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Decadent Cadbury Gluten-Free Brownies (with hidden spinach)
Brownies are asked for all the time in my house. It is difficult to get just the right combo of chewiness and fluffiness – the ratios have to be just right to get them how you like them. I have probably made 20 different brownie recipes and experimented with several of my own. This one is a little chewy, a little cakey, very moist, and has a sweet and saltiness I love. It also includes my favorite chocolate bar in the world — Cadbury Dairy Milk — and two cups of spinach, which serves to cut the sweetness, add moisture, and force some nutrition into my picky children. If you have picky eaters like I do, these brownies feel like winning.
Ingredients
- Two sticks of unsalted, grass fed butter. (Click here for the one I like)
- One large Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate bar
- 1 cup organic semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup coarse sugar
- 1/4 cup gluten-free flour blend
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup unsweetened raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare your pan. I like to use a 9×13 Pyrex lined with parchment and sprayed with coconut oil spray. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir to mix it. Place the spinach in a blender and pour the butter mixture over it. Blend until totally smooth and there are no chunks of spinach.
Crack the eggs into a batter bowl and whisk lightly until they are completely blended. Slowly whisk in the chocolate/butter/spinach mixture. Once blended, slowly add in the sugar, flour, oat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the extracts, and mix just until blended (don’t over mix).
Pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Bake about 28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (check it at 25 minutes because ovens vary).
Allow the brownies to cool at least 30 minutes. These do crumble a little bit when warm, so send the kids outside to enjoy them!
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Green chile salsa (enough to gift and store!)
If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know I am originally from New Mexico and that I use green chile a lot. Like – a whole lot. I love it and when I can get a big quantity of it I’m all in. I found this 3 lb. bag of it recently and tucked it away in my freezer for just the right occasion. I woke up last weekend craving a big bowl of green chili salsa, so I figured the time was right. The heat of this salsa obviously depends on how hot your green chili is, and it can really vary. I usually find that it is not as spicy as a jalapeno or a chipotle salsa, but if it’s too spicy for you, it can be tamed by cutting it with a can of tomatoes or some roasted tomatillos for a true salsa verde. My recipe is pretty basic and goes well with everything. This made enough to fill several jars at my house, so it’s great if you want to make someone a homemade gift or freeze some. I did link to the exact green chili I used in this recipe and it is an affiliate link.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs chopped and peeled green chile (Click here for the kind I used)
- 2 large onions
- 3-4 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons garlic (or about four to six cloves)
- Juice of two limes
Directions:
Chop the onions finely and saute them in the avocado oil in a heavy bottomed pan on low heat for about ten to fifteen minutes, until they are very soft. Add the green chili (defrosted if yours was in the freezer like mine). Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow it to cook for at least 25 minutes, or until the chilis and onions are soft and most of the liquid is gone. About ten minutes in, add the garlic and the salt. Once it is cooked thoroughly, add the lime juice and stir.
This would go great with chips but we liked it as a veggie dip. This salsa shines when you put it on top of eggs or on a baked potato, too!
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Perfect Scallops with Butter and Herbs
Scallops are one of our favorite sea foods, but when we mess them up they are almost inedible. These take a very light hand on the spices and a precise cooking time, and then a big ol’ dump of butter at the end. We ate these with a baked red potato and a fresh garden salad topped with mozzarella.
Ingredients:
- Roughly 12 oz sea scallops (if frozen, defrost them). These are what we used.
- Two tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic, or 2-3 cloves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup butter and a handful of chopped herbs of your choice (I used oregano and parsley)
- A small handful of chopped chives
- Sprig of rosemary
Directions:
Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and salt and pepper both sides. Set a cast iron pan or other heavy bottomed skillet on high heat with the avocado oil. Wait for the oil to get hot enough to smoke a little bit, and then set the scallops in the pan to sear. Sear for about two minutes, then flip. After another minute, add the butter and herb mixture. Spoon the butter over the scallops continuously for about a minute. Remove from the heat and lightly tap each piece several times with the rosemary. Sprinkle the chives on top. Serve immediately.
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Asian-inspired chicken for an easy, healthy dinner
We love getting takeout from a local Chinese restaurant, but occasionally we want the flavors without the unhealthy stuff sometimes added by restaurants. This dish is an easy take on the flavors we love and is just as nice served in a lettuce cup as it is alongside rice. This would also work with cauliflower rice if you are paleo.
Ingredients:
- One onion, finely chopped
- Two tablespoons avocado oil (sesame oil would work well here, too)
- One pound ground chicken
- Several cups chopped greens (I used kale and chard)
- A large handful of cilantro
- A tablespoon garlic paste or several chopped cloves
- A 2-3 inch section of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- Two to three tablespoons of soy sauce
- Two to three tablespoons fish sauce
- Two to three tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- One tablespoon sambal olek
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chives and sriracha to garnish
Directions:
Sauté the onion in the oil until it’s soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and greens and sauté until they are wilted. Add the chicken and salt and pepper. Add the sauces, then the ginger. Allow it to simmer for ten to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure the chicken is diced up into tiny bites. Serve with rice or in lettuce cups. Cauliflower rice would also work well here! I added chopped chives and a drizzle of sriracha to mine.
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Chicken Recipe: Soup with Saffron & Vegetables
This chicken recipe started with me flipping through one of Julia Child’s cookbooks and seeing something called “Pot-Au-Feu.” It looked good, if a little complicated. In Julia’s recipe, she trussed the chicken and stuffed it with homemade dressing before placing it in the boiling water. That sounded great, but I needed something quicker. I started with the veggies I had on hand — carrots, a leek, some green beans from the garden and a few gold potatoes. I also added four cloves of garlic later. The real magic of this meal is that my VERY picky children loved it. That’s a win in this house. (Scroll to the bottom for quick ingredients and instructions.)
Vegetables including carrots, leeks, garlic, potatoes and garden green beans. Add what you have on hand! 
Saffron can be hard to find, but this one is at Central Market for $8. I used about 1/4 of it for this recipe. I love it when it all comes together and looks like boiling art! 
Can’t you just smell it? 
The finished product! Chicken Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, preferably pastured and/or organic
- 1 package Italian sausage links (or sausage of choice). Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods both have Whole 30 compliant ones that we like.
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron
- Water, to fill the pan
- Four to five medium gold potatoes
- One large leek
- One to two cups fresh green beans or snap peas, ends cut off
- Three to five large carrots
- Four cloves garlic (or to taste)
- Sea salt and pepper
- Sprig of Rosemary
Chop all veggies and set aside. Place the defrosted whole chicken, giblets removed, in a large stock pan. Fill to cover 2/3 of the chicken with warm water. Bring pot to a boil while you add saffron, salt and pepper. Turn down to a simmer and cover for about an hour, or until chicken is cooked through. Time can vary based on the size of your chicken. Add veggies, garlic (diced), rosemary and sausages. Simmer for another 20 minutes or so, until all veggies and sausages are cooked through. Pull the chicken out and set in a bowl or on a platter with a lip, and cut off the pieces you want to serve. Place the chicken, a piece of sausage and desired amount of veggies and broth in a bowl. Enjoy!
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Chicken Soup with Spring Vegetables and Saffron Broth
This dish started with me flipping through one of Julia Child’s cookbooks and seeing something called “Pot-Au-Feu.” It looked good, if a little complicated. In Julia’s recipe, she trussed the chicken and stuffed it with homemade dressing before placing it in the boiling water. That sounded great, but I needed something quicker. I started with the veggies I had on hand — carrots, a leek, some green beans from the garden and a few gold potatoes. I also added four cloves of garlic later. The real magic of this meal is that my VERY picky children loved it. That’s a win in this house. (Scroll to the bottom for quick ingredients and instructions.)
Vegetables including carrots, leeks, garlic, potatoes and garden green beans. Add what you have on hand! Saffron can be hard to find, but this one is at Central Market for $8. I used about 1/4 of it for this recipe. I love it when it all comes together and looks like boiling art! Can’t you just smell it? The finished product! Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, preferably pastured and/or organic
- 1 package Italian sausage links (or sausage of choice). Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods both have Whole 30 compliant ones that we like.
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron
- Water, to fill the pan
- Four to five medium gold potatoes
- One large leek
- One to two cups fresh green beans or snap peas, ends cut off
- Three to five large carrots
- Four cloves garlic (or to taste)
- Sea salt and pepper
- Sprig of Rosemary
Chop all veggies and set aside. Place the defrosted whole chicken, giblets removed, in a large stock pan. Fill to cover 2/3 of the chicken with warm water. Bring pot to a boil while you add saffron, salt and pepper. Turn down to a simmer and cover for about an hour, or until chicken is cooked through. Time can vary based on the size of your chicken. Add veggies, garlic (diced), rosemary and sausages. Simmer for another 20 minutes or so, until all veggies and sausages are cooked through. Pull the chicken out and set in a bowl or on a platter with a lip, and cut off the pieces you want to serve. Place the chicken, a piece of sausage and desired amount of veggies and broth in a bowl. Enjoy!
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Honeybee Sour — A Version of the Bee’s Knees Gin Cocktail
This is basically a fancified Bees Knees cocktail. I’m calling it, “Honeybee Sour.” We used grapefruit gin, lemon juice, almond extract, honey, an egg white and some club soda. This would have been great with some thyme or rosemary as a garnish but I didn’t think of it in time. There’s always tomorrow!
For two:
Grapefruit gin (click here for one we love)
Juice of a whole lemon
About two tablespoons honey
1 tsp. almond extract
1 egg white
Shake all of the above ingredients with a couple cubes of ice. Pour into glasses like these and top off with club soda. Enjoy! -
Cabbage rolls with Italian sausage
Cabbage roll served with Parmesan, basil and cherry tomatoes I’ve been wanting to try a cabbage roll with Italian flavors for awhile. I’ve done Asian-inspired rolls before but wanted to branch out. I love Napa cabbage and found a huge head of it at the store so it seemed like a good day to try this recipe. This recipe tastes a little like Italian wedding soup, all wrapped up. You could easily serve it in a broth or with a marinara, or even over some risotto.
Ingredients:
- Ten to 12 leaves Napa cabbage
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage (I used turkey, but pork will do too)
- One onion, finely diced
- 2 cups chicken broth (I use bone broth)
- 1/2 cup Italian farro – this is optional, omit if gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, chili flakes and garlic powder.
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning, or fresh or dried chopped herbs of your choosing.
- Parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes, to garnish
Directions:
Sauté the onion in a little bit of avocado oil until it is soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the turkey and chop it up into tiny pieces with the spatula, and sauté about five minutes. add the spices and herbs. Add one cup of the broth and bring it to a simmer. Add the farro and simmer about ten minutes (you may have to add a bit more liquid to get the farro to soften enough). Add the tomato paste and stir it all together, remove from heat.
Add the second cup of broth to a stock pot or large pan. Bring it to a simmer. Take the cabbage leaves (washed and prepped) and place them on top of the broth, to steam for five minutes.
Pull them out onto a cutting board, draining excess liquid, and let them cool just until you can handle them. Scoop the sausage mixture into the leaves in equal parts, roll them and secure them with a toothpick. Place them back into the pan you steamed them in and let them simmer/steam covered on low for about another ten minutes.
Top with grated Parmesan and tomatoes and enjoy!
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Top 5 Veggies to Plant Now for an Early Urban Farm Harvest
Gardening is my second favorite activity (to cooking). There is nothing like deciding what to have for dinner and heading into my front yard to pluck the ingredients. My kids like to join in too — they love to try each kind of lettuce and then spit it out and tell me it’s gross (joke’s on them- they’re trying it!). They especially adore pulling carrots they’ve planted and helping me pick green beans, cherry tomatoes or blackberries. Below I’ve outlined the things you can plant right now, in March, for an early harvest. I like to plant about half of what I want now and save the rest for later in the month so my harvest is stretched out a bit longer. If you need seeds, click here to try out Seeds Now. This is an affiliate link, which means I make a small commission on a sale at no extra cost to you.
- Herbs. In my garden, herbs perform better than anything. I plant everything I can get my hands on that will fit in my small space — cilantro, oregano, basil, lavender, dill, and more. And you bet I use them every day, like in this gin and rosemary cocktail.
2. Root veggies, like carrots and radishes. These are a real crowd pleaser if you have kids who like to help in the garden. There is something so satisfying about watching them pull up veggies that they planted and will actually eat! You must till your soil deeply for success and sow them very shallow, not more than 1/4 of an inch.
3. Beans and peas: These are so easy they are the go-to for kindergarten teachers to have classrooms full of 5-year-olds plant in cups with wet paper towels. Seriously, if you have a little bit of decent soil, a trellis of some sort, sunlight and water, you will be kept in fresh beans/peas/snap peas — whatever your preference — all spring and sometimes into the fall if your summers are mild. Plant more than one variety for the best crop, and be sure to harvest these as they become ripe to allow the plants to produce as many as possible.
4. Lettuces, chards, kales, cabbages and other greens tend to do well in cooler early spring weather, and may even survive one last frost. I’ve already done spinach and several lettuces and will get cabbage and chard in the ground towards the end of March. And you’ll have plenty for this classic Italian soup.
5. Potatoes: These are another fun one because they are deceptively easy. I do mine in a grow bag, which eliminates the need for laborious digging to harvest. I saved a potato from a bag of organic gold potatoes last spring and let it sprout on my windowsill (place the potato in a cup of water halfway up the side of the potato, using toothpicks to keep it above the water line). Once it sprouted, I was able to cut it into slips and plant them in a grow bag. We had tiny, fresh, yummy gold potatoes for weeks. Roast them in duck fat like I do here.
I know this varies a bit based on what zone you are in, but most of these are fairly common to North America for this time of year (especially if you have cold frames or a greenhouse for your seedlings). Here are a couple of links to help you determine what’s right for your garden and your area. I also love Brooklyn Farm and Garden Betty for inspiration and tips!
Happy digging!
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Perfect Carrot Cake with Chocolate Chips: A Gluten-Free Dessert With Low Sugar
It’s almost spring, and to me, that means carrot cake. My six-year-old told me that carrot cake is her “favorite way to eat carrots,” which, is totally valid. I wanted it to be a little healthier than your typical cake, but I didn’t want to pretend I enjoyed a brick made of almonds and dates either. So this recipe was me compromising between something more like a bran muffin and an actual cake. However, it doesn’t taste like compromise. This cake is moist and somehow fluffy at the same time, was easy to make and is downright decadent. My husband, who is typically not a carrot cake fan, loved it (he said it’s the best carrot cake he’s ever eaten). It’s gluten free and can be used with any cream cheese frosting recipe, like this one.
Wet ingredients:
- 4 medium to large large carrots, shredded finely in a food processor
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp warm water
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 stick grass fed butter, melted
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 c gluten-free flour mix, cup for cup with xantham gum. I used this kind.
- 1.5 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- generous dash of salt
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips thoroughly in a large bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl with a whisk. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a large spoonful at a time and mix by hand until combined. Add the carrots and chocolate chips and combine thoroughly. Spread the batter evenly into a greased 10-inch springform pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
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