. If you don’t like it that dark, up the sugar and down the cocoa powder. But I can’t image finding comfort from chocolate that isn’t dark chocolate. That’s just me though…

The reason this is so good is that it’s a moist rich cake with a gooey, smooth inside. I topped it with whipped coconut cream that melted into the warm cake just like the version from my childhood. It was so nostalgic I felt like putting on my rainbow bright leg warmers.

This cake comes together in three layers that all come together to make a gooey bowl of joy.

The cake layer:

The topping layer:

The boiling water which makes a crispy top and a gooey middle:

You can’t look at this without smiling.

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Healthy Remake: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Soup with Apple Relish

By Ami on November 18, 2016 in Main Dishes

A few weeks ago I was more stressed than usual. I decided the thing that would decrease my stress would be to organize my pantry. I know this doesn’t make a ton of sense, but you people like me (Type A and slightly OCD) understand how a well-organized pantry can lower stress.

In my organization, I stacked 13 cans of pumpkin puree. Thirteen!! That’s when I knew I had a problem. But since it is fall, I decided to put that pumpkin to good use and not just for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes… I really want some pumpkin right now.

I immediately thought of this amazing pumpkin soup I had a few weeks ago. My friend had a pumpkin party (best idea ever, right?) and made this amazing pumpkin soup from Rachael Ray (click here for original recipe). But I was sad when I saw the recipe and realized it included flour and diary. The soup is actually pretty healthy in its original version but if you are like me and swell up in your joints and gut if you eat gluten or dairy, you’ll appreciate my dilemma.

I decided to make the soup but change the ingredients and adjust them to still get the same creamy consistency without the flour. I also wanted to up the protein with some chicken. I’m pleased to report I was very successful. My whole family loved this soup.

The best part is that it comes together in one pan. Start by sauteing the vegetables in the butter.

The bulk of this soup comes from three cans. How easy is that?! Just a can of chicken stock, a can of pumpkin and a can of coconut milk.

Then it gets some great flavor from the nutmeg and bay leaves.

After this simmers together, just add some cooked chicken pieces. We use thighs because we like them better than breasts, but any chicken will work great.

As far as the relish goes, I left it completely the same as the original recipe but replaced the Craisins with raisins. It’s close to impossible to find dried cranberries without added sugar, so I opted for the raisins. The flavor was still amazing. I also left out the chili as I knew that would not impress my 5-year-old.

Now I have 12 cans left of pumpkin in my pantry. Guess I’ll have to try one of these (click here for a link to some great pumpkin recipes).

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The Best Pumpkin Dish You’ll Make This Fall

By Ami on November 4, 2016 in Guilt-Free Treats

Excited doesn’t really cover how I feel about this recipe. I made it on a Sunday and literally dreamed about it the night before. Yes, I am that big of a loser and yes, it did live up to my dream.

I used to make a pumpkin dump cake that made my heart happy. It was creamy and warm on the bottom with a crunchy, sweet top. I LOVED it! The problem was, it was loaded with both white and brown sugar and was topped with a cake mix…. which you had to add even more sugar to. I thought about cheating and just making the darn thing (Yes, it would have been worth it), but before I sold my soul I decided to try to make a healthier version.

I’m SO glad I did. The pumpkin layer is warm, creamy, sweet and bursting with fall flavors. The topping contrasts nicely with the creamy base and the flavors work perfectly together. This is a perfect dessert for a cold night. Though since this dessert is so good I almost cried, I’ll probably make it for my birthday… in April.

So if you believe all men (and women) are entitled to the pursuit of happiness, make this… now. No really. Go do it.

A few tips first (sorry for the false alarm. Hopefully you aren’t running to grab your slow cooker).

Make sure you grease your slow cooker. If you don’t, instead of talking about how much you love me, you’ll be cursing me to the depths of Hades. Grease that sucker!

Yes, this has a lot of ingredients, but it truly is a dump cake. Two bowls and a slow cooker. That’s it. You don’t even have to beat the pumpkin layer in stages. I really did just throw everything in a bowl and beat it.

Make sure you distribute the topping evenly when you sprinkle it over the pumpkin. This is basically going to cook up like a cake layer, so you want it as even as you can get it. Though since it is a dump cake, you really can’t ruin it. This just makes it better.

The same goes for the butter. This provides a lot of the liquid for the cake layer, so you’ll want it even. But again, you can’t ruin this. The moisture from the pumpkin and the steaming affect of the slow cooker will get any spots you miss.

As far as the pecans go, they are totally optional. If you hate pecans or they kill you if you eat them, you should leave them out. I love the flavor of pecans with pumpkin and fall spices so I left them in. You can even substitute them with another nut if you like. Not peanuts though. I like peanuts as much as the next squirrel, but that just sounds wrong.

Lastly, this is a dish that is amazing on its own, but is even better topped with something cold and creamy. While ice cream would be amazing, we decided to go with something a little healthier and use coconut cream. Don’t worry. If you can hold a hand mixer, you can make coconut cream. Click here for instructions from The Pioneer Woman. We sweeten ours with honey.

Okay. Now you are armed with what you need so go and make it. Now. It’s not a false alarm this time…

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Backyard BBQ Foil Potatoes

By Ami on June 17, 2016 in Side Dishes

Last weekend, we grilled burgers for dinner. We wanted potatoes with our burgers and decided to make them on the grill. Maybe we wanted to feel like pioneers (with our propane-fueled, electrical-started grill??). I’m not sure, we just decided we needed to make the potatoes on the grill. The experiment went really well.

My husband likes red potatoes, but the kids and I like sweet potatoes. My son, only like sweet potatoes seasoned one way and the rest of us are a bit tired of it. That was the first big plus with making the potatoes on the grill. We could make as many different kinds as we wanted.

We ended up with three different variations of potato packets.

The first:

Red potatoes
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning

The Second:

Sweet potato
Butter
Season Salt
Cumin

The Third:

Sweet potato
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon

Just cube the potatoes and top them with seasonings and butter. I double wrapped the sweet potato packets because sweet potatoes release a sugary syrup when they cook. The red potatoes were fine in the single wrap.

25 minutes on the grill and we each had our own delicious version of potatoes. These would also work really well on a campfire. Maybe that would make us more like pioneers.

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Creamy Cauliflower Soup

By Ami on November 13, 2015 in Main Dishes

I love to trick my family by adding healthy things to their food. I add beans to their brownies, avocado to their frosting and now cauliflower to their cheese soup. I gave them the soup, listened to them “ooh” and “aah” and never said a word about what was in it. Mwa ha ha! I love the small victories.

Start by steaming the cauliflower. I got this lovely steaming basket at Ikea years ago. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools because it fits in any pan and is dishwasher safe.

While the cauliflower steams, cook the onion and garlic in the butter and avocado oil. Do this right in your soup pot. Add the salt, pepper, almond milk and chicken broth and heat this all together.

Add the steamed cauliflower and puree with an immersion blender. I love my immersion blender for the same reason I love my veggie steamer. It’s extremely versatile and dishwasher safe.

Add the cheese and continue to cook the soup until the cheese melts.

Top each serving with green onion, turkey bacon and more cheese.

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Healthy Mulligatawny

By Ami on September 18, 2015 in Main Dishes

Whenever my daughter and I are having one of those rough days where we butt heads and can’t agree on anything, we need something to help us unwind and have fun together. For us, that’s an episode of Pioneer Woman on the Food Network. It doesn’t always stop the fighting, but for half an hour, we agree on something. Sometimes, that’s priceless.

A few weeks ago, we watched her make Mulligatawny soup. It looked amazing, but had a few ingredients I’m not okay with including in a week night dinner. I came up with a healthy variation which our whole family loves.

The entire dish comes together in one pan which is my kind of meal. It cooks really fast but is packed full of flavor.

Start by cooking the chicken. Then add the onion and garlic and cook it all together.

Add the curry, broth and coconut milk and cook just to heat it up. Then add the chopped apple and cook for another five minutes. This will cook the apple but keep it from getting mushy.

Top each serving with some chopped peanuts. This adds more great flavor and crunch.

I love this dish because it’s a great,warm soup for winter but the freshness from the apple makes it great for any time of year.

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Healthy Orange Cherry Breakfast Scones

By Ami on September 11, 2015 in Breakfast

Growing up, there was a Village Inn about two miles from our house. Sometimes on Saturday mornings, my BFF and I would walk there for breakfast, indulge in a sweet breakfast pastry (aka pie) and then walk back to my house. We felt like we were so healthy, walking the four miles it took to make the round trip. Little did we know, we were packing on enough sugar and bad carbs to require us to walk about 50 miles to break even.

Even with the knowledge I have now, I still have that taste for delicious pastries branded in my brain. Luckily, there’s a much healthier way to indulge.

These scones are sweetened only with dried fruit, cinnamon and orange zest; and made with a combination of almond flour and coconut flour. This keeps the protein high and the processed carbs low. These scones have less than 5 grams of sugar each.

This easily comes together in a food processor. This is my ancient food processor my grandma found at a garage sale for $10. It’s one of my favorite tools and even though it’s death will mean I get to buy a newer model, I hope this one lasts forever.

Combine everything but the cherries in a food processor. Let everything process until the dough forms a ball.

Add the dried cherries and process again. These are the only dried cherries I’ve found without added sugar. This is one of my pet peeves. Fruit is so full of natural sugars, why do we feel the need to sweeten them. I found these at Walmart of all places.

I like to let the cherries process for a bit to break them into small pieces. This distributes the sweetness throughout the scone. If you like bigger chunks of cherry, mix these in with a spoon.

I bake these in my awesome scone pan, but you can pat this in a round disk and cut into eight triangles, cut them into squares, or roll this out and cut them with a circular biscuit cutter.

These bake quickly so you don’t have to wait long. Rather than top these with frosting, we just drizzle melted coconut butter over the top. The kids think I’m the cool mom giving them frosting for breakfast. They’re such lucky kids.

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Healthy Twist on a German Pancake

By Ami on August 14, 2015 in Breakfast, Main Dishes

For years, we’ve had breakfast for dinner every Friday night. That often meant huge grocery-store muffins, sugar-loaded cinnamon rolls and French toast made with processed bread. Yum… I knew when we switched to a healthy lifestyle, my family would not be okay nixing the Friday-night breakfast tradition. Nor would they accept omelets every Friday. I quickly realized that with a few tweaks I could revamp some of our favorite recipes. That’s my favorite part about eating healthy; finding ways to still eat the foods we’ve always loved but in a healthy way. This German pancake is packed with protein, comes together in just a few minutes and lets us still have our Friday-night breakfast tradition.

Rather than melting butter in advance, just stick the butter in a 9×13 pan and put in in the oven while it preheats. I always love the chance to cut out a step.

Whisk the eggs and almond milk together. Then add the almond flour and whisk the heck out of everything until it’s totally smooth. You can also use an immersion blender or a stand blender to get a really smooth consistency. I just don’t like extra dishes, so I stick with the whisk.

Once the butter is melted just pour the batter into the pan and bake it for about 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s golden brown and puffy in spots.

My husband and kids like to eat this with pure maple syrup but you can also use peanut butter or honey. I like to just toss some berries on top and eat it all together. That’s a great way to get in some added nutrients.

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Ingredients Archives: Butter

Gluten-Free Brownie Pudding Cake

Healthy Remake: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Soup with Apple Relish

The Best Pumpkin Dish You’ll Make This Fall

Backyard BBQ Foil Potatoes

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Healthy Mulligatawny

Healthy Orange Cherry Breakfast Scones

Healthy Twist on a German Pancake

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