Elana's Pantry

One of my favorite blogs to get recipes is Elana's Pantry. I came across her recipes when I was diagnosed with Celiac. But I wish I had known them before, regardless of food allergies. To know about her story, click here. If you are in to health and nutrition, I would highly suggest that you check out her sight, regardless of having allergies or not. Her recipes are so much more than gluten and often dairy free. They are clean, healthy, nutritious, simple, different, outside of the box, and refreshing. Her layout is so easy to read. She cooks very simply, using a handful of unconventional ingredients for her staples. Don't limit yourself by thinking you have to use all of her ingredients. Just make a switch every now and then (e.g agave nectar for sugar) and see if you can tell the difference. I think a lot of you mom's would like some of her recipes that she uses for her kids... she can get them to eat about any veggie! She uses high protein almond flour as her main flour in cooking or healthy coconut flour, but I am sure the recipes would taste well with regular flour if you are okay with gluten or not okay with nuts. Here are some of my favorites and some I am excited to try...

1. Dairy free, gluten free brownies... Try these, even if you can eat gluten. They are packed with protein and help keep your blood sugar from spiking. I use peanut butter, as almond butter is too expensive. I don't know how, but these taste like real brownies and they have NO flour.

2. Pumpkin Pie Muffins... VERY GOOD. As said above, I often use other flours for her recipes, as I try not to overdo it on nuts so I don't become too sensitive to them. (My dad has a nut allergy and I have recently began reacting to peanut oil on my skin, so just playing it safe.) The other flours taste great as well.

3. Double Chocolate Mocha Biscotti ... I actually burned this when I made it, but I could taste it enough to tell that it would have been great had it not burnt. :)

4. Roasting Pumpkin and Winter Squash... Really good how-to on using these gourds that are currently taking over my kitchen from my CSA.

5. Some on my lengthy list to try... avocado dressing, green goddess dressing, power bars, butternut squash fries, butternut squash soup, butternut squash latkes (can you tell what season it is???), fig newtons, chicken parm, fish sticks, and peach chicken.