I am so proud of my Momma – she’s made some major changes in her diet in the last few months and she’s looking and feeling fabulous!

After reading Wheat Belly, she decided to switch to a gluten-free lifestyle. She’s also taken on dairy-free living. And refined sugar-free living.

Yes, she’s a superstar! And she also happens to be an amazing and supportive Mother. I can’t imagine where I’d be if it weren’t for her love in my life.

My Mom and I share a love for many things (chocolate, baking, sweet treats, good books). One of our favorite loves is the combination of lemon and poppy-seed.

This Lemon Poppy-Seed Cookie recipe is for her. I wanted to create something she would love for Mother’s Day. These cookies are perfectly tart and they go so well with a cup of tea. Oh, and my Mom loved them.

They also happen to be loaded with some of my favorite gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients. And did you know poppy-seeds are good for you? Poppy-seeds are an excellent source of essential fatty acids, fiber, and minerals.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Cookies

¾ cup coconut oil, room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup agave or maple syrup (I used agave)
2 tablespoons psyllium husks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 teaspoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppy-seeds, plus extra for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silpat.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream coconut oil for 3 minutes (to get all of the lumps out). Add lemon juice, agave, psyllium husks and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Stir in lemon zest and poppy-seeds.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until well combined. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Press gently with the palm of your hand and sprinkle with extra poppy-seeds.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Watch them! The edges like to brown quickly. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for five minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 cookies

I hope all of you Mommas out there have a beautiful and peaceful Mother’s Day.

We are finally getting fresh organic salad greens at our Farmer’s Market. It makes such a difference to our salads.

While we don’t eat exclusively local foods, we like to eat local fruits and veggies as much as possible. It’s more affordable, and better for you (the closer your fruits and veggies are to the farm, the more vitamins and minerals you can get from them). Plus, it supports your local farmers!

With fresh greens in the fridge, Pete and I have been whipping up a lot of salads, and we’re always trying out a new dressing. We’ve been using stevia to sweeten our dressings, it works like a charm and you only need a small amount. I like to use NuNaturals alcohol-free liquid stevia. There’s no aftertaste and it’s perfectly sweet.

While I do like an oil and vinegar based dressing, I also like a creamy dressing. We get dairy-free creaminess from avocados, soaked cashews, and seed or nut butters.

This salad dressing recipe uses tahini (sesame seed butter) and works fabulously with kale. Pour it on, massage it in a little, and let it sit for a few minutes before serving. We also like to use this dressing as a dip for veggies.

Mediterranean Salad Dressing

¼ cup tahini (sesame seed butter)
juice of half a lemon
11 drops liquid stevia (try 1 tbsp of maple syrup if you don’t have stevia)
¾ tsp ground paprika
½ tsp sea salt or herbamare
1 tbsp flaxseed oil (extra virgin olive oil works too)
1 clove finely chopped garlic
¼ cup water

Combine all ingredients in your blender and blend to desired consistency.
If necessary, add more water to thin it out.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Use immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Other salad dressing options from She Let Them Eat Cake:

• Rustic Salad Dressing
• Creamy Carrot Salad Dressing
• Quinoa Spring Salad

Check out Ricki’s Build A Super Salad post at The Balanced Platter for more salad inspiration.

What’s in your favorite salad dressing?

There hasn’t been much going on in my kitchen this week – I’ve been taking care of a sick little boy all week! Thankfully he is on his way back to health (after lots of green smoothies and soothing soups).

But today my kitchen is being featured at Celiacs in the House. Wendy created a fabulous series showcasing gluten-free bloggers and their kitchens.

I focused on inspiration and where I find it in my kitchen – since I spend so much time in there!

Head over and check it out.

I think most of you know what a few of my favorite things are: cookies, muffins, smoothies, and pumpkin seed flour!

I’m slightly obsessed with it lately, but that’s a good thing. Pumpkin seed flour is a super nutritious way to get some vitamins and minerals from your diet. You must use raw pumpkin seeds though! Roasted pumpkin seeds don’t have the same oil content, or the same nutritional value.

This recipe for gluten-free crackers was born for a good cause. My friend Tess from Healthy Blender Recipes has an amazing giveaway going on this month.

She’s teamed up with KitchenAid USA (and some amazing gluten-free bloggers) to give away an artisan mixer!

I adore my KitchenAid Mixer. Of course it’s cherry apple red.

Naturally I used my mixer to whip up these easy, nutritious, melt-in-your-mouth crackers. You could definitely do it by hand, but if you don’t have a mixer yet, now’s your chance to WIN one.

Savory Gluten-Free and Vegan Crackers

1 1/2 cups pumpkin seed flour (finely ground raw pumpkin seeds)
¾ cups sorghum flour
2 tsp dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp psyllium husks

½ cup water
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In the bowl of your KitchenAid (using the paddle attachment), combine the flours, rosemary leaves, baking powder, fine sea salt, and psyllium husks.

Add the water and olive oil to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Let cracker dough sit for 5 minutes. Dough will be slightly wet, but you should still be able to shape it with your hands.

Place dough onto a large piece of floured parchment paper – I used extra pumpkin seed flour. Flour rolling pin (as necessary) to prevent sticking and roll dough until about ¼ inch thickness.

Place rolled dough onto baking sheet (leave it on the parchment paper) and score into desired shapes using a pizza wheel or a knife. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and lightly press into the cracker dough.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, rotating tray after 16 minutes.
Let cool to touch and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I’ve been using pumpkin seed flour a lot lately and I love it. I buy raw pumpkin seeds and grind them to make my own pumpkin seed flour. I use an old coffee grinder. It’s so simple and so nutritious!

Head over to Tess’s blog and enter her giveaway. And don’t forget to come back so you can make these crackers (they go oh so well with dairy-free pesto ).

Did you miss yesterday’s KitchenAid giveaway recipe? Alta shared her recipe for Lemon Earl Grey Cookies. Tomorrow Amie from The Healthy Apple is sharing a savory scone recipe.
Find these and many more slightly indulgent recipes at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

I like bean dips because you can sneak all sorts of goodies into your food processor and end up with a protein-boost. It’s fabulous. Plus, my kids love to dip!

When I’m feeling a little lazy, it’s so easy to grab a can of beans and whip up a nutritious bean dip. It’s also really easy to use some leftover cooked beans to make a dip.

I added some hemp hearts to this bean dip recipe so I could up the amount of heart-healthy omega 3′s.  They help reduce cholesterol and lower your chances for cardiovascular disease.

Did you know that hemp contains all 10 essential amino acids, so you’ll get even more protein on your cracker!

Sometimes, with all of the food prep I do, it’s nice to have easy meals to fall back on. Add a salad, some fresh cut veggies, and you’ve got a meal.

Omega 3 White Bean Dip

1 can white beans (cannellini beans)
¼ cup hemp hearts
½ medium-sized clove of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
¼ tsp herbamare or sea salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp flax oil
black pepper to taste

Add beans, hemp hearts, garlic and parsley to the bowl of your food processor. Puree and add herbamare, lemon juice, flax oil, and black pepper to taste. Puree until smooth.

Serve with crackers, veggies, or in a wrap.

Yield: approximately 2 cups

Want more bean dip tips and recipe ideas? Check out Valerie’s post on The Balanced Platter.

What’s one of your easy meals?

As the Mom of two little gluten-free cuties, I am happy to do a lot of baking. But I’ve also dreamed of being able to take my kids to a bakery where they can eat anything they want. And where Pete and I can eat anything we want!

Enter Bunner’s bakery – a gluten-free and vegan bakery in Toronto, Ontario. I was lucky enough to enjoy one (okay, two) of their cupcakes at my cousin’s wedding in December. I knew my kids would love a visit to their bakery so they could pick their own cupcakes.

Luckily, Bunner’s recently posted on facebook that they would have gluten-free and vegan Easter Cream Eggs for sale.

Last year I had a hard time finding chocolate Easter candy that my kids could enjoy, so when I saw what Bunner’s was offering (um, yes please vegan Easter Creme Eggs) we took a road trip.

It was worth the trip to Bunner’s, as you can see by Livvie’s cupcake!  The kids LOVED them, just look at that icing!  What’s not to love?

We tasted the cupcakes (obviously), brownies, cookies, and of course the Easter Creme Eggs.

I had a lovely chat with Ashley, one of the owners.  She stole my heart when she said one of her favorite things about running the gluten-free and vegan bakery is watching kids come in and enjoy something delightful.

Bunner’s sells all kinds of delights: bread, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and much more.  We can’t wait to go back and stock up.  I am anxious for Easter to arrive as those Easter Creme Eggs call my name every time I open the freezer!

Oh, and another reason to love Bunner’s? They use whole-grain gluten-free flours and unrefined sugars in all of their treats.  Heaven, right?

You can find Bunner’s on facebook, on twitter, but you really must get to Toronto and visit their bakery. I can’t wait to go back on a Saturday, around noon, I know we’ll leave with a car-full of goodies.

Have you ever been to a gluten-free bakery?

It’s maple syrup season in these parts and I am making the most of it.  How can we not when the stuff is flowing from the trees, begging us to use it!

As you know, I’m in love with pumpkin seed flour so naturally I had to try my hand at a nut-free granola bar recipe.

Pumpkin seeds feature prominently in this recipe, and why not?  They’re naturally high in iron, magnesium, and zinc; all are essential minerals for women’s health and wellness.

Honestly, you’d never know these were nut-free granola bars.  They’re so filling and so nutritious.  All of my testers were in love with them.

If nuts aren’t an issue for you (Callum goes to a nut-free school), you could use almond flour to replace the pumpkin seed flour.  But seriously?  Pumpkin seeds and maple syrup were made for each other.

Delicious Nut-Free Granola Bars

2 cups certified gluten-free oats
1 cup pumpkin seed flour (ground raw pumpkin seeds)
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
½ cup raw sunflower seeds
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
6-8 chopped and pitted medjool dates, depending on sweet preference
½ cup coconut oil, liquefied
1 tbsp psyllium husks
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp ground chia combined with ¼ cup water
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper (put a little oil under the parchment to make it stick to the pan).

In a large bowl stir together the oats, pumpkin seed flour, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sea salt, cinnamon, and dates.

In a smaller bowl, combine the coconut oil, psyllium husks, maple syrup, chia and water mixture and vanilla.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine.  Use a wet spatula to press the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes (watch them).  Cool in the pan.  Once cooled, remove the granola bars (still in parchment) and cut into desired sizes.  Refrigerate granola bars in an air-tight container or wrapped in saran.  These can easily be stored in the freezer for future use.

Notes:

• I use an old coffee grinder to grind my pumpkin seeds.
• I buy psyllium husks at my local health food store.
• If dates aren’t your thing, try raisins or cranberries.
• Can’t tolerate gluten-free oats?  Try quinoa flakes, just use about 1/4 cup more.

Did you see my post at Lexie’s Kitchen? I shared my recipe for Flax Crackers.

By the way, I’m running a workshop on Saturday, March 31st – I hope to see you there if you live in the Peterborough area!

This is an old family recipe that I finally converted, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. 

My Mom is famous for her Scone, and has been making it for years.  Pete and I haven’t had any since going gluten-free, so I knew St. Paddy’s Day would be the perfect excuse to convert my Mom’s recipe to a gluten-free and dairy-free recipe.

As always, I used whole grain gluten-free flours to make my conversion.  If you’re familiar with scone or Irish Soda Bread, you know the flavor is important.

The original recipe calls for one cup of sugar, which is a lot so I used coconut sugar instead of cane sugar.  Since this is a special occasion bread, I figured it was okay to live it up a little and not play with the sugar ratio.

My Mom’s recipe calls for you to shape the dough like a scone.  I found it easier and less messy to use a bread pan, and so it basically became Irish Soda Bread.

This quick bread recipe is perfect for a Sunday brunch, an afternoon tea, or smothered in some coconut oil on St. Paddy’s Day.

Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Irish Soda Bread

If you want to make it in the shape of a scone, you’ll need well-floured hands and a well-floured surface.  

1 ¾ cup millet flour
1 ½ cup quinoa flour
¾ cup arrowroot flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup coconut sugar (or cane sugar)
¾ cup chilled coconut oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar mixed with 1 1/3 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk (to create a buttermilk mixture)
1 cup raisins soaked for five minutes in ½ cup boiling water
1 ½ tbsp psyllium husks

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9×5 inch bread pan.

Add flours, baking soda, sea salt, and sugar to the bowl of your food processor.  Process until well mixed.

Cut in chilled coconut oil (I measure mine and then chill it in the freezer while I’m preparing the dry ingredients) and pulse until well mixed.   You shouldn’t see any coconut oil chunks.

Combine apple cider vinegar with dairy-free milk and let sit until it resembles buttermilk.  Add psyllium husks to buttermilk and let sit for a minute.

Move dry ingredients to the bowl of your KitchenAid mixer (or another large bowl).  Gradually add your dairy-free buttermilk mixture and raisins.  Stir until well combined.

Mixture will be slightly sticky and wet (see picture).

Transfer to prepared bread pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, or until knife inserted comes out dry.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.  Gently remove bread from pan (I did this by carefully flipping over the pan) and let cool completely on wire rack.  Do not cut into this until it’s completely cooled.  It will crumble.

Have you tried using psyllium husks in your baking yet?  I am loving it as a replacement for xanthan or guar gums.  I usually use 1 tbsp for about 1 tsp of gums.  I used a little more in this recipe because it called for so much flour.

In case you’re wondering, my Mom loves this version of her recipe! That’s a good sign.

What will you be baking for St. Paddy’s Day?

Most of you know my co-founder for The Balanced Platter , Amy Green.  She’s the talented woman behind the blog and cookbook Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free.

Amy is taking a little blogging break to spend some precious moments with her little bundle of joy,  so last week I shared my gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free Buckwheat Breakfast Cookies with her readers.

I’m sharing the link and a picture here because I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the recipe.  Buckwheat Breakfast Cookies are a fabulous way to start the day – loaded with some of my favorite nutrient-dense gluten-free and dairy-free ingredients!

Hop over and check them out.

I have a new favorite flour – pumpkin seed flour.  I’ve been experimenting with it for a month or so now and I just can’t get enough!  Oh, and you won’t believe how well it pairs with maple syrup – it just happens to be maple syrup season in these parts!

There’s so much to love about pumpkin seed flour:

• I can make it at home with my coffee grinder;
• Pumpkin seeds are high in iron and zinc;
• Pumpkin seed flour is a nut-free replacement for almond flour;
• They add incredible flavor to your baked goods.

I’m always playing with cookie recipes and this recipe for Pumpkin Seed Chocolate Chip Cookies was born out of a desire for a healthy, high-protein treat.   You could easily omit the chocolate chips and use carob chips or raisins instead.  Regardless, I know you’ll love these cookies.

What I love most about pumpkin seed flour is the nut-free factor.  We don’t have any nut allergies in our family, but I know a lot of people who do, plus these are a safe school lunchbox snack.

In addition, pumpkin seed flour is perfect for those of you who like your sweets, but want to get some nutritional value at the same time.  Guilt-free, right?  And isn’t that why we love using almond flour in our baking?

Pumpkin Seed Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ½ cups pumpkin seed flour (I use raw pumpkin seeds to make my flour)
½ cup ground flax seeds
½ cup ground quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp psyllium husks
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking tray.  Grind pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and quinoa flakes separately (I use a coffee grinder).

Combine ground pumpkin seed flour, ground flax seeds, ground quinoa flakes, baking powder, and sea salt in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl mix vanilla, maple syrup, and psyllium husks.  Let sit for a few minutes as it thickens.  Stir in melted coconut oil (I melt mine in a oven-safe glass dish while the oven is preheating).

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheet.  Press gently with hand.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray for 5 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Store in an air-tight container.

Yield: 24 small but powerful cookies

Notes
1.    I buy psyllium husks at our local health food store.  Psyllium is an excellent source of fiber and a great replacement for xanthan or guar gums.
2.    If you don’t have a sensitivity to oats, you can use gluten-free oat flour instead of ground quinoa flakes.

3.  Grind the pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and quinoa flakes separately so your measurements are correct.

The winner of last week’s Spunky Coconut giveaway is Jessica – here’s her comment:
“Those muffins look amazing, as do the bagels. Can’t wait to try them! Thanks for doing this giveaway. ”

If you didn’t win a copy of the book, you can buy it on Amazon, or at least put it on your wishlist!