Double Chocolate Freezer Cookies! (Gluten Free Vegan)

Our family is vegan by choice, for health, for our children's health, for not supporting animal cruelty, and even for the eco-friendliness! Being vegan has it's challenges, and I can't say I've met every one with tenacity and vivaciousness, but we more than manage. Now apparently, I wrote in some journal somewhere about a year ago that I wanted to go gluten-free too one day, oh and all organic, that'd be nice to afford. But those were luxuries to me, heartfelt desires that were just goals and faraway dreams. Until February. 

My hands have been rid with eczema since before Kaylee was born. It started around my rings, and even in taking them off when fingers swelled in the late summer heat, I never could get rid of it. It got so bad that it hurt to touch water. So finally after almost 4 years of just dealing with it, I went in. I got creams, suggestions of suspending hand-washing, and the cop-out of "you'll just grow out of it." 6 months later I was out of cream subscriptions, and I really don't like daily doses of steroids on my hands, thanks! So I took it up with my girls' naturopath. A blood screen for allergies came back with gluten! Not just gluten, but wheat itself, all parts. So it looks like my dream became a reality...FAST!

I fought it! I had gluten blues, that hankering for my Wheat Thins, a good roll, a decent tortilla to wrap up my burrito. Depression and all out hormonal craziness for a whole week, about a month or so after cutting off gluten, is normal, so if you venture this way, be warned!

So from here on out, all of my recipes will be GLUTEN FREE VEGAN!! And you probably won't find an assortment of sandwiches, we have just learned to eat differently. Now I'm blessed with the best gal, Karina, who knows her way around gluten-free goodies: The Gluten Free Goddess!! So MANY of my recipes are inspired by her! 

But the sunshine is the inspiration for this recipe! Cold, slightly crisp, but chewy, fill your mouth up goodness, oh so perfect for hot summer days...

Double Chocolate Freezer Cookies!

Makes 5 dozen (but I doubt they'll see it to the month's end around here!)

Ingredients:

2 Cups Sorghum Flour (Also known as Jawar or Milo Flour...sold on AZURE STANDARD!! YIPPEE SKIPPY!! And Oh So Much Better than rice flour!)
1.5 Cups Potato Starch (not potato flour! Use Tapioca Starch if you don't have potato starch)
1 Cup Coconut Flour (Don't have coconut flour? Try another sweet flour like Almond or Oats)
2 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
2.5 Cups Sugar (Packed Brown is best)
1 Cup Olive Oil
2 Cups Soy Milk (Vanilla, or Plain) + 4 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
1.5 Cups Chocolate Chips, DIVIDED
         or
1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder + 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients; Sorghum and Coconut Flours, Xanthan Gum, Salt, Baking Soda, Sugar, and 1 cup of the Chocolate Chips (or the cocoa powder if you went that route!) Whisk to fluff and combine.

In a measuring cup, whisk the Cornstarch into the Soy Milk, you can do this step in two rounds if you don't have a 2 cup measuring cup. Microwave the mixture for one minute. Remove, whisk, return to the microwave for 30 seconds, remove, whisk, repeat. For 1 cup of milk it usually takes 2 minutes total, with the full 2 cups, it usually takes 3 minutes. But on that last whisk, the cornstarch-milk mixture will congeal. 

Pour the thick "vegan eggs" onto your dry mix. Add the rest of your wet ingredients; Oil, and Vanilla, then mix.

Mix for 5 minutes, as I've found sorghum to be a sneaky bugger and hides in pockets! Because you poured warm "eggs" onto chocolate chips, they should melt and turn the whole batter brown! After the batter cools, add the rest of the chips in to make a double chocolate wonderfulness!

Spoon the batter onto cookie sheets, watch out--they spread!

Bake for 14 minutes. If you did multiple racks of cookie sheets like I did, rotate at the end of 14 minutes and bake for another 3 minutes.

Remove the cookies and allow them to cool for 15 minutes on the counter. Then, using a spatula, re-home cookies to a container or plastic freezer bag. Allow cookies to set in the freezer for an hour before eating! 

Trust me, they're a crumbly mess if you don't!!

Now that's a cool and refreshing, delectable treat!! 

On the left, freezer cookie, on the right "salvaged" left-at-room-temp cookie!

And you know, I've been completely gluten free for 2 months now, and no, my hands still have eczema, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. Since the switch, my belly isn't so bloated all the time, and neither is Kaylee's! That's worth the switch right there! And, when I started divvying up wheat for my hens, halfway through my throat and lungs started burning, my nose started running, my eyes got all itchy and watery...sooo it took weeding it out for my body to figure it out, but I don't think it'd like me too much if I turned back now. So here's to loving new food! And NEVER feeling guilty about one ounce of it! 

Chicken Feeder

Remember that Ace Hardware bucket I used for making coffee dirt?! Well I told you that I usually use Home Depot buckets, despite the aesthetic disadvantage because of their price...and here's proof!

For 13 chickens, you need a viable dispensary that all those beaks can peck at once! This is our cheep, cheep, CHEAP solution! ^_^

To make the feeder, all you need is a 5 gallon bucket and lid, a plastic dish/tray, a hole saw and drill, and a handful of screws. The whole idea was Brandan's, and it was quite the ingenious invention!

Available at Home Depot, or any local hardware store, is the 5 gallon bucket; in the neighborhood of $2.78, the lid is an extra dollar. Also at the hardware store is the screws, for less than $3, and all you need is 5--we chose black wood screws for strength and rust resistance. Keep looking here for a hole saw, depending on your drill and brand preference, the bit should be around $10. This is the one we got, on Amazon:

Now drill trilateral holes at the bottom of the bucket, so that when feed and grain is poured into the top, it will spill out the holes.

The plastic feeding dish was purchased at a feed store for a little over $15, and I'm sure you could hunt around to find something that works for a more economic price, but the rescue chickens all came on fast, so we needed something now! Attach the dish to the bottom of the feeder bucket, so as to create a trough of grains!

And you're finished! Just mix up your grains, pour, and lid the entire bucket. While the lid is water-tight, the trough is not, so you will still need to stick it in a semi-dry area.

We purchased multiple buckets and order all of our grains from Azure Standard. I use The Elliott Homestead's Chicken Feed Recipe, since it is Organic, Non-GMO, and Soy Free! It is cheaper than buying organic (or even non-organic!) bagged feed from the feed store, and cheaper than premixed organic feed from Azure. It is smart to constantly check for what they term "chicken wheat" because it is almost half the cost of the regular wheat berries, just because it is the remnants from cleaning the mill and not fit for human consumption! 

I also recommend buying the 50# bag of kelp granules, because they won't go bad and are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper per pound. I adapted the Elliot Homestead recipe to suit my hens, as they are free range for the majority of the year and do not care for oats (I believe this is because they get their protein from other buggy sources) and will pick them out instead of eating them! 

Not this little guy! He only lasts one and a half feedings!

I used to fill each bucket up with a different grain, but now to save time, when I get the order home, I mix up all of the feed (sans the oil and kelp called for in the feed recipe) into each bucket. One bucket lasts me one month, so I can mix up 6 months worth, store it under our deck with the watertight lids, and keep the small excess of kelp and various seed remnants in their bags, stashed away. This way it takes up far less time, and does not take up a ton of room to store 6-8 buckets. It all depends on where your storage is.

It is awesome to have little helping hands do your work for you too! You can be working on one bucket, while they do another!  

Mixing all of the food into individual buckets also helped me sort out the price. One order of feed stuffs (minus the excess kelp) was $210. I mixed up 7 months of feed, making it $30 a month to feed my hens. Throw in one bale of ultra-compact straw for $10, and that makes $40 a month, or $10 a week. I get about 4 dozen eggs per week, which means I need to sell them for about $2 a dozen to break even. Sometimes I get 6 dozen, which turns a profit, or pays for a little heat lamp when the average temperature is 18 degrees (wait, Seattle, say what?!), or upsizing the coop! 

We do not "Date Stamp" our eggs anymore, because they are purchased up so quickly, and one buyer pointed out that not only do eggs last a significantly long time (longer if left unwashed), as in 6 weeks, but also our stamp ink is probably not organic! You could buy organic ink...we have some for other purposes...but if your turnover is high, the stamping is insignificant!

Ready to Start Gardening?!

First off, it's February, I know. But if you know my house, you will understand that just last week one day was filled with 7 hours of chores, one day with 4 hours of once-a-month grocery shopping, and three days were filled with 25+ hours of baking. That was one long week, and the rest of the month will pale in comparison by only a quarter of the same work, however, it always gets busy. You know what I'm talking about--you bust your booty to pre-make all the burgers you could ever want, but the time you saved is filled with something like all the doctors and dentists appointments you thought you were caught up on. So in my house, I start my garden early! I'm making my new topsoil already, (although next year that will start earlier) and I'm digging out all the adorable walkways that just end up providing a diving board for the grass to jump off of and attempt to smother all of my crops!

Next is the list of every single seed I have, from saved seeds to flowers! I may not choose to use all of them, but I sure enjoy being able to select what my garden will look like this year. I also like to use WinterSown for a small variety pack of edibles and tomatoes, to be fair, they do mix flowers in with the packet I call "edibles" which is nice as sacrificial plants for your garden. You can even let them pick the plants that will most likely grow in your area, 6 varieties for a total of 3 stamps!!!

Now, I don't know what gardening method you intend to use, but I have the tool for whether you want to square-foot garden, or conventionally garden! It's the Territorial Seeds Vegetable Garden Planner! You can plan everything you want in your garden, place every plant, and get little tips on comparison crops, sunlight requirements, the works! Then you don't have to write it all out on paper, which I've done...soooo not efficient, and the best part of it is that if you want to just plan for this year, they offer a 30 day free trial! I purchased a two-year block for $40, and it is well worth it! (I found a coupon code that's good until the end of this month, I'm not sure if it applies to their Garden Planner, but it's worth a shot! NTWJA1 )I tell them all of my plants, they produce a crop-planting schedule, and remind me by email when I need to start the plants indoors or directly sow outside!

On top of all of that, they send you wonderful Youtube videos of gardening tips, from natural pesticides to crop rotation, all in a lovely British accent that makes gardening seem like a cup-o-tea! All of the Youtube videos are free, and can be found in succession if you click on the video below.

This is my last year's garden. (Click to go to the published page!) To be noted, none of my cucurbits or squash thrived for long, as they all got a mildew I couldn't compete with...catch it early and you can save your crops, catch it late and it's an uphill battle. The pumpkins were eaten by slugs, another reason why I'm removing the grass catwalks, as I can bait slugs easily and take away their hiding places. Thankfully most of my garden produced early so it wasn't a total loss. I learned a lot, such as not planting towards the end of the acceptable planting window; just isn't smart for my cold pocket of a neighborhood.

Here's my new plan, based on what I've learned! Click here for the published page!

Going back to your list of seeds, write down how many of each you have. I am going to have a large garden, so knowing the quantity of each variety that I have helps me plan the layout. Start your plan by blocking out your garden space. If you're doing container gardening, just add all of the area of the pots and containers you plan to use in a manner that you can remember which pot goes where!

Now the fun part begins! I have found it's easiest to go through and pick out which plants need the least sun, or the most sun and place them in the respective spots in the garden. My garden has a slight slope to it, so I also know that towards the west side, the water will pool, so don't stick lettuce or carrots there, they will crack and rot! After your special needs areas and plants are taken care of, the Garden Planner can help with placing some companion plants, that help you move on through your list. The main thing to remember is that even with the most precise planning, things can deviate from the plan and your garden may not be best suited for certain crops you thought would be a perfect match! Go through some more of the Territorial Seeds videos for tips and tricks to choosing how to plant your garden the most optimally. 

Last pieces of advice, SPLIT UP large plots of plants in the same family, they create hot zones for pests! I also would say that if you are planting in succession to produce crops all season, 4 weeks between plantings was optimal for me! It's all trial and error, and you will learn how your garden works best!

Sultry Valentine's Treat: Pots De Creme! A Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Rum!

I originally got this recipe from my mom, who makes it every Christmas, and I adapted the original recipe to make the vegan equivalent. It is perfect for a love-filled holiday that demands a decadent dessert, whether you have a special someone to share it with, or you will be enjoying it all to yourself!!!

Pots De Creme

Vegan Version of Rum and Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
2 cups Semisweet Chocolate or Carob Chips
1 can (14 oz) Coconut Milk
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Soy Milk (vanilla soy works just as well in this recipe)
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
6 Tablespoons Rum

Two EXCELLENT variations are: 6 Tablespoons Coconut Rum, or 6 Tablespoons Butterscotch Schnapps in place of the plain rum. The flavors in the alcohol will infuse with the chocolate and produce a truly divine mousse!

Directions:
Step 1: Place the chocolate, salt, vanilla and sugar in a medium size bowl.

Step 2: Pour the coconut milk in a medium saucepan, and bring to a low boil, a light simmer is perfect. 

Step 3: While you are bringing your milk to a simmer, in a separate microwavable bowl, combine the soy milk and cornstarch. Heat on high in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking at each interval, until the mixture thickens (calcification). In this recipe, that usually takes 1:30 to 2:00 minutes. Then add both the coconut milk and the calcified soy and cornstarch to the bowl of chocolate.

Step 4: Add the Rum, Coconut Rum, or Butterscotch Schnapps while the mixture is still hot and whisk to incorporate. 

Step 5: Pour into individual pots or glass cups for 1-4 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes and return to fridge, to allow to set up. If no individual cups are available, a large pyrex or rummikin can be used instead, it will just take longer to set up!

ENJOY!!! And oh, good heavens, you will!!!

The original recipe calls for half of everything listed in the ingredients (I needed to double them in order to require 1 full can of coconut milk), and calls for 3/4 cup whole milk in place of the coconut milk, and 1 egg instead of the Soy milk and Cornstarch mixture. They also require a blender and heating only the milk. If you are concerned that your dessert might offend a younger pallet, add the rum to the coconut milk and bring both to a simmer to be sure that all of the alcohol cooks off. The taste will still be exquisite!

One More Granola For the Collection... Mango Macadamia Granola Delight!

This one is for a little dose of springtime!

Mango Macadamia Granola Delight!

Ingredients:

4 cups Oats, rolled, thick cut, steel cut, or triticale, or combo, anything but quick cook!!!

2 cups raw Macadamia Nuts
½ cup REAL maple syrup (Don't chicken out on me!)
¼ cup Agave/Honey
¼ cup oil

2 cups Mango, dried and chopped
2 pinches of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread out oats on a cookie sheet in a thin layer and bake for 15 minutes, this step is crucial in getting that classic granola crunch!
While the oats are a-toastin' combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine the wet ones, whisking to combine if necessary.

Add the roasted oats to your dry bowl then douse with the syrup mixture! Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. I suggest mulling your mixture for a solid 5 minutes, because those dry oats like to hide in little pockets!

Now grease that hot little baking sheet! Okay, it should be just luke-warm now... And spread an even layer of wet granola over it. Stick in that preheated oven for 25 minutes. It will still look wet when you pull it back out, just trust me, it'll harden as it dries!

Note: Greasing is IMPORTANT! Or else all of your granola will stick to your tray...and then it becomes a granola-chiseling disaster!

Bon apetit!

Fancy 350 Dollar February Menu!

We are gaining a wonderful new roommate! And this little introverted Momma is trying to accommodate a range of dinner guests and friends, making our home more welcoming and inviting! So this lovely menu is designed for 3 adults, 2 small children, and occasional guests (abouuuut 2 or 3 people a week total!) As you will notice, breakfasts are planned, they're the first line, and so are snacks, which are the second. Lunches are not planned as they will be the leftovers from the previous night or big ol' salads!!!

February
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1: Oatmeal Hummus and Carrots Burgers and Dipping Tofu
2: Japanese Style Cookies Portobello Wellingtons and Beet Salad with Gremolata	3: Sammies Pears Taco Bowls	4: Hot Pockets Cream Cheez and Crackers Curried Carrot Soup and Dipping Bread	5: Sammies Oranges Avocado Macaroni	6: Granola Pretzels Stir Fry with Ponzu Sauce	7: Sammies Cheezcake Burgers and Garlic Tots with Onion Cheez Dip	8: Oatmeal Hummus and Carrots Burgers and Beet Salad
9: Waffles Cookies Pho	10: Sammies Pears Chimichangas with Lime Sour Cream	11: Hot Pockets Cream Cheez and Crackers Mushroom and Barley Stew with Biscuits	12: Sammies Oranges Bechamel Pasta and Beet Salad	13: Granola Pretzels Peanut Satay	14: Sammies Cheezcake CHINESE (Per Valentine's Tradition)	15: Oatmeal Hummus and Carrots Burgers and Rustic Roasted Veggies
16: Japanese Style Cookies Quinoa and Dipping Tofu	17: Sammies Pears Burritos	18: Hot Pockets Cream Cheez and Crackers Thai Coconut Soup and Simple Sesame Noodles	19: Sammies Oranges Garlic Alfredo and Peas	20: Granola Pretzels Orange Sauce "Chicken"	21: Sammies Cheezcake Burgers and Garlic Potatoes	22: Oatmeal Hummus and Carrots Burgers and Beet Salad
23: Waffles Cookies Paninis	24: Sammies Pears Taquitos with Lime Sour Cream	25: Hot Pockets Cream Cheez and Crackers Curry	26: Sammies Oranges Veggie Stroganoff Pasta	27: Granola Pretzels Tofu Teriyaki	28: Sammies Cheezcake Burgers and Tots with Gremolata Dip	1: Oatmeal Hummus and Carrots Burgers and Beet Salad

And for desserts I am including enough ingredients to make brownies, truffles, mousse, and extra cookies and cheezcake! Plus things for Almond Milk and Coffee, and the usual Soy Milk for my girlies!

The following is your Itemized Grocery List! The highlighted portions are what I actually need to buy this month, as I bought the un-highlighted items last month! You will see that the highlighted total does not hit my budget of 350 which gives me wiggle room...you never know when you will have unexpected spoilage of goods and you'll have to refresh that whole bag of romaine! Otherwise, it is saved for next month, or things like vinegar which I rarely buy because it takes so long for my stock to run out, so it's not even worth putting on the list! The excess will also cover last month's actual total. You will see some items with a decimal quantity, like heads of garlic, which will last me 3 or 4 months, so yes, I bought them in January and paid full price, but I'm splitting it up over four months, so some of this month's "extra money" is actually already spent on prepaid goods. 

This is why the envelope system of cash works well! I pulled out last month's cash, paid for most of my groceries with it, then borrowed in order to be frugal for the following months. I wrote an IOU and stuck it in my envelope. I ONLY do this with groceries, because you can save so much and eat so much better! Now when I have excess money this month, I will funnel it all back into the bank to take care of the IOU. 

It is also worth considering to insert $100 into your envelope from a bonus or tax return, so that you don't have to borrow, you're just dipping into what I call a "buffer" ...just be sure not to spend it because it's there! 

FEBRUARY	QTY	Price	Total
Business Costco
Salt*	0.25	$3.99	$1.00
Toilet Paper*	0.13	$14.99	$1.95
Olive Blend Oil**	0.33	$11.00	$3.63
Tahini**	0.25	$3.10	$0.78
Coconut Milk	6	$1.19	$7.14
Garlic Heads*	0.25	$8.00	$2.00
Veggie Base*	0.13	$11.99	$1.56
Costco			$0.00
Almonds	3	$4.30	$12.90
Romaine	1	$3.49	$3.49
Corn	1	$2.89	$2.89
Peas	1	$2.89	$2.89
Mushrooms	2	$3.60	$7.20
Potatoes**	0.5	$4.49	$2.25
Carrots	0.5	$5.99	$3.00
Bananas	2	$1.35	$2.70
Chocolate Chips	0.25	$8.99	$2.25
Sugar**	0.25	$4.49	$1.12
Soy Milk	0.33	$15.99	$5.28
Vanilla Soy	2	$15.99	$31.98
Coconut Oil	0.33	$19.99	$6.60
Tortillas**	1	$4.00	$4.00
Tator Tots	1	$6.89	$6.89
Onions**	0.5	$10.00	$5.00
Honey	1	$12.79	$12.79
Winco			$0.00
Flour	15	$0.50	$7.50
Pinto Beans	5	$0.91	$4.55
Black Beans	5	$0.99	$4.95
Rice	5	$0.56	$2.80
Oats	3	$0.58	$1.74
Nutritional Yeast	1	$6.87	$6.87
Peanuts	4	$1.68	$6.72
Quinoa	0.25	$1.99	$0.50
Pasta	8	$1.08	$8.64
Sweet Onion	2	$0.76	$1.52
Walnuts	1	$2.00	$2.00
Hazelnuts	0.5	$5.88	$2.94
Peanuts	4	$1.68	$6.72
Cashews	1	$3.29	$3.29
Corn Starch	1	$0.98	$0.98
Oranges	1	$3.98	$3.98
Barley	0.5	$0.98	$0.49
Dried Mangos	1	$4.00	$4.00
Fred Meyer			$0.00
Liquid Creamer	6	$2.00	$12.00
Crackers	3	$1.67	$5.01
Mozarella	4	$2.50	$10.00
Orange Juice	2	$2.98	$5.96
Jalapenos	0.25	$5.99	$1.50
Brown Sugar	1	$1.99	$1.99
Filo Dough	1	$4.99	$4.99
Portobellas	2	$5.99	$11.98
Mushrooms	2	$2.99	$5.98
Mustard	1	$2.00	$2.00
Ice Cream	1	$5.50	$5.50
Ketchup	1	$1.99	$1.99
Miso	1	$3.99	$3.99
Avocados	20	$1.00	$20.00
Sausage	3	$4.00	$12.00
Asian Mart			$0.00
Tofu XFirm	5	$1.10	$5.50
Tofu Firm	5	$1.10	$5.50
Green Onions	1	$0.50	$0.50
Cilantro	1	$0.50	$0.50
Peppers	6	$0.60	$3.60
Broccoli	8	$1.50	$12.00
Udon	1	$3.10	$3.10
Lime	1	$0.15	$0.15
Lemon	1	$0.25	$0.25
Beets	3	$3.00	$9.00
Yam	2	$0.80	$1.60
Sweet Potato	2	$0.80	$1.60
Pears	8	$0.90	$7.20
Basil	1	$4.00	$4.00
Wontons	1	$2.00	$2.00
	TOTAL		$349.64
	THIS MONTH:		$315.99

As always, I keep my pricing as current as possible, excluding sales, which can be found here:

FOOD COMPARISON CHART (OpenSource)
FOOD COMPARISON CHART (Microsoft Excel)