Scrumptious Sweet Potato Bake

This is the second installment of sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes. 

Sweet potatoes are my favorite Thanksgiving dish. I love sweet potatoes! I was very pleased with the way this recipe turned out. I actually prefer this to the conventional version that contains sugar.

Sweet Potato Bake

For the potatoes:

 3 large sweet potatoes [the orange kind]

1 1/4 cup grade B maple syrup

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut milk*

2 tsp salt

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pepper

 1 tsp cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

* The kind that comes in a can. For best results, refrigerate can for a day or so, the fatty part will separate from the liquid. Use the fatty, white stuff.

For the crumble topping:

2 cups pecans

3/4 cup dates

1/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp honey

For the potatoes:

1. Cut potatoes in half length-wise. Place in lightly greased pan skin side down. Bake at 375° until tender, about and hour.
2. Scoop potatoes out of the skins. Place potatoes in large mixing bowl and add all other ingredients. Stir everything in very well. [I encourage tasting the potatoes as you go along so that you can alter the recipe if you would like].
3. Scoop potato mixture into a greased 13x9 inch pan. Set aside.

For the crumble topping:
1. Place everything in a food processor. Pulse until everything is mixed and clumps together a little bit.
2. Top the potatoes with this mixture.
3. Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes, or until top is just beginning to brown.
4. Serve hot.

Wishing everyone a warm Thanksgiving!

Delightful Cranberry Sauce

It can be difficult to get through the holidays without sugar, dairy or gluten while still feeling satisfied with the winter experience. I have experimented with some recipes so that Christian and I can enjoy a healthy, tasty Thanksgiving dinner. 

I made this cranberry sauce for a Thanksgiving get together with my mom and it received rave reviews. Two people told me that they don't generally like cranberry sauce, but they liked mine. My ego was boosted quite a bit, I am not one to lie. [Although, I must admit that this is a very slightly altered version of a recipe I found on epicurious.]
 

Cranberry Sauce

15oz cranberries

1 3/4 cups unfiltered apple juice

3/4 cup honey

4 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tbsp lemon zest

1/2 tbsp orange zest

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 bay leaf

1. Combine all above ingredients in an appropriately sized sauce pan. Heat over medium heat. The sauce should start to simmer. Cook until berries burst and the sauce thickens to your liking, about 20 minutes. Keep in mind that as the sauce cools it will thicken even more. Serve warm or cold, however you prefer. 

Yum. Wishing everyone a healthy Thanksgiving.

Reminising About Dark Days

Something that I think is very obvious about me is that I am an extremely nostalgic person. Extremely. This is not something that I particularly appreciate about myself. I often find that I am nostalgic about the past instead of just living in the present. And my mind tends to wear rose colored glasses when it comes to my memories. And I remember everything. Everything.

Something else about me that may not be as obvious is that I struggle with depression [maybe that is obvious, I don't know]. Not so much in the past few years. But I struggled with it greatly in my past. I had one particularly deep bout of depression in 2004-2005. This was my junior year of high school. 

I sometimes find myself nostalgic for this time. Is that weird?

I remember the time I was driving 90 mph down Olympus Dr near VSPC. I remember the time I could not bear to get out of my car and just sat in it for hours. I remember driving to Vacaville and back with Runaway Train on repeat. I remember feeling abandoned. I remember punching my steering wheel until my hands hurt. I remember sitting in the back corner of Bayside, weeping uncontrollably. I remember pushing everyone that truly cared about me away. I remember wishing that I could just disappear. I remember begging for the pain to subside. I remember felling utterly defeated. I remember a lot of my dark writing. I remember wishing I could dive into myself and stay there forever. I remember ditching school just to listen to Kurt and drive and try to escape myself. Overall, I remember this deep physical pain that felt like it was squeezing my torso.

Yet somehow all of these memories have a sweetness to them. These made me who I am. It helps me be understanding to people who are experiencing things that they don't even understand. It humbles me. It reminds me how much my friends love me. It reminds me how many amazing people I had in my life that helped me out of this place. It reminds me that I am strong. It reminds me how lucky I am to be where I am today. It makes me appreciate Christian for loving me into happiness. It makes me a whole, complicated person.

Whether or not that's weird, its true.

Shakshuka

Finding recipes for entrees that are sugar, gluten and dairy free can prove to be challenging. I have found that non-American ethnic foods generally fit those restrictions pretty easily. One of the first [and most delicious] recipes we tried was Shakshuka. It is an Israeli tomato-based egg dish that is very easy, even for the most culinary-challenged folks [though it does require quite a bit of chopping].  This dish is quite tasty, unique and chock full of healthy veggies! 

AnTick's Shakshuka

2 tbsp safflower oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 red bell peppers, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 tbsp garlic, minced

8-10 medium tomatoes, diced

3 tbsp tomato paste

water

salt, to taste

black and red pepper [or cayanne pepper], to taste

1/2 tsp cumin

6-8 eggs

1. Heat oil in cast iron skillet to medium high. 

2. Add onion and saute until translucent [about 5-10 minutes]. Add garlic and bell pepper and saute until soft [about another 5 minutes]. Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until they start to disintegrate. Stir in tomato paste. Add water to desired consistency [this will be your sauce, how thick/thin do you want it to be? You should add somewhere between a couple of tablespoons and a couple of cups]. Add spices and salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Now it is time to add your eggs. We are poaching them, so just crack your eggs and drop them gently into the pan one by one, spacing them out as evenly as possible. Once the eggs are in the pan, do not mess with them. Just cover the pan with a lid and cook until the eggs are as cooked through as you prefer, about 8-12 minutes [we cooked them almost all they way through and they were great]. Remove pan from heat.

4. Serve over basmati rice or noodles. Enjoy

I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we did!