This dish was not planned in my weekly meals last week. And I know I sound crazy when I say that I plan out my weekly meals. But this came about when I wasn't feeling so well and all I wanted was a bowl of chicken noodle soup, knowing I couldn't have noodles. So here is my EASY version of an alternative to chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 cup quina (washed and strained)
Chicken bullion square
2 sticks of carrots (chopped into pieces)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 tsp basil
1/4 to 1/2 cups of tofu squares (some packages come already cut)

Steps:
Put all ingredients except for tofu in a pot and bring to a boil.
Bring down temperature and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes, depending on how soft you want the vegetables.
Add in tofu squares and let sit for another 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

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I love experimenting with new flavors and combinations, but sometimes I also love trying out other blogger recipes. I've been following Culinary Karma for a little while and I somehow always end up making her rice krispy treats for a snack. To me, it tastes amazing. Just make sure to eat it when it's right out of the fridge, otherwise it may melt just a little.

Make sure to try out the recipe here.

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I saw this beautiful piece of fruit come across my Facebook page the other day. I must say though... I have always HATED grapefruit. Mainly because they are too tart. But it looked so pretty that I had to try The Forest Feast's recipe.

I tried this recipe at home in the oven first and I actually just recreated it in our office toaster (which has a broiler option too).

Ingredients/Steps:

• Cut your grapefruit in half
• Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top of each half
• Broil on med to high for 5-7 minutes
• And Enjoy!

Also, make sure to eat this with a grapefruit spoon or something OTHER than a plastic fork. It definitely makes for a messy snack during a work meeting :)

 This was my plate for my work meeting.

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These quinoa sushi rolls turned out delightful, if I don't say so myself. It was even super filling and I only had one roll! Saved the other for work the next day and people stopped me in the kitchen to ask me if I made them myself. Sure did.

Ingredients:

• Quinoa
• Seaweed sheets
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced carrots
• Vegetable or chicken broth

Steps:

1.  Before you do anything else, put 1 cup of washed and strained (with those strainers with super small holes) in a pot with 2 cups of broth. I actually had a chicken cube thing that I put in with my water.
2. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the quinoa absorbs all the liquid.
3. Take off of heat and let cool until sticky- may take 10-15 minutes (or stick in fridge)
4. Place your seaweed sheet on a sushi roller (or wax paper) and spread your quinoa across the top.
5. Place your vegetables in the middle and roll. 
6. Squeeze with your roller or wax paper until quinoa has stayed in place.
7. Cut into pieces.

Depending on how tight you roll and how sticky your quinoa is, you may get some messy pieces, but guaranteed, it'll taste delicious!
I paired this with some delicious shredded Brussels sprouts salad - recipe coming soon!

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If BabyCakes was my blog sponsor, I'd probably have to make doughnuts every day! But that wouldn't be hard.
Aren't these beautiful? They are dark because of the almond flour, I think. I made pancakes with almond flour and they were also darker after frying. Here is the delicious recipe:

Sweet Potato Paleo Doughnuts
Recipe inspiration: Pure and Simple

Doughnuts

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup cooked sweet potato (put it in the microwave for 5-6 minutes)
• 1/3 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
• 1/4 cup raw honey or agave
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbs cinammon
• 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tbsp all spice

 Steps:

1. Preheat your BabyCakes
2. Add eggs, sweet potato, milk, honey, oil, and vanilla in food processor or blender (I used my awesome Ninja!) and blend
3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the blender and mix until smooth
4. Put about 2 tsp batter into each doughnut slot and cook for 4-7 minutes or until brown
5. Place on cooling rack

Maple Vanilla Frosting

• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• Optional if not paleo (2 tbsp powdered sugar)

Steps:

1. Heat coconut butter and oil over low heat
2. Turn off heat and stir in syrup vanilla (optional powdered sugar)
3. Mix well
4. Let sit 10 minutes
5. Dip tops of doughnuts into pan of icing and let cool

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I've never made a macaroon in my life. And I must say, these were delicious. Inspired by Martha Stewart, I made some awesome vanilla and chocolate ones. Along with Martha's recipe, I am going to include a healthier version.

I made one big batch of vanilla macaroons, split the mixture in half and added in cocoa.

Vanilla Macaroons:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar (substitute with coconut sugar)
• 2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (substitute with unsweetened)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Chocolate Macaroons, add 2 tsp of cocoa powder to the entire mixture or 1 tsp to half.


Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 and line baking sheet with parchment paper (I did not do this b/c I have wonderful non stick pans, but you should do it)
2. In a bowl, combine egg whites and sugar and whisk until foamy
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
4. With your hands, create mounds (like above) and place onto baking sheet
5. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown

Enjoy!

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I have been doing really well at this whole no wheat and no dairy thing. But as you may have read in my butternut squash pizza recipe, I LOVE pizza and it was really hard to give it up.

Today, I made a pizza with the following ingredients:

• Udi's gluten-free pizza crusts
• Homemade tomato sauce
• Rice Dream dairy free cheese

You the know what to do next...

For the homemade tomato sauce I combined the following ingredients in a bowl. I don't give specific measurements as you can add as you'd like and taste along the way!

• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of water
• garlic powder
• agave
• onion powder
• basil
• parsley

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This is NOT a gluten free or dairy free recipe, so I have NO CLUE how it turned out. I made it for Matt's parents for Easter and they all said it tasted delicious. Boy I hope so because it is HARD to duplicate a UK recipe, for some reason.

Recipe inspired from Oh So Sweet Baker. 
 
For the oat topping:
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp COLD butter

Mix in small bowl, but smush the butter in with your fingers to create breadcrums.

For the cupcakes:

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This whole gluten-free, no wheat or dairy products, is really making me explore new ways of eating my favorite foods. As you can see, one of my favorite foods is PIZZA. I could probably eat pizza every day, so I made a compromise and made my own healthy alternative.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash sliced into medallions (you can also use eggplant)
1 cup of canned pineapple
1 cup (or as desired) dairy free mozerella cheese
1/2-1 cup (or as desired) homemade sauce (recipe below)

Pizza Steps:

1. Put your sliced butternut squash on a baking pan and bake on 350 for about 30-40 minutes
2. Once soft-ish, take out of oven and put sauce on each medallion, put back in over for 5 minutes
3. Lastly, add cheese and pineapple to the top of the sauce and bake for the last 10 minutes

Sauce Ingredients:
1 can of non-spiced tomato paste (if you use one with spice, you probably don't need to add the below spices)
fill can back up with water and add to paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Emeril's seasoning (or Lowry salt)
2 tsp agave (or brown sugar)

Sauce Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl
2. Save (freeze) the sauce you don't use for future pizzas

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This cake helped me make my kitchen the messiest it's ever been. But I managed to bake this two layer bad boy all while my dad and I were watching Skyfall. I even managed to bring it with me to Black Hawk (casino in Colorado) without him even noticing.

Since I am not eating wheat or dairy and it was still Passover, I decided to use Yammie's flourless chocolate mountain cake as an inspiration.It's definitely gluten free.

Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups dairy free chocolate (I used Enjoy)
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup coffee
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt

Ganache Ingredients:
2 cups dairy free chocolate
3/4 cup coconut milk (you can substitute for heavy cream)

Cake Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease 2-3  8 inch cake pans with coconut oil
3. Melt coconut oil, vegetable oil, and chocolate in a pan on med to high heat
4. In your mixer, mix eggs and sugar at high speed for 5 minutes
5. Add coffee and vanilla 
6. Add cocoa and salt and mix until combined
7. Mix in chocolate mixture and beat more
8. Pour batter into pans (divide by two or three) If you only have one pan, bake each layer separately
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fork/toothpick comes out clean

Ganache Steps:

1. Melt chocolate and coconut milk on stove top
2. When melted, pour into a separate bowl and place that bowl in ice water and whip until it becomes more fluffy
3. Fill ganache between layers
4. Spread on to your cake and and decorate with coconut flakes 

If you want to make your cake taller, you can double the ingredients or use smaller pans.

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