Tag: sweets

Need a little something sweet~ Gluten Free French Sable Cookies

Published on by Life with Lisa WashingtonLeave a comment

I love dessert. I will talk about healthy eating forever, but I will never skip on dessert. A healthy lifestyle has a little dessert included, well at least that is what I believe and preach. Life is all about balance. We all  need a little sweetness in our lives and honey these cookies will deliver just that. First off they are gluten free, so they are great for people with gluten allergies. They are small and just perfect with a cup of hot ginger tea. I love making these cookies and sharing with my granddaughter, can you say, TEA PARTY! Bottom line they are so yummy, that’s really all you need to know, right?

So, stay on your healthy path. Eat clean food, drink clean water and make your desserts from scratch with good high quality ingredients. Enjoy them at least once a week or so and get out enjoy nature. It’s all in Divine order.

As always, Remember to Set the Table with Love. 🙂

Gluten Free Sable Cookies
Gluten Free French Sable Cookies

Gluten Free French Sable Vanilla cookies
Ingredients:
2 soft, plump vanilla beans
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted organic butter
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1-1/3 oz. (1/3 cup) organic confectioners’
sugar, sifted
2 large organic egg yolks
2 cups of gluten free flour blend ( Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour Blend)
My favorite gluten free cookie blend
2 cups white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Directions:

1. Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and scrape the seed pulp into a small bowl;
add the sugar. Using your fingers, rub them together until blended.
2. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix the butter on low speed until smooth and
creamy, mix in the salt. Add the vanilla sugar and the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add 1 egg yolk and mix for 1 minute. Still on low speed, mix in the flour just until blended; the dough will be soft.
3. Sprinkle a little gluten free flour onto the counter. Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it gently a few times. Divide it in half and shape each half into a 9-inch log. Be
gentle with the dough and work with it, gluten free dough needs a little more care.
Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
4. Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat the oven to
350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup sanding sugar onto a piece of waxed paper. Combine the
remaining egg yolk with a splash of water in a small bowl and whisk with a fork.
6. Brush each log with the egg wash and roll it in the sanding sugar until evenly coated.
Trim the ends of the logs if they’re ragged. Using a knife, cut the dough into 1/2-inchthick rounds. Put them on the baking sheets, leaving about 2-inches between rounds.
7. Bake the cookies, rotating and swapping the baking sheets’ positions halfway
through, until the cookies are brown around the edges and golden on the bottom, 18 to
22 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes; then carefully transfer to a cooling
rack and allow to cool completely before serving. Sable’ cookies need to be eaten cool, so
cooling with allow them to set, so you can enjoy to perfection.

 

 

Southern Girls ~ Gluten Free Stuffed Cornbread with Spicy Mexican Beans

Published on by Life with Lisa WashingtonLeave a comment

Today I spent time with my friend Melissa. We both are true southern girls, so we love ourselves some cornbread. I made two versions of this recipe. One vegetarian and one vegan.  They both were very delicious. We talked about our childhood, birth order, being girls, southern 🙂 and how much we both love dessert. You know of course I had to have dessert, so I made this Vegan Nice Dream using my Go Raw Apple Cinnamon Sprouted Granola. Now remember to scroll down, that recipe with be at the end of this blog post.

Okay, back to the cornbread. The cornbread is sweet and the beans are spicy, an awesome combination. I topped the beans with cheese, and some cilantro and added fresh tomatoes all around the whole dish. I hope you will share this with your family and enjoy it as much as we girls did. Well till next time. Set the Table with Love.

Talk to you later, YA’LL. 🙂

cornbread
Southern Girls ~  Vegetarian Gluten Free Stuffed Cornbread with Spicy Mexican Beans a

CORN BREAD RECIPE Vegetarian                                                 

Wet Ingredients

2 large eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature

( For VEGAN VERSION USE ONE FLAX SEED EGG (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 2 tablespoons water)

1 cup unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 cup Organic Cane Sugar

1/3 cup Olive oil

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup Bob’s Mills Tapicoa Flour

1/2 cup Bob’s Mills Sorghum Flour

1/4 cup Bob’s Mills Brown Rice Flour

1 cup Bob’s Mills GF Cornmeal

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cast-iron skillet. Set a side.

2. In a large bowl, beat the wet ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed until well blended.

3. In a separated bowl, whisk together dry ingredients until thoroughly blended. Gradually, with a blender on low speed, add in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until the mixture is thick like cake batter. Spread evenly in the cast-iron pan.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until top is firm and edges are lightly browned.

5. Remove from oven and set aside.

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Southern Girls ~ Gluten Free Vegan Stuffed Cornbread with Spicy Mexican Beans 

Spicy Mexican Beans

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup onions, diced

1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced

1 can organic dark kidney beans

1 can organic pinto beans

1 tbsp William Sonoma Apple smoked herb rub ( optional)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp smoked chilis

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp vegetable broth

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, for garnish

4 campri tomatoes, cut in fours, for garnish

1 cup of grated white cheddar cheese for the vegetarian version as a topping, 1 cup of vegan cheddar cheese for the vegan version as a topping

Directions:

Add olive oil to a deep sauce pan on medium high heat. Add onions and red bell peppers, cook for about 3 minutes. Add beans and stir. Add spices and stir until beans are coated with the spices. Add 1 tbsp of the vegetable broth, turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 4-5 minutes more adding the rest of the vegetable broth. Cook on a low heat for another 7-8 minutes, until beans are a little tender but still have a firmness.

Remove the cornbread from the cask iron pans, by flipping them over into a plate. The bottom part should be face up.  Scoop the middle of the cornbread out, about 1 1/2 – 2 inches down. Keeping the bottom in tack. You need to just scoop out enough to allow a space for the beans. Add the hot beans into the hollow of the cornbread. The beans need to be hot to melt the cheese, so if you need to warm them up some, do so. Once they are heated up, add the cheese on top, and the cilantro.  Add the quartered tomatoes around the entire dish, if desired.

Vegan Sweet and Sour Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts with Raw Zucchini and Yellow Squash Noodles

Published on by Life with Lisa WashingtonLeave a comment

I made Sweet and Sour Cauliflower Lettuce Wraps.They were delicious. I took the leftovers and made this Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts with Raw Zucchini and Squash Noodles. Two meals by just adding sautéed brussel sprouts. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets

10 medium brussels sprouts, outer layer peeled and cut in half

Olive oil to cover sauté pan

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions :

Add the oil to the pan. Cook on medium heat. Add veggies and spices. Stir. Cook until cauliflower is slightly tender, or longer if you like softer veggies. I love a crunch. Allow the brussels sprouts to get a nice golden color on them. After the sauce is done add the veggies to your sauce. Stir and cook on a low heat for about 2-3 minutes to incorporate the sauce with the veggies.

Ingredients for the Sweet and Sour sauce:

1 tablespoon tomato paste

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons organic cane sugar

1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce)

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water, fully dissolved

1/2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup diced pineapples

1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers

Directions:

In a large shallow sauce pan, heat the water, apple cider vinegar, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, Sriracha, and tomato paste over medium-low heat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir until fully combined. Add the pineapple and bell pepper and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add veggies and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve with Raw Zucchini and Squash Noodles or on Lettuce Wraps.

The Raw Veggies:

1 medium Zucchini

1 medium Yellow Squash

Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Use a veggie spiral and make veggie noodles

If you do not have one you can julienne the veggies, thinly.

Add to a bowl. Top with Sweet and Sour Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts mixture.

I garnished mines with cilantro and a little olive oil.

Bake with Love ~ Gluten Free Christmas Star cookies

Published on by Life with Lisa WashingtonLeave a comment

There are some people you just love cooking food for, you see their appreciation right away.  I love cooking and baking for my friends and family, but especially those who, yes, live to eat and love to eat!

So last night as I was putting invoices and labels together for my organic skin care company B’Tyli Natural Skin Therapies shipment. I decided to bake Christmas cookies for one of my foodie friends. We are always on Facebook talking about food, posting pictures of food, on all our social media spots. Last night being in the Christmas spirit, I came up with these Gluten Free Christmas Star cookies. You will never know these are gluten-free. I hope you can share them with those you love to bake for and always Set the Table with Love. 🙂

Gluten Free Christmas Star cookies

Gluten Free Christmas Star cookies
Gluten Free Christmas Star cookies

The flour below is a great gluten-free flour blend for baking cookies and pie crust.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups white rice flour
  • 2/3 cup potato starch
  • 1/3 cup tapioca flour
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 cup organic cane sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 2  cage free egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon gluten-free vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions: I am not a big gadget person. I made this recipe with a fork and spatula.

  1. In a medium container, whisk together rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour and xantham gum together throughly. Measure out 2-1/4 cups of this flour mixture and place in a bowl. The remaining flour will be used to dust your counter when rolling out the cookie dough.
  2. In the bowl combine sugar and butter, I used a fork to blend these ingredients. Mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl down occasionally with a plastic spatula.
  3. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
  4. Stir salt into the flour blend and add it to the sugar mixture. Mix completely until ingredients are well incorporated. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. Lightly flour the counter with remaining gluten-free flour mixture.  Place your dough onto counter and roll dough out until it is about 1/4-inch thick.
  7. Using 2 to 3-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into shapes. Place on prepared baking sheets.
  8. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to continue to cool. I took a sifter and add powder sugar to each one.

IMG_3837

Pecan Pie Tarts with maple butter glaze

Published on by Life with Lisa WashingtonLeave a comment

So I have been working out hard to reach a particular goal, so why am I making pecan tarts. Because I can and a tart never hurt anybody, right? Right? Ya’ll don’t hear me out there ( in my southern baptist preacher voice) lol. Enjoy! I will be working out hard in the next few days.

Pecan Pie Tart with phyllo dough and maple butter glaze 1185826_10151627278938613_423739481_n

These are so yummy.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted ( 1 Tbsp will for the phyllo dough cups you make)
  • 2 large egg
  • 3 Tbsp.  organic brown
  • 2 Tbsp. of Maple Syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • Box of phyllo dough sheets

Instruction :

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except pecans. Mix well. Add in chopped pecans, and stir until combined.

In a regular muffin pan cut phyllo dough up into medium squares, lay in the muffin pans ,shape to the pan and dab with butter. I used about 3 sheets to make a nice sturdy container for the pecan mixture.  Fill the cups about 1/2 way up. They will rise.  Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and drizzle I drizzled the maple butter glaze over top each one and served.