Gluten-free, Egg-free Donut Holes!

I don't know about you, but I've become the type of person who, when following a recipe, rarely measures. When I make my own baked goods at home, I rarely measure. I'm an eyeball-er at heart and even when I remind myself to measure for when I want to share a recipe here, I always get caught up in the excitement of creating and forget.

Because of my lack of measuring, the amounts of ingredients in this recipe are guesstimated. I came up with two guidelines to help you while making this though:
1) If the dough is too wet to roll into a ball, add more oats and flour.
2) If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add 1 tbsp of water until it has the right moisture balance in order to roll together

These donuts/donut holes don't taste like Tim Horton's Timbits. They are a bit heavier, denser and they are gluten free. And egg free. Oh, and did I mention that they're baked and not fried! That's another brownie point. Or donut point ;)

Gluten Free Donut Holes

Ingredients(approximately):

125ml Light Sour Cream(half of a 250ml tub)
1 tbsp fancy molasses
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 TSP nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
small sprinkle of salt
1 TSP ground flax seed
1/4 TSP chia seeds*
2 tbsp water
1 TSP baking powder
1/2 TSP baking soda
2 cups quick cook oats
1/4 cup buckwheat flour*
1 cup brown rice flour

1. Add ground flax and chia seeds to water. Stir once and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, add sour cream, nutmeg, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir with spoon until well mixed.
3. Add baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, molasses, and water-flax mixture into the spiced sour cream. Stir by hand until the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Add the oats, rice flour and buckwheat flour. Stir with spoon at first, then it will easier to just get your hands into the mixture. With your hands, mix the dough until there is little to no flour/oats left on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and sticking to your hands, add 1/4 cup of brown rice flour and continue to mix it in with your hands. If it's still to wet, add another 1/4cup. If it's too dry, add 1 tbsp of water.
5. With your hands, scoop a small handful of dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. It should be the size of a medium to large marble and look something like the picture down below.

6. Place the donut hole on parchment paper, and make nine more. Cook in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes, or until slightly crispy on the outside but still soft-ish on the inside. These are better slightly uncooked rather than overcooked, which make them much seem heavier, although still yummy.
7. Place cooked donut holes on a wire rack to cool.

TIPS AND IDEAS
- When cooled down, roll the donut holes in a mixture of honey and cinnamon(2 tbsp honey and 1 tsp cinnamon). Place back on wire rack to drip dry.
- Make chocolate donut holes by adding 2 tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp brown sugar to the mixture before it is rolled out.
- Make donuts by flattening a roll and carefully pressing your thumb through the center. Place the donut on parchment paper and shape it so it has a more defined hole, and is rounded.
-Roll donuts/donut holes in sugar or coconut flakes before baking.
*Instead of using chia seeds, you can up the amount of ground flax to equal 1-1/2 tsp
*You can use all brown rice flour instead of adding buckwheat(I just wanted to use the rest of my buckwheat flour!)

September Salad

This salad is simple and quick to make, and very versatile. Use whatever greens you have on hand to mix things up and play with taste and texture. This can be adapted to be vegan as well.

Ingredients:

-1.5 cups cooked, diced chicken*
-1 medium sized beet
-1 carrot
-1/2 red onion
-1/4 cup green onion, diced
-1 celery stalk, diced
-2 cups mixed greens(I use kale, swiss chard and beet greens)
-1/4 cup grated fresh mozzarella cheese

Dressing:
-3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
-2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
-1 TBSP honey
-1/4 TSP mustard(yellow or dijion)
-spices of choice(I use basil, italian seasoning, paprika, ground fennel and a small sprinkle of cayenne pepper)
-small, small, small sprinkle of salt to bring flavors together
Mix all ingredients together with a fork, place in bottle or jar for serving.

1. Wash all veggies under cool water. Set aside.
2. Peel the beet and grate it(or place in food processor). Add to large bowl.
3. Grate the carrot and add to large bowl.
4. Slice onion and celery stalk, add to bowl along with green onion and chicken.
5. Rip or chop salad greens into bite sized pieces and add to salad(I always like to use my hands!) Toss and serve with dressing and grated mozzarella on top!

*Notes and Tips*

• To make this recipe vegan/vegetarian, omit the honey in the dressing for another sweetener and add chopped nuts instead of chicken. Almonds, cashews, walnuts, or even a trail mix with raisins and cranberries as well as mixed nuts would go well in this salad. Cheese can be omitted to make it dairy free, doesn't change much about the salad.
• This salad is plenty tasty on it's own, and instead of above dressing, you could easily get away with a little vinegar or olive oil instead. 
• To take this salad for lunch at work, avoid putting the dressing on. This might make it soggy.

spicy orange noodles

Monday's are my busy days. I always struggle with getting up in time for work after being able to sleep in on the weekends and then having to go to my second job in the evening. To add more crazy to the day, I rush home to make something to eat for dinner before heading out. Monday's are for quick meals, and this dish is certainly quick, tasty, versatile and filling!

Below is the basic recipe, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. It would be delicious with shrimp or maybe some pork or chicken. Don't like the flavor of orange? You can omit it and use water or broth instead.

SPICY ORANGE NOODLES

 
 
INGREDIENTS
3 TBSP pulp-free orange juice
1/4 TSP wasabi powder(or you can use horseradish or Worcestershire sauce)
1 HEAPING TBSP tahini
1 TSP miso(doesn't matter what kind)
3 TBSP hot water 
1/4 TSP ginger powder
sprinkle paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper
Sprinkle of salt
1 package rice vermicelli(also called rice sticks or rice noodles)
mixed frozen veggies of your choice
Pot of water to cook vermicelli 


1. Boil a pot of water and add a sprinkle of salt(not much).
2. Place miso in a small glass bowl and add 3 tbsp of the boiling water to the bowl. Mix the miso into the hot water and set aside.
3. Add the whole package of rice vermicelli to the pot of boiling water and carefully push it down so that it is fully submerged.
4. Add frozen veggies.
5. Cook the vermicelli until it is not longer crunchy on medium high heat, which should take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Do not leave alone, because it cooks very quickly. Strain the vermicelli and set aside.
6. Use the same pot you cooked the vermicelli in, and add your miso and all remaining ingredients. Cook on low heat until the miso is smooth and ingredients are well mixed. Turn off heat and add vermicelli and veggies. Stir well, being sure to scoop the sauce from the bottom of the pan so that it coats the vermicelli well.

This delicious dish has a slightly sticky texture and is sure to hit the spot. Best of all, it can all be done in one pot, which means a quick clean-up!