Gluten/Dairy free Rhubarb Muffins with Lemon Glaze

Tomorrow I am off to a conference for work. Just over the day, but I am terrified of the food that I am sure will be available. Gaaaah!!! So I wanted to make some muffins to bring so that I too would have something nice to eat. And I think after a few of these.... ok I think I counted ......6... Ok I ate 6!!!!!!!!!!! Reeeeeaaaaally bad I know! But seriously... Boy are these good. you will NOT regret making them, I can promise you that!

My husband said something along the lines of I'm SO gonna post these on my facebook page once you make a blog-entry about them, And I'm gonna give them some great reviews! That's some good compliments coming from him :-).

So if you are like us and have the garden FULL of Rhubarb and can't think of what to use them for... well this sure is a winner! Give them a go!



Rhubarb Muffins with Lemon Glaze

- 6 dl Gluten Free flour of choice (could use a combination of flours)
- 1 tsp vanilla powder
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking powder  
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 2 eggs (can be replaced with 4 egg whites for less saturated fat)  
- 3 egg whites  
- 2 1/2 dl sugar of choice (I used ca. half of the amount in coconut sugar and half normal sugar as I ran out of coconut ;-)  
- 1 1/2 dl unsweetened applesauce
- 1 dl extra virgin olive oil

- 3 dl small chunks of rhubarb 

Turn on the oven to 175 Celcius. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and sift back and forth to another bowl a couple of times to make sure they are all properly incorporated. 

Cut up all the rhubarb into small thin chunks and if you like us have a lot of rhubarb, but they are a bit of a boring colour, you can add a liiiittle bit of pink food coloring to them. It really made the final product pop.

Mix egg whites/egg with the sugar for a long time in a separate bowl till quite fluffy. Add the applesauce, EVOO and sift in the dry ingredients a third at a time. Then folding them in. If you feel it's to "thick" of a batter(depends on the flour) add another 1/2 dl applesauce. Then fold in the rhubarb pieces until incorporated.

Use an ice-cream scoop to fill your muffincases 2/3 of the way or even a bit more if you want the proper overflowing muffin. Pop them in the oven and bake for approximately 20 min. But keep an eye as all ovens vary. And before you take them out stick a toothpick in one to see if it comes out clean. If it does, go ahead and take them out.

Lemon Glaze

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Powdered sugar until desired consistency

Mix together to get a glaze. if you want it as a glaze on top then dont be afraid to add a little water to make it runnier, but if you want to a little thicker layer, then instead add powdered sugar until you get the thickness you want. Would be very nice as a thick dollop on top... very nice in deed..... Oh get a grip Jo... you just had 6!!!! ;-)

Enjoy!
-Josefine 

A Part of my Previous Life...

Before I was diagnosed I had a hobby that perhaps now in retrospect wasn't very good for me... But oh how fun it was.... Stressful, unhealthy... but oh how fuuuuun....

I made cakes...

And if I may say so myself now... I wasn't too shabby at them. 
I am taking a break, so that I first get a chance to land in my MS and in my new lifestyle. But I am not done making cakes... I can't be. It's to big of a part of my life. This is my confession ;-)... I'm not giving up making cakes for other people even though I can no longer eat them myself. I will have to have my family taste what I make and plan ahead so I don't get stressed. 

I might even see if there are ways for me to make cakes for me... If I do I'll share the recipes with you here :-)!

Here is the link for my old Cake blog... It's been dormant for a while, but it is certainly not dead. I hope you like my work! 

Pop Up Cakes

Here is a taster:

Enjoy!
-Josefine

Salsa Salmon

We happen to live right next door to my brother and his family. This is something that has been so amazing and such a blessing having family so close. We get along brilliantly and our kids play.

Around the time we moved in we all toyed with the idea of having weekly meals together. Then we even decided to have 2 weekly meals. One at their house and one at ours! So we did. And one and a half years later we still do!! 

It's great! On Thursdays we make dinner and right after we've eaten I take my Avonex and head for coma. The next day I don't have to stress about cooking in my coma state because Fridays are their day!!! It's brilliant!

So to the point.
Quite a few weeks ago now It was Friday and Linda (my sister-in-law) was wondering what to make with my new food restrictions... she saw a jar of salsa in her cabinet and that's when magic happened! She simply sprinkled some cod with salt and pepper, poured the salsa over and in to the oven it went. 
Delicious!!! 
So thank you to Linda for the inspiration!

So I decided to try it with the salsa I had been playing with and yeah, it worked... So much so that my kids cleared the plates! 

Am I selling it to you? I hope so because according to my tastebuds it was great!

Salsa salmon with quinoa and sauteed garlic greens. Yum.

Salsa Salmon

- 4 Salmon fillets (thawed if from the freezer)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 batch of Green Salsa (click for link)

Before the oven. A bit more green then me thinks ;-)

Pop the oven on 200 Celsius while you prep your salsa. Place the fillets in your ovenproof dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then pour the Green salsa all over the top. Pop in the oven for about 20 min and serve immediately with rice or quinoa and your chosen vegetable!

Enjoy!
-Josefine

Green Salsa

 
It's exactly what it sounds like.
Green.
Or at least greener than red salsa...

Hm... I'll start over.

Come try this great healthy Green salsa :-D! It happens to be quite delicious as well!

Ok, did I sell it to you now? I'm hopeless today! Words just wont come out of my mouth the way I want them to and this is why without further ado I'll just leave you with the recipe.
Here it is :-)!

Green Salsa

- 3-4 medium-large tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1-2 large handfuls of kale (depending on how "green" you want it)
- a handful of chopped coriander/cilantro
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 garlic clove
- a knife's tip of Sambal Oelek
- a dash of lime or lemon juice
- a pinch or two of brown sugar
- salt
- pepper

Chop everything up small and mix it together to make a delicious salsa. I ran the kale, garlic and cilantro in a food processor to get it really small. Use when you make gluten free and vegan enchiladas, or go try a Salsa Salmon!?!?!? ;-)

Good Luck!
-Josefine

What a day!

What a day indeed!

I don't know how it is for you guys but what my MS nurse said about the side effects of the Avonex only lasting 8 hours is SO NOT TRUE!!!! 

I usually take mine on Thursday nights and then I am out for the next 24 hours. then for the next 15-20 I am still soooo lethargic and achy in all my joints and muscles that I am not up for much. 

Usually today would have been a day like that. I would have lounged around the garden all day with lots to do but no energy to do it. But for some reason I pushed through it today. I'm not saying it was easy, or I felt any better... but I pushed through it and managed to do 2 loads of laundry, AND hang them(important detail), semi clean the house... and on a day like this... let's add get up and feed the kids, change nappies and get everyone bathed and dressed to the list as well ;-D!!! We also take the bus with the kids to go to a friends birthday barbeque (My friend had gone all out on accommodating for my OMS diet by the way, so a big thank you to Emma!!! The food was soooo good!!!) and then went to do a food shop.... on the bus... with 2 kids!!! 

Yeah, today I want to call myself superwoman ;-)! 

Both girls in one little pushchair :-)! Who needs a sibling pram?! This worked a charm!

We are currently car-less, and living where we do we often feel very stranded. Not great having to drag the kids along on the train or bus just to go do a food shop that will most likely last up to 2 days only as I can't carry more home. The times when we somehow can coordinate going with someone else are a life saver! Today was one of those days. Unfortunately we couldn't go in their car(no car seats for the kids), but they could take our shopping home and I then took the bus home. 

This is how we Roll on our big shopping trips ;-D!!! Don't worry Nick is holding the pram so Penelope wont fall!

So a BIG thank you to my brother Edward for taking our shop home for us today!!! <3

While we were at the shop Penelope managed to pee through her nappy and pants and EVERYTHING was wet, so she was running around without pants. Couldn't help but smile at all the mothers smiling at me, knowing exactly what must have happened to have her running around in just her nappy at the supermarket. Lucky for us it was lovely and warm today, so warm in fact that there MUST be a thunderstorm coming our way soooon. Is it weird that I want one? I love a good thunderstorm... nothing like them!

Anyway, I am babbling :-)... 

While we were waiting for the bus we found a collapsed bouncy castle with puddles in it that the girls decided would be a great way to spend the time :-)!!! And so did I. It was so nice to just let go (Q the "let it go" song in your heads) and let them have fun. I saw so many kids walk by and looking longingly at what my girls got to do. They had so much fun though, they got soaking wet and there were huge smiles on their faces. Sometimes you just have to let go and save your energy for tomorrows battles.

Today was a good day. Yay for seeing the good in life, even when it is rough. Yay for moments like these.

I LOVE my kids. 
-Josefine

Gluten & Dairy Free, Almost Vegan Souvlaki Wraps

A few weeks ago my sister calls to invite us over for a little birthday bash at her house. Immediately of course I start freaking out thinking about what I can bring to not make it to painful not to be able to eat all the wonderful food that she makes (she is a guru in the kitchen). 

But no, my sister assures me that she will make food that I can eat as well.... OK, so here is when I admit that I was doubtful ;-)... So I asked if there was anything I could do to bring? And all she said was that maybe some gluten free tortillas and some tzatziki made on soyghurt. So that is exactly what I did. I felt like I was taking a huge leap of faith in someone else ability to make my food. HUGE! I kept telling myself that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stray from my diet just for one night (I know dangerous thoughts indeed).

 

So we went over there. And because we went really early I was there to help her prep. When she told me what we were eating I was amazed. It sounded SO GOOD... and no matter how much I kept thinking about the ingredients I couldn't find anything I wasn't allowed!!

AMAZING!!

So this combination is ALL down to my sister.  Like I said before she is a guru in the kitchen. This is something she made up from a trip to Greece she made where she ate something similar. You can very easily summarize her in one word: "ROCKSTAR" !!! 

Thank you JJ! <3


 Gluten & Dairy Free, Almost Vegan Souvlaki Wraps

You will need a batch each of:
- Gluten Free Tortillas
- Olive & Spinach Tapenade
- Dairy Free Tzatziki 

- 3 chopped tomatoes

- 2 thinly sliced onions
- A bunch of chopped parsley
- A splash of extra virgin olive oil
- Herbamare (herb salt)

- A slash of organic EV rapeseed oil (if using Rapeseed oil instead of Olive oil the organic and cold pressed is very important)
- 1 bag of Quorn "chicken" bits (this is why it's ALMOST vegan, they have eggwhite in them)
- Dried oregano
- Dried rosemary
- Salt
- Pepper
- Some grated lemon zest

1) Make your Tzatziki (it needs to rest in the fridge for a while)
2) Make your Tapenade and place int he fridge
3) Chop the tomatoes and plac ein the fridge
4) Slice the onions and mix with the EVOO, parsley and Herbamare. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge. It's important to cover as otherwise your whole fridge will stink of onion!

5) Make and roll out your tortillas and bake them on the stove as the link directs. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel.
6) Saute the Quorn Chicken bits with the EVOO, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper and the lemon zest. You can also skip the EVOO and mix the ingredients and throw in the oven to avoid "frying" on the stove completely.

Serve immediately! 
Now when I say that this is good, I mean it! It is AMAZING! So Please try them and let me know what you thought! <3

Here is how I layer my wraps. And this combination is to die for!

 

Ok I'm ready to take a bite out of that... and I just ate it for dinner yesterday!!

Good luck!
-Josefine

Olive & Spinach Tapenade

Here is a great versatile little recipe for you! You can use this as a dip, or spread or as a snack to dip your popcorn in... Yeah.. you can use it for anything! But because it does have raw garlic in it make sure your not going on a date or something that day ;-)!

I love olives, I love garlic. Spinach is great for you, as is flaxseed oil. And lemon ties it all together. Yeah this is a win! 

My sister was the first one to open my eyes to tapenade years ago! And I am still thanking her. Specially now that I am on a constant lookout for a good spread to replace my previous obsession with good salty butter. So thaaaaank you JJ <3

Olive & Spinach Tapenade

- 1 dl black olives (heaped)
- 1 dl green olives (heaped)
- 1 garlic clove
- 10 ml flaxseed oil
- handfull of fresh parsley
- a large handfull of spinach (or as much as you can pack in there)
- a splash of lemonjuice


Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a nice smooth texture. serve and garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Yum!


Good luck!
-Josefine