WIAW Christmas Day 2013 + Future Posts

Posted in Sophomore Year, WIAW by Madison @ Eating 4 Balance

Before I get started with all of this 2013 recapping fun in the coming days I first want to share a quick collage of my Christmas Day.

Of course it must feature some food as I hate to miss out on Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday party.

First row from left: Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, my brother’s new Keurig machine, paleo Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls.

Second row from left: The fire station where we had lunch on Christmas day, laying out the food, Christmas presents.

Third row from left: My dad expertly cutting the ham, the start of the dessert table, my dad’s plate of leftovers for dinner.

For breakfast on Christmas morning we made Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for my brother and Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls for my parents. Along with the rolls they also made bacon on our large griddle and after presents were opened, made coffee and hot chocolate with my brother’s new Keurig.

Every year for Christmas we always go to my grandparent’s house for lunch to celebrate. As they’ve gotten older though we have started just having holidays at the fire station where my grandpa is the retired fire chief. There was the usual ham and turkey, of which the turkey my grandma accidentally overcooked A LOT. Sighing “good gravy” in an exasperated tone, she tapped the outside of the cooked bird and it sounded quite… hard. I preferred it that way, but to see her face when she first took the lid off the turkey was hilarious.

My grandparents also brought the stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, pie and soda. My great aunt brought some homemade rolls which everyone said were delicious. My other two aunts brought fresh fruit salad and homemade sweet potato casserole. One of my cousins brought her famous frosted sugar cookies, deviled eggs, and cranberry jelly, and another made a raw vegan kale salad which sounded amazing. There was also cole slaw, lemon bars, m&m cookies, powdered sugar balls, and peanut butter cookies (but I’m not sure exactly who made them).

After the lunch I was recruited as always to help dish out the leftovers. Just as my grandma was trying to send us home more food, I was also acting as a double agent for my mom who wanted me to stave off the attempts. I tried my best. As you can see in the last picture of the collage though we ended up with quite a bit of delicious food for the following night and next day.

If you are still plagued with any leftovers from Christmas feasts, or if you will be after New Years, check out my post on creative ways to use them.

Coming up soon in my next four posts I will have a recap of my Christmas presents, my recap of 2013/plan for 2014, a new oatmeal recipe, and another cookbook giveaway!

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Well, it’s officially New Year’s. My brother and his friends are outside right now blowing their kuzookas and probably making a mess of our yard with poppers. Once again the news stations did not actually show the ball dropping, which I just don’t understand.

Happy 2014 blogland! Hope it’s a great one 🙂

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Questions for you:

What are your plans for New Years day? We are going to Pizza Hut with family.
Are you ever roped into getting leftovers? Yes.
What would be your favorite food to get? Turkey!

13Dec2013

Microwave Cinnamon Rolls — 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes Day One

Posted in Food Allergies, Recipes, Sophomore Year by Madison @ Eating 4 Balance

Hello and welcome to Day One of the 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes. I am your host, Madison at Eating 4 Balance, and boy have we got a show for you today!

The theme for Day One is breakfast pastries, a very fitting way to begin this round-up as breakfast will be the very first thing you eat come Christmas day.

As part of this post I have collected dozens of breakfast pastry recipes which I will share shortly. Before we do that though, I have created a “new” special recipe to share as well which I am confident you are going to love.

Whether you have food allergies, a special diet, or are just trying to eat healthier, it can be frustrating to come across an amazing looking recipe and then see the serving size. Especially if you are the only one in your family eating a certain way, a recipe with multiple servings is just too much. First, do we really want to still be eating the leftovers come the next week? Of course not! And if it’s a dessert recipe, having multiple servings can be very tempting and if you’re anything like me you can’t just stop at one or two.

So this recipe, no matter which category you fall into, is perfect. It only makes two, and is so quick to whip up that if you need a tasty allergy-free treat on Christmas morning but don’t want the prep time or hassle, you can make these microwave cinnamon rolls.

Microwave Cinnamon Rolls

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly

Makes two large servings

Dough Ingredients:

1/4 cup ground flaxseed + 1/4 cup water
1 small ripe banana
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup coconut flour
dash of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Filling Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp honey
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Combine the flaxseed and water in a bowl until thickened. Mash in the ripe banana and then add in the remaining ingredients. Mix well until you have a thick dough.
Using your hands, press out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper by hand to the size of a long, but thin rectangle.
Mix together the coconut oil and honey for the filling and spread evenly over the dough. Sprinkle on the cinnamon.
Next roll up the dough so that you are left with a log about 4 or 5 inches wide. Slice into two halves.
Place one of the halves on a plate lined with parchment paper and pop it into the microwave. Cook for about 3 minutes on high (you will have to experiment with this as all microwaves cook differently). When done it should spring back to the touch but still be somewhat soft.
Repeat with the other half. Enjoy your quick and allergy-free cinnamon rolls!

Notes: If you prefer to not cook things in the microwave, you can also bake these for about 15-20 at 350 degrees. I adapted this recipe from my oven one which you can look at here.

Usually I stay away from anything that isn’t meat or a vegetable because my stomach starts acting up, but I made an exception for these cinnamon rolls and hate half. Delicious.

If those don’t appeal to you though, don’t worry because I have many other recipes that you will be interested. Actually, it’s almost impossible that you won’t find a recipe that you can make among the ones I am about to share.

We have basically ever breakfast pastry under the Sun here. Scones, donuts, bagels, biscotti, cinnamon rolls, and much more. I have separated all of the recipes into categories with the links underneath the respective pictures. To make it easier for you, I have also included the food allergy profile next to each link so you can see if it will fit with your diet.

Those recipes that have an asterisk (*) by tree nut or soy free is to denote that the recipe calls for an ingredient that can easily be switched for those who cannot have it. For example, if a recipe calls for almond milk and that is the only tree nut in the recipe, I will put an asterisk by tree nut because you can easily use a different milk substitute with similar results.

While I tried very hard to make sure that I included the correct allergens and that the links are all functioning, please let me know if I have missed something. Enjoy!

Scones

Cranberry Orange and Chocolate Scones (wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Cherry Oat Scones (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Pear and Almond Scones (wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Paleo Pumpkin Maple Scones (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Cranberry Apple Scones – (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones – (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy*, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Donuts

Apple Donuts (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Apple Cider Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinnamon Roll Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Chocolate Peppermint Cake Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Gingerbread Donuts with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Healthier Chocolate Glazed Donuts (soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Molasses Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Maple Glazed Donuts (dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Caramel-Glazed Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Carrot Cake Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Banana Coconut Pecan Protein Baked Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Almond Joy Mini Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Bagels

Grain-Free Bagels (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Onion Poppy Seed and Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Breakfast “Rolls”

Bananas Baked in Phyllo with Date-Sweetened Chocolate Sauce (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Skinny Mini Jelly Roll Cake for One (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Paleo Crepes with Nutella (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Biscotti

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (grain, gluten, wheat, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Vegan Eggnog Crunch Biscotti (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Cherry Chocolate Biscotti (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Baked Fruit

Baked Apples Stuffed with Cinnamon Date Pecan Oatmeal (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Fresh Gingered Anjou Pear Cobbler (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Apple Fritters (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Honey Cinnamon Stewed Apples (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Healthy Apple Pie Breakfast (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Poached Pears (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinnamon Rolls

Raw Cinnamon Rolls with Coconut Icing and Caramel Raisin Filling (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Hot Cocoa Toasty Marshmallow Swirl Cinna-Buns (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Walnut Raisin Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Coconut Flour Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Nut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut*, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Miscellaneous Pastries

Cream Puff Pastry (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinna-Sugar Flutes (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Gingerbread Breakfast Pizzert (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Almond Croissants (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Chocolate Eclairs (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Paleo Churros (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Thanks for looking through all of these breakfast pastry recipes! If you have a favorite not listed here, feel free to share it in the links so everyone can enjoy it as well.

To see the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas Allergy-Free recipes, check back on this page (which you can also access on my menu above) where I will be including the hyperlinks as the other bloggers post. Also, if you are interested in participating in this round-up, there are a few days left and we would love to have you.

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Questions for you:

What are you going to eat Christmas morning?

What is your favorite breakfast pastry?

Do you prefer smaller serving sizes for recipes?

18Sep2013

Peanut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (WIAW)

Posted in Food Allergies, Recipes, Sophomore Year, WIAW by Madison @ Eating 4 Balance

Dang it! I was doing so well with balancing school and blogging then it all caught up with me 😦 It’s not exactly that I don’t have the time although that is part of the equation. It is more like I don’t have the brain capacity. Who knew reading about food, workouts and life required an IQ?

Unfortunately I feel as though I have reverted back to burnt marshmallow brain status. Here’s hoping that today’s post will remedy that a little. Please?!!

My mind these days is constantly swirling with horizontal models, orbital periods, blocking variables, and ups-men-throwing-computer-screens (what?!… check the bottom of my post for more on that 😉 ). Oh, and let us not forget the honor beats of Native American Grass Dance songs that haunt my dreams.

Actually, my dream are crammed full of test nightmares, homework scares and the random celebrity sighting… Hmm, as a therapist would say: “What does that say about my life?” That I’m a stressed out college student who spends way too much time on Yahoo! News and Buzzfeed? (for the record, I have determined that reading those articles for the most part does NOT require an IQ).

My plan was to catch up on some sleep, blogging, comments and the works this weekend but then I forgot about a trip that I was taking. And I may have forgotten to mention it on here too however, in my defense it didn’t seem extremely important to mention it since I went on the same trip last year.

Yes! On Saturday and Sunday I went to the Stratford Shakespeare festival again in Canada! Recap coming next week most likely on Monday (or Wednesday if I can find any food shots of other people’s exciting meals on my phone).

If I have no food to share from the trip though I guarantee that I’ll have something fabulous to write about from this coming weekend when I get to go home. And BAKE. And see my family. And BAKE. And go to a wedding. And…

Bake some more. 😉

Priorities people! I have almost run out of my arsenal of recipes because I haven’t been in a kitchen for almost three weeks.

Note that I said almost though and not completely…

Peanut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free/Vegan Option, Nut-Free Option, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly

Makes 9 Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup ground flaxseed + 1/2 cup water)
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tbsp honey (or maple syrup to make this vegan)
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2/3-1 cup coconut flour*
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 recipe for carob chips
“Peanut” butter filling: 2-4 tbsp honey + 1/4 cup nut butter*

Carob Chunk Ingredients:

1/2 cup carob powder
1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl mix up the carob chocolate ingredients and then pour half of the mixture into a small pan to freeze. Set the rest aside.
Combine the egg (or flaxseed + water), mashed banana, honey, coconut oil, and vanilla until well combined.
Then add the 2/3 cup coconut flour and mix well. The dough should be easily formed into a ball but not sticky. Add more coconut flour as necessary to get the proper consistency.
Next mix in the sea salt and baking soda.
Take the dough and place it on a sheet of parchment paper to roll out. I found that using my hands to mold the dough was best and formed a large rectangle that was about 1/4 inch thin approximately.
Mix up the “peanut” butter filling and spread it out evenly over the dough rectangle.
By now the carob mixture should be frozen solid in the freezer (takes about 15-20 minutes on average). Remove the carob bar from the freezer and break it into small chunks.
Sprinkle the carob chunks over the “peanut” butter filling then carefully roll it up. It may be a little difficult if you used the egg version of the recipe, but once it is rolled up you can just form it together with your hands and piece together any tears or holes.
Slice the roll into 9 pieces and place them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown (this time is really dependent on if you use eggs vs. flaxseed, how wet your dough is, and the strength of your oven).
Then taking the remaining half of the carob mixture and drizzle it over the rolls. (You can make a DIY pastry bag like I did by pouring the mixture into a ziploc bag and slicing off the tip).

*Recipe Notes: I made this recipe with eggs because I have had a few people ask me about replacing the flaxseed mixture in my other two recipes with eggs. I found that this made the a wetter dough so I had to increase the coconut flour and even doing so made the dough much more difficult to handle. Next time I will probably just go back to the tried and true vegan version! The “peanut” butter for this recipe can be replaced with any type of nut butter that fits your dietary needs. I would recommend sunbutter for the most “peanut”-like taste. Almond butter would work as well!

Just in case you missed my past two cinnamon roll recipes, here they are:

Coconut Flour Cinnamon Rolls

Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls

Now that it’s almost fall I need to get on making some Pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

***Thanks Jenn for hosting WIAW yet again!!***

I almost forgot! Here is the video that I referenced above about the computer monitor-throwing man:

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Questions for you:

Do you like cinnamon rolls?

What kind would you like to try next?

Is your brain like a burnt marshmallow?

What did you do this past weekend?

12Sep2013

Pin Around the Rosie

Posted in Recipes, Sophomore Year by Madison @ Eating 4 Balance

Hey everyone! I’m just popping in for a quick post today to participate in Lindsay’s Pin It Party over at The Lean Green Bean.

Today I am sharing five recipes that you can easily pin on your Pinterest boards.

For ease of use I included a Pin It button to the right of each recipe title so that you can add the picture to whatever board you like. To see the recipe itself you can either click on the recipe title or the picture itself. After pinning one recipe just hit the back button in your browser and it should take you to this post again so that you can pin even more! 😉 (Let me know if there are any technical issues or mistakes on my part with the pins/links!).

Easy enough, right?

Make sure to link-up your top five posts for Lindsay’s link-up today!