Awesome Agave Blueberry Cake

I have made this cake 3 times now and every time it's come out really well. I do suggest that you go with canola oil or a light tasting oil, because even light flavored olive oil adds a bit of an olivey flavor to the cake. The website also has some good information about agave nectar.

French Toast

I would have taken a picture earlier but I didn't want to stop eating.

Maybe it's my Canadian genes, but I LOVE french toast. I'd forgotten all about it for a long time, but rediscovered it not too long ago. It doesn't have to be an unhealthy sugary treat, though in my mind I lump it together with other food you might eat at IHOP.

It's also super easy. I do not suggest making it in the morning if you don't have too much time, because inevitably it will take longer than you think it will, and you might have an unfortunate egg accident (yes, I'm speaking from experience). But, if you get up early, it's perfect!

Just mix up an egg with a little water, a tbsp or two, and put two pieces of brown rice or spelt bread in until they soak up the egg. One egg should do it for two pieces of toast. Heat a skillet on medium high with a bit of canola oil, and all the bread. Cook both sides for a few minutes, and enjoy with a little maple syrup.

Wheat-free & Sugar-free Banana Muffies!

This post is the first in a series of wheat-free, sugar-free recipes for treats.

Dispite looking quite large and looming in the above picture, these muffins are tiny. That's why they are called "muffies". The word muffie is also more fun to say. I just modified a regular banana muffin recipe a bit, and they came out great. You can make them regular sized as well, of course.

3 medium bananas, mashed, blended, or pulverized in a food processor (my personal favorite)

1/2 cup canola oil or 1 4-oz stick of butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups spelt flour or 1-1/2 cup spelt + 1/2 cup barley flour

1/2 cup of blueberries, walnuts OR chunks of dark chocolate (my personal favorite is 85% -it has a miniscule amount of sugar-but people who are used to sweets tend to find it too bitter)

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix banana, oil, eggs, agave nectar, and vanilla together. In a seperate bowl, mix baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour together. Add liquid to dry, and mix until smooth. If you're using berries or walnuts, stir them into the batter. If you want chocolaty center muffins (shown on right), place a chunk of chocolate into each muffin tin once you fill them, and carefully cover the chunks with the batter, making sure you don't push the chunk all the way to the bottom. If you use regular size muffin tins, bake for 23-28 minutes. If you use mini muffin tins, make it about 12 minutes or so... I can't remember the exact time. Just make sure a cake tester or knife comes out clean.

A NOTE ON MY WEIRD INGREDIENTS

Agave nectar is a low glycemic sweetener, which means your body processes it more slowly than sugar. It is great for people like me who love sweets but can't really take the high sugar content. It is also the plant tequilla is made from.

Spelt and barley flour can be found at Whole Foods, and some supermarkets. You could always use whole wheat in this recipe. Barley flour makes muffins more crumbly, which is good in small amounts, this is why I used a quarter barley flour. According to King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook, that is the ratio to use. (I recommend the cookbook to those who want to integrate whole grains into their diet while eating "normal"; it also has a lot of good information about baking with less common grains)

My favorite thing in the world

I love pizza. Sure, I like cooking, but I also really like having someone else cook one and put it in a box for me, but that can't happen anymore. I came across someone talking about a restuarant that sells spelt pizza, but it's nowhere near me, which is very, very sad. So, I just have to make my own (what's new?).

Spelt is the easiest grain to substitute for wheat, in my experience. It has a similar amount of gluten so it acts pretty much just like wheat, and tastes quite similar as well. If you want to know more about spelt, buy a package of spelt cereal, pretzels, or flour, and it will tell you more. They all have little background stories, unlike wheat (just another great benefit of spelt, a history lesson!), such as my bag of Newman's Own spelt pretzels tells us that it's been eaten for over 9,000 years.

I'm currently waiting for my dough to rise. Here's my foolproof spelt pizza recipe.

Spelt Pizza

3-4 cups spelt flour

1 package active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm water (it can be pretty warm without killing the yeast)

1 cup warm water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Dissolve yeast in the 1/3 cup warm water. Add the rest of the water, half of the flour, olive oil, and salt. Mix that up and gradually add flour until it forms a ball and you can knead it. Knead for about 10 minutes (or until the dough is really mixed and/or you're really bored). Let it rise until it doubles in size, preferably in a warm area. It should take about an hour to rise, or at least 2 if it's the winter and you are like me and don't like high heating bills.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down, knead it a tiny bit more, then seperate into 2 or 3 pieces. Each ball will feed 2 people; if you split it into thirds those people might want a side dish with their pizza as well. Freeze what you don't use in individual baggies. To defrost, leave it in the fridge while you're at work so you can come home to a delicious and super easy dinner.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough and prick with a fork all over, so air bubbles won't form, unless, of course, you are one of those people that loves to pop air bubbles on pizzas. Top the pizza however you like. I like fresh mozzarella-tomato-basil and onion-spinach-artichoke. Cook until the cheese is browned. If you don't have cheese to gauge it by, I'd say about 10 minutes.