Date Squares

          I must admit that I have really enjoyed trying new things on our dinner menu. Admittedly I am not much of a dessert person but my family is and that is a whole new challenge for me. It's hard to think of dessert when you don't feel like eating dessert. Another challenge is when you forget to eat before going grocery shopping and amidst the pangs of hunger you are trying to decide what to eat with your coffee that is somewhat appropriate to your new diet.
          Nothing in the general bakery section of my current grocery store was wheat free so I settled on date turnovers. I cannot think of dates without thinking of my mom. She loved dates and I always thought that all older people love dates. I was not old so dates were never going to be part of my diet. Until I was starving in a grocery store ... and none of the other sugary stuff was appealing. As I was eating them I realized that those dates really hit the spot and I have decided that I like dates! (I am still not admitting that I am old.)
          That evening I was on a quest to make date turnovers. Well, I am still working on that part but I did find this fantastic date square recipe from www.wheatfreemom.com and I have made it several times since at the request of my family. This is a really easy recipe and full of flavour. In her original recipe the dates are just simmer in water until soft. This is the way I like them. My husband likes the dates with a little more "tang" and so I have added a few more ingredients (which for me still remain optional).
          I like this warm, still fresh from the oven but I have been told that they are best the next day. The quantity for the filling makes enough for two batches in my kitchen for my 8 X 8 square pan. The leftover filling mellows even more as it sits in the fridge. I think that I would like to try the filling one day with just dates, water and a touch of vanilla extract. I will let you know but in the meantime ... enjoy!

Date Squares

 1/2 cup cornstarch

1/3 Brown Rice Flour 

3 tbsp tapioca starch

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups whole oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 tsp xanthum gum
1 cup butter, melted


2 ½ cups chopped, pitted Medjool dates

1 cup water

1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

2 tbsp fresh orange juice (optional) 

1 tsp baking soda (optional)

 
Mix together the first 8 ingredients fully, then add the melted butter 
and gently stir until combined. Set aside.

Cook dates, orange and lemon juice and water in a pot on the stove, 

mixing periodically until a gooey paste forms.  Add 1 tsp baking soda, mix well and set aside.

Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper (for easier removal of squares).
Press ½ of oat mixture on pan.  Spread date filling evenly over oat layer.   

Top with remaining oats and spread out.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before removing and cutting squares.

 
by wheatfreemom.com

 

Peanut Butter and Sweet Potato Dog Cookies

          Happy New Year everyone! We woke to a beautiful sunny morning, cold and crisp air under a cloudless sky. A great sign of a positive year to come!
          I am thinking of resolutions that I have made in the past and would like to see in the future. Many have been positively influenced through my daughter's illness - the silver lining in a dark cloud. We all feel better - and realize just how bad we physically feel after we indulge in meals that have been long abandoned from our eating plan. It is truly amazing how clean eating makes such an impact. Just goes to show you that food can heal you or harm you. I choose heal.

          I also choose heal for my boys, Max and Rusty, two mini dachshunds who are brothers from the same litter and are now past the age of 12. I have always given them a quality commercial dog food, dog cookies and no table scraps. One day, with the blessing of snow on the ground and the peculiarity of Max needing to go out frequently during the day, I noticed that his urine was discoloured. Confirmation that there was a problem. We immediately threw out the cookies and replaced the food with a high grade, lamb based food with minimal additives and preservatives.
          I began making these cookies which are incredibly simple and quick to make. I make the cookies a little smaller so I can allow a few more treats throughout the day for good behaviour and successful requests to go outside. I must also add that after only one day we noticed a positive change - after a week Max was back to normal. Yay! They even look forward to them more than the old treats they used to receive.
          Happy New Year boys! I'm looking forward to another year full of fun and mischief!

Wheat Free, Vegetarian Dog Cookies

 1 medium yam, sweet potato or 3 medium carrots (note carrots take longer) 

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter 

1/2 Cup cooking liquid from yam 

1 Cup Rice flour (brown or white) 

1 Cup Oat flour (use gluten free oats for gluten free dog treats)
(note: you can make oat flour by blending rolled oats in a blender or food processor.)  

2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder 

Cut yam, sweet potato or carrots into 1/2 inch pieces. Simmer in a small pan, in enough water to cover, until soft. Reserve cooking liquid and set aside.

In large bowl, mash the yam. Add 1/2 C liquid back to the yam and add the peanut butter.

Mix the Baking powder together with the flour. Add to the Yam mixture mixing thoroughly. It should all come together in a dough, pliable but not sticky. If too sticky to roll out, add more flour, if too dry, add more liquid – just a bit at a time – and work together with your hands until it is the right texture to roll out. A good texture is like slightly dry cookie dough.

Roll out on a lightly flour dusted surface. about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into small shapes with a cookie cutter, (bone and people shapes are fun). (I just hand-rolled into balls and flattened them out.)

Place on cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes +/- or until medium golden brown. (The larger the cookie the longer the time.) Cookies will crisp up as they cool.

Makes about 4 dozen small dog treats.

from newgrainrecipes.com

Maple Orange Sweet Potato

          I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a holiday season full of peace, joy and happiness! 
          It is certainly the season for traditions but around our house it is all about mixing things up. We have been known to have a cold supper with a table full of finger foods, we have done fondue, we have even done steak tartare. For me, sometimes, I like trying new things with old basics. Sweet potato is one of those basics.
          When the kids were younger I would mix sweet potato with yukon gold potato, mash and have a great orange blend but with a milder flavour. Shape it on the plate in the shape of a fish and voila - a giant goldfish with extra hidden vitamins! Now that they are older this Maple Orange Sweet Potato recipe is their new favourite when sweet potato is on the menu. The Ontario Sweet Potato site was responsible for this recipe. I love that the recipe is simple but delivers bites full of flavour!  I am not a big fan of nutmeg so I left it out.
          Now that the time for tradition is over I invite you to try something a little different - maybe it will become your new tradition. Enjoy!

Maple Orange Sweet Potato

 3-4 sweet potatoes 

2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil 

3 tbsp maple syrup (100% pure) 

3 tbsp orange juice (fresh squeezed) 

pinch of nutmeg (optional) 

salt and fresh ground black pepper 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Slice sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch slices and toss with olive or vegetable oil.
3. Place on baking sheet in a single flat layer and sprinkle with salt and fresh
    ground black pepper.
4. Bake for 5 - 7 mins.
5. Remove from oven, flip potato rounds, apply salt and pepper and place
    back in oven for 5 - 7 mins.
6. In a small bowl, mix maple syrup and orange juice. Remove potatoes from
    oven and baste with syrup/juice mixture. Place back in oven for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, flip potatoes, baste and place back in oven for last 5 mins.
8. Check tenderness and if ready remove for the last time and serve.

from ontariosweetpotato.com