Gluten Free Adventures- A Continuous Post

I'll add to this post occasionally. 

10/16/14: "Oatmeal" cookies
The original recipe is here.

Here is what I did:
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/8 (ish) cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 TBS flax meal (ground whole flax in the coffee grinder) + 6 TBS water
scant 1/2 cup "sweet blend" (erythritol and stevia- a mix of different brands)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 TBS unsweetened applesauce

Directions: Preheat oven to 350*F. Line cookie sheet with non-stick material. Mix flax meal and water; set aside until gelled. In a large bowl combine all other dry ingredients. Combine oil, applesauce, and vanilla to the flax gel. Add to dry ingredients and mix until combine. 

Drop by spoonfuls onto lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or so. {I baked about 20.}

Result: I baked half of the dough to start with because they are small cookies. Due to the coconut flour (I'm sure) they were drier than I think the original recipe. I added about 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk to the remaining batter, and refrigerated it until the first batch were done baking. 
I flattened the cookies because they don't rise or 'melt'. They cook the way they drop on the sheet. I wanted to make oatmeal sandwich cookies. 
Why didn't I just use the recipe I have down the page here? Because I wanted something more 'on-plan' with THM. These cookies here would be an S or perhaps S-helper {bordering on crossover, maybe}. Whereas the others are not on plan because of the flours I used. 
Taste is yummy; texture is not so good. Crumbles way too easily.
Edited: After they'd cooled much, they stay together better.

Cream is just heavy whipping cream with stevia/erythritol blend and vanilla.
Edited: I put these in the freezer and yum. They are like ice cream cookies :)

04/30/14: Gluten free, yeast free, milk free oat bread

Long title for a bread. Easier to call it ...bread... Anyway. Here's the link to the original recipe- which I followed mostly.
Here's my tweaks:

3/4 cup oat flour {this is simply oats ground up in my coffee grinder}
1 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/4 cup sweet white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBS chia seeds
6 egg whites
1 TBS ACV
1 TBS honey

I also put the 1/4 cup oats on top. I couldn't figure out why it took so long to cook compared to the instructions on the original recipe. Silly me; I didn't copy the oat flour amount correctly. I only put in 1/2 what was called for! I used the sweet white rice four and cornstarch because I don't have tapioca starch. And I used egg whites because I have egg white powder and not so many whole eggs. I tend to improvise. A lot.

Result: I love the first loaf of this bread. Really. I made it on Sunday or Monday. Texture is really good and if I'd used what was called for with the oat flour it could have been even better! Taste was good. It went well with butter and made a yummy peanut butter sandwich. I didn't try it any other way but I'd think it would be good for a meat sandwich, too. 

I am making it again today. I tweaked the recipe again. I cut the sweet white rice flour and cornstarch in half and added 1 tsp gluccomannan. I also used only 1 TBS chia seeds and added 1 TBS flax seeds. I used the coffee grinder to make meal out of 1/2 TBS of each, so there would be a little crunch in the loaf. And finally I omitted the honey and subbed erythritol instead. {And for some reason I still forgot to make sure I put the right amount of oat flour.}

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04/11/14: Gluten free pizza using Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Crust mix. 

I followed the instructions for the most part but instead of 2-12 inch pizzas I made 4-6 inch pizzas. I cooked them for a total of 20 minutes, with no toppings. I let them cool completely on a rack and then wrapped three for the freezer and one for the fridge for tonight. 

I topped it with homemade pizza sauce, goat cheese {definitely not a favorite but it'll work} and pepperoni. 

Results: The taste is fine; the texture is a bit tougher than regular pizza but okay. The only problem I had is that my heart rate accelerated after eating and I'm waiting for it to go back to normal. That's a biggie for me. Not sure why that happened. I only bought one package so I think I will see how it goes next Friday to see if it repeats. {Edited: I've not had it again yet. 04/30/14}

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03/30/14 (?): Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cup gf flour
1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
cinnamon, cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 TBS molasses
1/2 cup erythritol
1 egg + 1/3 cup egg white 
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you use aluminum foil, grease it first.
Mix coconut oil {I melted mine in the microwave}, erythritol, and molasses well. 
Add egg and egg white. Mix. 
Add 1/4 cup almond milk. Mix. 
Add cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. 
Add in flour gradually, stirring until combined. If it's too dry, add the rest of the almond milk. 
Stir in oats. 
Drop by spoonfuls onto lined cookie sheet. Press into cookie shape as these do not spread as the cook. Makes about 3 dozen.
Cook for 10-12 minutes. Cool for a minute or so on the tray, then transfer to rack to cool completely. 

Result: Super yummy! I ate way too many. I put the leftovers in ziplock baggies in the fridge. After they get cold they are a little crumblier than fresh; still good!

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3/21/14: Tonight I want to try to make a gf pizza crust and then use cottage cheese for the cheese. I can tolerate cottage cheese but not regular cheese {go figure}. I really want pizza!

I will use the same gf flour I used in the drop biscuits that turned out so yummy. {Really, I am so making those again!} The crust recipe I normally use is as follows:

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 TBS oil
1 TBS yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water

Directions: I use hot tap water in my pyrex liquid measuring cup and add the tsp sugar to the water. Next sprinkle the yeast on top. It usually falls into the water and starts to eat the sugar, and within 5 minutes there are bubbles. 

Put all other ingredients in a food processor with the dough blade. When yeast mixture is frothy- it's usually very frothy at just under 10 minutes- add to the flour mix. Pulse processor to get it going, then blend until a ball forms and doesn't stick to the sides. It doesn't take long at all. 

Dump dough unto a lightly floured board. Knead just a few times and then press into a pizza crust shape. Make it the size you want, or split the dough to make individual pizzas. That is usually what I do. 

To make the pizzas, put on a pizza stone or cookie sheet and add toppings. Bake at 450*F for 10-12 minutes. 

For my purpose, I only need 1/2 the recipe. I'll post again later with the result.

Results: Taste was great. The texture was 'wrong'. And I didn't follow the original recipe as written because I've read that it takes more gf flour than regular flour; also, it needed more water. Unfortunately, I added too much water at first. Next time {yep, it was good enough to make again *smile*} I will let the dough attempt to rise before baking; something I don't have to do with regular flour.

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3/17/14: I posted my 'drop' biscuits using the diy gf flour I made but I really need something that is a little more THM friendly. Next up is an attempt at Gwen's Easy Bread, but gf with what I have. Having made the Easy Bread before, I know it tastes good {at least I like it}. Here's to a yummy gf easy sourdough bread.

And... it isn't as I'd hoped. Here is the recipe I used {but I cut it down to half a batch}:

2 cups buckwheat flour
1 cup Millet flour
1 cup Brown Rice flour
1 cup Garbanzo bean flour
1 TBS + 1 tsp Glucomannan Powder
2 TBS Instant Rise Yeast
1 TBS salt 

Mix it together. Add:

3 cups warm water

2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

I mixed it and then let it rise. Then put it in the fridge as per Gwen's recipe. I took it out today and let it 'rise' {it did not} for 20 minutes. Preheated the oven and let it 'rise' 20 minutes more {it still did not}. Then baked for the time called for. It 'rose' about a half inch. Maybe. Photo below.

One thing I am sure of when it comes to gf flours: I do not like garbanzo bean flour. Love garbanzo beans themselves, cooked, canned, etc. Not the flour. Blech!

Result: Nasty. In the trash it went. It was a bit like vomit tasting. LOL. Just being honest here.

Gluten Free Drop Biscuits

Yay! I got my order of gf flours yesterday...and then the power went out. Go figure. Today I have made three batches of all-purpose flour to try out. Here are drop biscuits I made from "Experiment #1".

Flour ingredients: 

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/8 cup millet flour

1/8 cup buckwheat flour

1/8 cup quinoa flour

1/8 cup sweet white rice flour

1/2 TBS + 1/2 tsp glucomannan powder

Biscuit recipe:

1 3/4 cup flour above

1 TBS baking powder

1 tsp salt

6 TBS cold butter, cubed

1 cup almond milk -plus enough water to make a 'drop' biscuit dough consistency

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450*F. 

Mix flour well beforehand; add baking powder and salt. Mix. Cut in butter until resemble coarse crumbs. Add almond milk and water until desired 'drop' consistency is reached.

Grease cookie sheet. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for about 17 minutes, until golden brown on top. Makes 15-18 biscuits. 

I chose to use almond milk so that I could eat these {butter, occasional cottage cheese and smidgen of greek yogurt is all I can seem to tolerate}. After all I am the only one that is choosing to be gf in the house. I would have used all almond milk but I ran out before I'd reached the right consistency. Water worked just fine. 

These were very yummy. I am so surprised, honestly. This is the second or third time that I have tried to make gf biscuits that I didn't end up throwing away. Nutritionally, I'm not sure these are wonderful but I can definitely see myself eating these occasionally. 

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php 

I would like to experiment some more to lower the fat and raise the protein. And I might increase the baking powder, or use a combination of soda and powder. But really these were yummy. The kids even liked them *wink*.

Weekly Wrap-Up -03.07.14- Week Before Term 2 Exams

I attempted to start a weekly wrap-up last week but that didn't fly at all. The Weekly Barden didn't even get done! Not sure what was so different about last week but oh well; moving on. 

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday I was sick. Stuffed head, achy in my bones, just not well. Stayed home all day and finished a paper for the last week of my classes. Should have put it off until Monday perhaps because I reread it {after I turned it in...yeah...} and it isn't very clear. But it's done.

I did get some more reading in of The Living Page*, Praying for Boys*, and a review book that is a verse by verse study on the book of Hebrews {I don't care for the book I'm reviewing, so it's difficult to make myself read it}. 
*affiliate links

Monday started well with Round Table and a chemistry experiment. We separated water. Fox had done it before at a homeschool co-op but Lee and I had not so that's what we did. Pretty neat! Fox suggested trying it with a car battery...I'm sure that would pretty awesome but it ain't happenin'.

It was fun to do this experiment. And super easy *wink*.

Oh, yes, and from reading in The Living Page, I was reminded that I've not put an entry in my Nature Journal in so long. This morning I could actually see some light in the window when I woke up so I decided to record that in the journal. I'd like to make it a habit {so many habits I'd like to make a habit *sigh*} each morning to record what I see and/or hear.

Tuesday has started... but I'm so very tired. I could not sleep last night, for whatever reason. I had heartburn which I've not had in a very long time, and a headache. I blame the Jelly Belly jelly beans I ate earlier in the day along with the peppermint patties around bed time... I do learn from my mistakes; I just don't always apply what I've learned.

I put an entry in the Nature Journal. I wanted to add a drawing but I'm just so tired, it wouldn't come out right to be sure. 

Today is Friday of sorts because tomorrow there is no school. Well, we are going on a field trip so there still is school but no book work. We are going to the Auto Show that runs March 1-9 this year. 

Wednesday we did what we planned. It was fun and exciting but I didn't find my car. LOL I'm on the lookout for my "next" car and was hoping for "the" car at the auto show. Last year we went and I really liked the Toyota Venza. This year, not so much. It's bigger and smaller at the same time, with much too much going on inside of it. Dh likes the Toyota Highlander which is way too big imho. 

I had a GoPro* for taking videos and photos. Perhaps dh will let me share the compilation video he makes of mine and his footage. He does great work with video stuffs. 
*affiliate link

I finished up the last bits for my two college classes. I am officially done for this term; just waiting for the grade the instructors will give. I already have registered for Summer term and ordered my books. It's funny; there are the same number of classes but more books for half the cost as last term. Eh well. The courses are titled Foundations of Exceptionality and Foundations of Education. I'm looking forward to them. I feel I've learned a lot in the two I just finished. Although what I learned was pretty much that Charlotte Mason hit the nail on the head way back before many. Also I learned that technology is crazy and being seen as the magic bullet for education. 

Thursday I woke up at 5:55 am but refused to get out of bed until 6:30 am. I think that I should actually get up every morning that I wake early; but I rarely do it. Even though I got up at the same time as most mornings, it felt like there was more accomplished. Coffee was made (I put Redmond clay and FCLO in my bulletproof coffee {coconut oil and butter} this morning for added nutritional value- wasn't too bad), discussion boards for classes checked, email checked, AO forum checked, and The Living Page read. It was a good morning. And I even got a shower in before the kids were up. That's an accomplishment! 

Reading Bestvater's book made me realize- again- that I need to supply my kiddos with the materials they need. Not cheap ones that I myself would not want. I've done this before, often, because I *know* that they will not take as good care as I would. Perhaps, though, they do not because I give the impression that that is what I expect to happen, rather than trusting them to care for the things as I would want them to. I bought a set of woodless colored pencils* for Fox today. A set all his own. He generally shares my Prismacolor* or Lee's set that she got for a birthday gift. And we are usually harping on him to be careful; don't drop them; don't sharpen them too roughly; etc. I don't know how good of quality the pencils I chose are but the description sounds nice and the reviews are favorable. I want him to have nice things that he will cherish and treasure. And use of course. 
*affiliate link

Tonight for dinner it's going to be a whole chicken cooked in the crockpot. I've never cooked one in the crockpot like this so I'm a little nervous. I started it at 10:00 am to be done by 6:00 pm. It was mostly thawed when I put it in the pot. I can smell it starting to cook now. Yum. If it doesn't get done by 6:00 pm that is fine; we usually eat dinner a little before 7:00 pm. 

{Edited: It's done by 5:00 pm! Now I have to figure what goes with it. Uh, I need to figure out what to do with it. I stripped the meat off and put all the 'sludge' and bones back in the crockpot with some more water and some apple cider vinegar to make chicken broth. When it's done, I'll strain all the bits out and mash them for the cat's food.} 

This morning after Round Table I all of a sudden decided next week will be Term 2 exam week. I don't recall us ever having a Term 2 exam. Lee asked if I had enough time to prepare and if the term was actually over yet. We've been a bit behind 'schedule' all year. I answered yes to both. 

I know what I will be doing when we are not doing school. {Edited: I'm going almost exclusively off of the AO exams for Y8 and Y10. How easy is that? *smile*}

I went grocery shopping by myself today. Normally the kids go with me and are a big help. They still had quite a bit of school to get done with so I opted for them to stay behind. The cost for the "week's" groceries was over $100. That's the highest it's been for quite awhile. I did get a double size of fish though, which will run into next week. And since I'm trying to get everyone on the THM plan, I had to buy more of what I'd consider "special" food {by that I mostly mean things like cottage cheese and greek yogurt}, and a lot more fresh veggies! That's something I've been trying to do for awhile. I actually purchased a bag of kale. At some point I am going to attempt to make kale chips. 

Later in the day, since it was so nice, being in the low 30s, I begged bribed convinced the kids to go out on a bike ride with me. It is much colder riding a bike but it was nice and fun. I want to take my camera out now and shoot some stills of nature. {Edited: I did take my camera out to the backyard. I posted my photos in this post.} 

Friday Yay! It's not like the week has been long though. We had two days on, one day off, and the last two days on. It's been a good week. And Friday has tea-time, pizza and a movie. It's a great way to end the week.

This morning the radio weather forecast says it will be 40s today. That means o.u.t.d.o.o.r. weather! We'll see how it goes. Also this morning for some strange reason, I remembered someone close mentioning that in the municipality that I live in we are allowed to have chickens. That makes me so very happy. I just need to convince hubby...well, just as soon as I figure out the rules. There really don't appear to be many. Keep them on your property, don't let them destroy others' property, keep them sanitary and keep the noxious odors down. Sound doable.

We had tea-time, and then Fox and I had a quick bike ride. For tea-time I made shortbread cookies. Normal recipe {uh, well, I used honey in place of sugar- not so normal?} and a gluten free recipe for me {yes, I shared}. We read from Eragon* again. 
*affiliate link

Gluten-free spiced shortbread {here's the original recipe}
1 1/2 TBS coconut flour*
1 1/2 TBS almond meal*
2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS honey & 1 stevia packet
cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves {or 1/2 TBS cocoa powder for chocolate shortbread}
*affiliate link

Preheat oven to 365F. Mix all well and separate into 8 balls. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and space the 8 dough balls on the paper. Press them down into whatever shape you'd like. 

Cook for 9 minutes. Watch them 2 minutes til the end; they brown {burn} quickly. Remove from oven but let cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet. 

They were good. Next time I will either not use the stevia and even less of the honey or...well, I'm not sure. I like my shortbread to be butter more than sweet. 

Then we had to run an errand. Uh, the errand was to buy a new bookcase. I have books stacked too many places and books stacked on books on the existing bookshelves.

And now the day is just about done as it's almost 9:00 pm. Dh and I watched an episode of Ancient Aliens* {Amazon Instant Video link; affiliate}, while the kids watched some of Batman* {the old tv series; affiliate}. It was a night for laughter apparently *wink*. I have some reading I'd like to get done before heading to bed so off I go. Have a great weekend!

THM, Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free, That's Me!

Back in March (?- nope it was June; I made the commitment in March though I didn't tell many people) I posted about going gluten-free, and dairy-free. I posted a few bits on making my own coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk and perhaps a few other non-dairy milks. The first link shows how I made dairy-free cream cheese with nuts. 

Around the same time a friend, Jeanine, started bragging {oh, yes, down-right bragging- okay fine, it wasn't that bad- I was just jealous} on Facebook about how she was eating desserts all the time and feeling great. And losing weight. At the time, I didn't really care if I lost much weight; I was comfortable. But I couldn't stand having headaches and other issues that I now know were related to the "semi-healthy" food I was eating. 

Enter Trim Healthy Mama. Go ahead, laugh at the title. For those who judge the book by its cover {or in this case, title}, we get the last laugh. But it's really not funny. This book has such awesome information that really would help so many people. Here are some links to help you see the awesomeness of this book: Gwen's Nest {my second 'exposure' to THM- seriously, just follow her whole blog- read it}, Pinterest THM {need a visual to see -haha! literally- how good THM is? this is the place} and of course, the THM Facebook group {so much good stuff, it just goes so excruciatingly fast!}.

THM on Pinterest

Now, I'm sure there are many diets out that many will say 'work great' but the thing is, most of them you can't commit to for life. It's a temporary diet. Diet. .. D. i. e. t... Oh, perhaps that's what is wrong with this whole thing. People are often worried to try a new 'diet'. Well, my friends, every single time you try something new -even a new 'once on the lips, forever on the hips' yummy dessert- that's a diet. A diet is simply the way you eat. You are always on a diet. It's tough but that word needs to have its meaning given back! It's not a dirty word!

Anyway, I think I'm getting carried away. 

I tried to go back to eating some gluten and dairy this past month. I even told Jeanine {who knows I am a weenie and don't eat gluten and dairy *wink*} that I think it was starting to be 'okay' to eat those things again. Well, I was wrong. I've had headaches, puffy face {no one can tell but me- it's more of a feeling that a visual thing} and the horrid stomach issues that I'd had before. Interestingly, since doing THM since mid-April, the 25# I've lost have stayed gone. 

So I'm going back to going gluten-free and mostly dairy-free. I can eat cottage cheese {thankfully!}. This weekend I made coconut milk and yesterday I made more almond milk. This next month I'll have to make sure I stock up on my 'special' foods again. One thing that THM has been so good at for me is helping get rid of the carb cravings -gluten and sugar. 

Adventures in Gluten Free... to be continued

Granted, it isn't the best photo ...and I forgot to take an 'after' photo. 

Today I felt adventurous and attempted to make uh, fat bread. I honestly have no idea what the name is really. I changed it to "Quick Brazil Nut Bread" because I used Brazil nuts. I would love to have used macadamia nuts but alas, they were not be found at the stores I went to. As it is, the Brazils were $5 for a cup! Spendy loaf of bread...

Here are two images I found online of this bread, before baking and after. {They're pinnned to my Food & Drink board at Pinterest.}

My before and after somewhat resemble these but are different, of course. Things never turn out like the pictures! And their's call for macadamia nuts or almonds {or is it both?}.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients: 

5 large eggs

1 cup Brazil nuts, ground in the food processor until 'butter'

1 cup coconut flakes, ground in the food processor until they were fairly fine {but not 'butter' like; I just couldn't get it to do it}

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBS lemon juice

1 heaping tsp baking soda

In the processor I dumped the nuts and blended away until there was butter. When it was really smooth, and churning along nicely, I cracked an egg open and dropped it down the chute. I let it churn. Then I did the same with the second egg. Finally, I added the remaining three eggs and just let it mix. Then I dumped in the coconut flakes and salt, and let it blend even longer. {In retrospect, I'd put the coconut flakes in before the eggs since I didn't have coconut butter.} I turned it off and added the lemon juice, then gave it a pulse to mix some. And lastly, in went the baking soda with a last good churn, to make sure it was all mixed. 

I sprayed a glass bread pan with cooking spray and poured my batter into it. I think mine was more liquidy than the others I've seen. The bread baked for 35 minutes at 350*F. I think I would bake it for 40 minutes if I were to make it again. 

It rose about an inch...maybe. It smells like scrambled eggs. Fortunately, it doesn't taste like scrambled eggs! I'm tired of eating gluten free only to have egg-everything take it's place. 

The texture is a little spongey and it's a short loaf. I really can't see this being good for sandwich bread but it's perfect for how I ate it, with fresh peanut butter {grind-your-own from the store}. That photo up there is only the remaining half of the slice, just so you know.

If you're interested, here's the breakdown from Calorie Count, nutrition wise. I figured it can be sliced into 20 small pieces {that's what I'm going to do with it anyway}.

**and totally unrelated to bread.... I *love* Picmonkey!!**

Adventures in Cooking…Weird Things

This is an adventure. One that the rest of the family doesn’t want to share in. But that’s alright. More for me that way

The adventure is wheat-free (gluten?) and dairy-free (mostly straight milk). Oh, and sugar-free without artificial sweeteners. It seems that there are so many people going the “something-free” route. At first, I thought it was just a fad; a phase; the latest ‘thing’. Well… for some people it is and for others there is a serious, very real reason.

Personally, it was for comfort. If the food I eat doesn’t make me feel well, I don’t want to keep eating it. I want to feel at least okay. I don’t know exactly why it doesn’t want to cooperate with my body. Well, I have an idea but I have no authoritative diagnosis for why.

Here’s my latest ‘adventure’: Gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb pizza.

And, unfortunately, it will have cheese. The plan was no cheese. I know; what’s a pizza without cheese? I can eat a little cheese without it causing problems but not as much is usually on pizza. I ended up having to use some cottage cheese in place of the parmesan because that’s what I had. If I were to do it again and had to use cottage cheese, I’d mix it well with the food processor. Originally, I was going to use almond meal in its place. This pizza is not my original idea (all ideas are from other sources anyway- or something like that), but the exclusion of cheese is. See the low-carb, gluten-free pizza recipe. I could use soy cheese (gag) but I choose not to.  

And then someone told me about almond cheese. What!? You can’t make ‘cheese’ from nuts! That’s just…nuts! Is that what you’re thinking, too? They apparently buy theirs at the store but I found a recipe from Rawmazing. It’s not shredded or anything like that but it’ll work for my purposes.

The purpose being to pretend it’s cream cheese to use in that pizza I linked to. {And totally a side note: I think I forgot to buy pepperoni!! *face palm*}

Here’s photos of my almond/sunflower seed cheese, while it’s being pulverized well-blended and also after it’s been drained in the fridge, as per the instructions.

Total of 1 cup of almond and sunflower seeds mix gave me a bit over 9 ounces of cheese. I need 8 ounces for my pizza. I was tempted to eat that other ounce…This stuff is good! The original recipe calls for just almonds but I ran out and so subbed sunflower seeds. I soaked them overnight together then did the tedious skinning of the almonds. I also used coconut oil instead of olive oil because that’s what I have. I think this substitution changed the outcome; it probably would have had a more thick mayo texture. Mine is a tad thinner. Next time (oh yeah, I’ll be making this again) I will use a tad less water. Because I didn’t have the cup of parmesan cheese or enough of a replacement, I ended up using all 9 ounces of the cheese for the crust.

And from that, I made pizza crust. Here’s it spread out in a greased casserole pan, and after it was baked.

I’d love to show the after with pizza toppings but that will have to be another day and another post (I’ll just slip it in somewhere lol). That post will include if the pizza was enjoyable or not as well.