Gluten Free Zucchini Bread and Chia, Plum, and Fig Jam

It's stone fruit season!

My favorite stone fruit is apricots, but while visiting my mom and stepdad for Father's Day, my mom gave me a huge bag of dark purple plums.

Mmmmmm...

But what am I supposed to do with 40 ripe and juicy plums?

Jam. I remember growing up and making jellies and jams out of fresh strawberries and delicious pomegranates. I'll be honest though, I think most of the pomegranate seeds just ended up in my mouth!

But jam is time consuming, and really really high in processed sugar, even homemade jams. One of my jobs was always to measure the sugar in 1/2 cups. I would move spoons from one pile to another so I wouldn't lose track of how many 1/2 cups I had put in. It was a pretty big pile of spoons.

So although I know how to can jam, and probably will later this summer, I needed a way to make jam  that didn't require me purchasing a bunch of mason jars and setting aside a Saturday to stand over a hot stove.

So what's the lazy woman's way of making jam?

Chia seeds.

I love chia, great in smoothies, oatmeal, granola, power bars, basically wherever you want to add a little boost of super nutrition and your essential omega 3 fatty acids. But they also do this funny thing in liquid; they become super gelatinous.

Pour 1/2 a cup of chia seeds into 1 cup of coconut milk, seal the jar, put it in the fridge, and in the morning, you have super healthy, delicious vegan pudding. Why can't the same apply for jam?

Well it does.

Adding chia seeds to puréed fruit and letting it sit in a sealed container in the fridge for 1 hour gives you the fastest homemade jam you never thought was possible. And it's freaking amazing! You can add fresh herbs and spices to give it super complex flavors, vanilla extract or maple syrup for added sweetness, or if you like white refined sugar, you could add that too. I might never purchase jam again. Just remember that there are no preservatives in this jam, and it hasn't been sealed like it is when you can jams and jellies, so it goes bad quickly. Make small batches to use that day or the next. Or make larger batches and freeze it in small containers, so you can pull out just what you need. Fresh, real food has an expiration date.

But homemade jam, even fast 1 hour jam, really deserves fresh homemade bread to go with it.

Here's a little known fact about me, unless of course you've ever lived with me. I love to bake.

When I was going to community college and living at home, I wanted to go to culinary school just for  a baking and pastry degree. I used to bake these awesome chocolate cookies with peppermint chips, and of course jelly sandwich cookies, but my favorite thing to make was pie. My brother still asks me to come back home just because he wants me to make pie.

I still love pie, and I still love to bake, from scratch of course. But being healthy and baking don't exactly go hand in hand. Lately I've been experimenting with gluten free baking and I'll be honest I've had more fails than successes. There are just so many rules when it comes to gluten free baking, you have to have the right blend of flours and it's all so confusing, especially when it has to be vegan on top of everything. But if you really want to give it a shot, I suggest Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour and making a quick bread.

Quick bread are the ones you make in small loaf pan, requires no yeast, and only takes about 45 minutes to bake. I've made a lot of spice breads this way, but with some zucchinis that had been in my fridge for too long, I thought it was time to try my hand at Zucchini Bread.

Oh my god. Amazing.

Gluten free breads can be a little flakier than ones made with wheat flour and personally I thought that made this perfect.

So here's my recipes for Gluten Free Zucchini Bread and Quick Chia Plum and Fig Jam. They're such versatile recipes. You could easily take out the zucchini and add bananas for Banana Bread, or use strawberries or blackberries for the jam instead.

Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

Print Gluten Free Zucchini Bread Recipe Here!

Print Chia Plum and Fig Jam Recipe Here!

Ingredients

2 Cups of Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

1 TSP of Baking Powder

1/2 TSP of Baking Soda

1/2 TSP of Salt

1 Cup of Grated Zucchini

1/2 Cup of Coconut Sugar

1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil

1/8 Cup of Agave Nectar

1 TSP of Vanilla Extract

1/2 TSP of Allspice

1/2 TBSP of Flaxmeal

1 TBSP of Water

Directions

1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice together in a large bowl.

2. Mix flaxmeal and water together and let sit for 2 minutes until it becomes goopy.

3. Mix zucchini, coconut sugar, coconut oil, agave, and vanilla together until combined. Add “flax-egg” and mix well.

4. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until completely combined.

5. Pour into a loaf pan and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let cool before enjoying. 

Chia Plum and Fig Jam

Ingredients

10 Plums

4 Figs

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 TBSP of Agave Nectar

1/4 TSP of Ground Cloves

1/2 Cup of Chia Seeds

 

Directions

1. Separate plums from pits. This is the hardest and messiest part. Just use your hands.

2. De-stem your figs.

3. Put plums and figs into a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Doing this allows you to keep the skins of both fruit adding extra important nutrients.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blended fruit and mix well to combine.

5. Place inside an airtight sealed container, like a mason jar, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

6. Enjoy on homemade bread or with crackers!

 And don't worry, now that I've been talking about pie, I think I might see some healthy vegan pies and tarts coming in the near future! But for now you could always try out my Strawberry Rhubarb Pie before strawberry season is over!

Dieting, Fully Raw, and Being Happy

This is not a recipe post.

Having a healthy mind, body, and heart entails more than just yummy eats. It is, however, a little about food, and a whole lot about knowing yourself.

(But if you keep reading, you just might find a new recipe, because I find it hard to control myself.)

As many of you know, my journey towards health lead me down the road to veganism - and I love it! Being vegan is beneficial to the environment, cute furry animals, and most importantly to my body. Giving up animal products has given me clearer skin, healthier nails and hair, and makes me happy. Something about it just makes me feel good. But just because vegan works for me, doesn't mean it works for everyone. You can be perfectly healthy and eat meat, cheese, and eggs. I am not here to tell you what you need to do to be healthy; I'm just sharing what works for me.

Because here's the really big secret that the diet and fitness industries don't want you to know:

THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO GET SLIM, FIT, AND HEALTHY.

Everyone is unique, and a different diet/exercise plan is needed for every person. It sounds cliche, but it's true. We can't keep looking to our friends or celebrities who are having weight loss success or have smoking hot bods for the answers. It truly is a journey we must embark on to discover what works for us.

I know, I know.
Easier said than done, right?
Of course.

If being fit and healthy was easy, everyone would be.

Everyone is swayed by "quick fixes.'
Last week, I was.

Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram is a YouTube personality who promotes eating fully raw on the 801010 vegan diet. For those of you who don't know, 801010 stands for the percentages of carbohydrates, fat, and protein in your diet. The Standard American Diet suggests 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein. 801010 is 80% carb, 10% fat, and 10% protein. For some of you this may sound extreme or crazy, but the majority of individuals who are 801010 are perfectly healthy, extremely fit, and irritatingly beautiful.

I love watching Kristina's videos. She is bright, happy, and has a beautiful soul. She is inspiring and has a great message to encourage people to get healthy. Although she is fully raw and believes that's the best way to live, she does encourage people just try eating one raw meal a week or a day: do what works best for you. Just add more fruit and veg to your diet.

On June 1st, she started a 14 day challenge called the 14 Day Bikini Body Challenge, stating it's not just about getting healthy but learning to have confidence in your body. A typical day in the fully raw 801010 diet (you can be 801010 without being fully raw) lifestyle looks like the following:

Breakfast: 32-64 ounces of fresh homemade fruit and/or veg juice

Lunch: 32-64 ounces of a homemade fruit and veg smoothie

           or: A huge platter of fruit like 10-12 oranges or 8-10 bananas

Dinner: A small platter of fruit, like 4 mangos
           AND a massive salad or 2 POUNDS of leafy greens

The initial reaction to this diet is how the hell do you eat that much food!

That was my first problem. I spent two hours the first night and I still couldn't finish my salad.

My second problem: I looked at it like a diet.

Here's a secret that's not really a secret:

DIET'S DON'T WORK.

PERIOD.

END OF STORY.

I never had any intentions of going fully raw forever. I write a cooking blog for goodness sake!
But raw for two weeks sounded like a good detox program. Intensified workouts? Sounds like I'll finally lose that tummy fat.

It sounded great......

It took me until after dinner on Day 2 to realize what I was doing. I was dieting.
Being vegan is my lifestyle, being raw was a diet.
Most days I'm raw until almost dinner anyway. I agree that juices and smoothies are a great way to start the day and easily get in good nutrition. But cooking makes me happy.

The path to getting healthy is hard but it is also an eye opener. You have to embrace your diet as your life. And I mean diet as in what you eat, not how you restrict yourself. Your diet should never feel like a restriction, or you won't stick to it.

I'm happy for Kristina and that eating a fully raw vegan diet works for her. And she continues to be an inspiration to be a happy healthier me. But fully raw is not my lifestyle.

Lesson learned.

But look what I've done, even though I'm not raw.

One year ago today, I graduated from college and I weighed 20 pounds more than I do now. Back then I could barely finish a mile run. This morning, I ran 6 miles. You don't need a diet or a pill or surgery to get healthy. All you need is to learn to love yourself. Because when you love yourself, you will know what's best for your body.

And even though I said that this wasn't a recipe post, here's a simple delicious Raw Ice Cream recipe to thank you for reading this post all the way through.

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
I swear this has the texture of soft serve ice cream. It is incredible for breakfast, lunch, or dessert!

Ingredients
3 frozen bananas
1/2 cup of frozen strawberries
1/4 cup of non-dairy milk (I like almond milk)

Directions
Using either a high speed blender or a food processor, add all ingredients and process until perfectly smooth. Then enjoy!    

Good luck to everyone on their own journeys!

Gluten Free Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Pizza may just be the bane of my existence. I love pizza. Before I was vegan, my favorite pizza was Hawaiian pizza. Mmmmm- I love me some pineapple. After I went vegan, I was so happy to discover that my favorite pizza place carried Daiya cheese. I've had many meals of white pizza crust, smothered in Daiya cheese and loaded with pineapple, red onions, and red pepper flakes. DELICIOUS! 

Unfortunately, white pizza dough and non-dairy cheeses aren't the healthiest options. Although I'm not gluten free, I am trying to eat less processed grains and when I saw cauliflower pizza crust roaming around Pinterest, I knew I had to give it a shot. The original recipe had egg as the binder, but I substituted it with a "flax egg" and I found that to be nutty and delicious.

Lately, I've found that I have an obsession with zucchini. It's amazing. So good. I come home from work, chop up a zucchini, steam it, and bask in its awesomeness. It also happens to be phenomenal on pizza. 

I added just a Basic Vegan Pesto to the pizza, added lots of my delicious zucchini, added raw red onions and just a sprinkle of Daiya cheese. So comforting, so good and full of great nutrients from the zucchini, the cauliflower, and hidden spinach in my pesto.

But this recipe made enough pizza dough that I had to make TWO pizzas. Such a terrible thing ;)

So I decided to try my hand at a barbecue pizza. I love barbecue sauce, but haven't had it in awhile because most bbq sauce has honey in it. And honey isn't vegan. I know a lot of my non-vegan family and friends will read this and not understand why I choose to not eat honey. But insects are as much a part of the animal kingdom as cows are. Besides, they are plenty of great substitutes. Try using agave syrup or even maple syrup instead. 

But I didn't want to just make any old bbq sauce, so while I'm looking around the kitchen for inspiration, I see the cute little sweet potatoes I bought. They were only about half the size of normal sweet potatoes. And I am just a sucker for small things. I'm short so whenever I see anything else that's little, I have to love it: mini-muffins, cake-pops, brownie bites and everything else petite and delicious. If you were using a regular size sweet potato, using half would be fine for this Sweet Potato Barbecue Sauce. Adding the sweet potato to the sauce made the sauce super creamy and silky. It was divine.

 To finish off my BBQ Pizza, I topped it with sauteed kale, caramelized red onions, and sweet delicious corn. It was amazing, all the good flavors of a Southern BBQ piled up on a pizza. You could eat the whole thing and feel no guilt.

But the star of the meal was the gluten-free cauliflower pizza crust.

Gluten Free Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Print Cauliflower Crust Recipe Here!

Print Basic Vegan Pesto Recipe!

Print Sweet Potato BBQ Sauce Recipe! 

Ingredients

1 Head of Cauliflower

1/2 Cup of Flax Seed Meal, divided 

1/4 Cup of Water

1 TBSP of Olive Oil

1 TBSP of Garlic Powder

1 TBSP of Dried Oregano

 Salt and Pepper

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place a piece of parchment paper on two pans. 

2. Process cauliflower in a high speed blender, like a Vitamix, or in a food processor. Process until the florets have broken down into small, almost flake like pieces. Be careful not to over process or you will turn it into a paste. 

3. In a small bowl, take 1/4 cup of the flax meal and mix the water into it. Let stand for 2-5 minutes until it becomes gooey. 

4. Mix the cauli-flour, 'flax egg', and the remaining ingredients together. 

5. Carefully form two pizza crusts out of your 'dough.' It will try to fall apart on you, so be gentle. Make the crust as thin as you can so it will cook more evenly.

6. Bake the pizzas at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. This seems like a long time, and the very edges might get a little burned, but it really does take this long to cook. 

When adding sauce and toppings, just be gentle and bake for another 10 minutes at most. 

Although this looks like pizza and tastes amazing, the crust does have a tendency to fall apart a bit. No shame or change in flavor by eating it with a fork!

Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Balsamic Chickpeas and Mendocino!

It has been too long since my last blog post. Earlier work hours meant longer days. Trying to squeeze in my workouts became an art. And while I still spent plenty of time in the kitchen, doing much more than posting photos to Instagram was impossible. But within all the busy, I still had time to take a long awaited vacation with my boyfriend for his birthday!

We planned this trip back in January, and I am so glad that we chose Mendocino, Ca. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was adorable and very accommodating of my vegan diet. We spent hours just walking along the cliffs, gazing at the ocean, and hiking in the state parks. It was a fantastic weekend, filled with delicious wine, roaring fires, and more walking than our legs could handle. But of course the best part was the view from our balcony.

While gone, I had a dear friend take care of my patio garden and beautiful fish. Before we left, I made her dinner as a thank you. I was so excited, because I got to cook for a fellow non-meat eater. While my boyfriend enjoys most of my cooking, there's something wonderful about watching a fellow vegetarian or vegan devour your cooking and really love it. I wanted to try something a little fancy, and making these stuffed tomatoes just seemed perfect. I paired them with baked mashed potatoes and it was scrumdidilyumptious!

Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Balsamic Chickpeas

Print Recipe!

Ingredients                                        

1/2 a 15oz can of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 Large Tomatoes 

1 Leaf of Kale, chopped

1/4 of a Red Onion, diced

1 Clove of Garlic, miced

2 TBSP of Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Soak chickpeas in a bowl of water for an hour to help soften them. Slice the top off the tomatoes off and set aside. Scoop the guts out of the tomatoes and discard. Wash tomatoes and turn them upside down on a towel to drain.

2. After an hour, drain the chickpeas. Mix the chickpeas with chopped kale, onion, garlic, and balsamic vinegar together.

3. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and stuff with the chickpea mixture. Really make sure to pack it in there and let it overflow a little.

4. Bake tomatoes at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Be careful to check on them, tomatoes will fall apart if baked for too long.

5. Serve with you favorite mashed potato recipe and Enjoy!