Stay at Home Mom for a Day

Yesterday did not start out as the greatest of days. I woke up and still felt poorly. It didn't help that I was getting up earlier than usual to take Toni to the vet for the day. The plan was to drop him off before work, he'd have x-rays and come home without his cast at the end of the day. Nothing is ever that simple. Ever.

After a number of rather worrying phone calls it was determined that he would indeed come home without the cast, but the doctor is still concerned that one of the bones is not healed properly, if at all. Now we just watch him and wait and see.

On the flip side, somewhere between the phone call where the vet told me he thought Toni would lose his arm and the one where he told me the final set of x-rays showed some healing, I was informed that our office would be closed today, Friday. Neither of the head honcho's would be in, so they decided to give us an extra long holiday weekend. This means that I have an extra day to relax before preparing for my trip. And another day to stay and take care of Toni.

Last night after picking up Toni I was in need of something special. I decided to try out my new SiliconeZone backing cups and Naomi's recipe for Cocoa Butter Cupcakes. I tried to follow her English directions and used cashew butter that I got on sale near the vet's office, and they turned out beautifully. I've frozen the rest to take on my trip with me, or to have when I get back.

Now, the cupcakes were blissful, but the cute little backing cups I found at Whole Foods stole the show. They're made of food grade silicone and are non-stick, oven and dishwasher safe. I first saw them and thought they were cute but didn't think I could justify the price tag. When I got my Munch Box I thought that they would make great little compartments for vegetables or condiments, so I swung by and got them. Once I had them it was quick hop to bake with them. All I had to do was stick them in the muffin pan, fill 'er up and bake. And the muffins popped out with no problem. No more having half your muffin stuck to the paper for me!

My other new purchase was a yogurt maker. I decided that if I'm going to follow the SCD then I needed to make my own yogurt. My first batch turned out well, I had it some mixed with cinnamon baked apples for a snack yesterday and this morning I had frozen yogurt, ala The Peanut Butter Boy. I don't think my blender is as powerful as his, or perhaps my freezer is colder, either way it wasn't photo-worthy but it sure did make a great breakfast. I made mine with the fresh yogurt, 1 nectarine, 1tbsp of cashew butter and a little vanilla. Frozen yogurt for breakfast!

If this is the life of a stay at home mom, I think I could get used to it. Although I've been checking on my baby, yes Toni is my baby, feeding him and worrying about him. Later I'll go to the gym to work out with the Trainer and we'll go to Whole Foods. Then I'll have to really start getting ready for my trip.

Low-fat, Gluten Free Cheesecake

Despite the name of this recipe it's really very good. I'm used to modifying recipes to meet my needs and I found the base of this one in a women's magazine. I tweaked around so that one 1/12th of a cake slice is only about 200 calories. It's perfect for my end of the day, after my workout sweet craving. I'm putting down the basic recipe, but lately I've been preoccupied with jalapeno jelly, and I found a gluten free variety at the Union Square Greenmarket from Beth's Farm Kitchen. Both the Mighty Hot Pepper Jelly and the Habenero Jelly are gluten free. This cake is great with just a little bit of the jelly on top.

Note: To see the entire ordeal of making the first cake check out my LiveJournal post

Crust:
1/4 cup chopped pecans and walnuts
dash cinnamon
dash salt

Filling:
15 oz part-skim ricotta
8 oz 1% fat Whipped Cottage Cheese
1 cup sugar, more or less
½ cup fat free sour cream
4.5 tsp Ener-G egg replacer powder
3 Tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract (or more)
2 tsp Bob's Red Mill GF all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt


Heat oven to 350. Toast nuts with a little salt and cinnamon in the bottom of an 8" spring form pan for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; reduce heat to 325. Wrap outside of pan in foil to prevent seepage. Filling; puree ricotta in a food processor until smooth, about 1 min. Add cottage cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg replacer, water, almond extract, flour and salt; puree until smooth. Pour filling into pan. Add 1-inch hot water to a shallow baking pan; place spring form pan in baking pan. Bake until cheesecake is firm around the edge and slightly soft in the center, 45-50 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan. Remove foil; let cool on rack. Chill 6 hours or overnight before removing sides of pan.

If you want experiment with marbling the cake mix 1 cup of plain filling with your additional ingredients and drizzle it on top.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

It's not actually my birthday, that was in September, but I really wanted to post my mom's carrot cake recipe. When I went home to visit for my birthday, my mom tweaked our family's old standby carrot cake-cum-birthday cake recipe (my dad won't touch chocolate with a ten foot pole, don't ask) to be gluten free for me, and heart healthy for my dad, who had open heart surgery in May. It turned out great! Here's the recipe:

Vegetable Nut Torte aka Carrot Cake
Modification for gluten free, low fat

3 c gluten free flour (we like Bob's Red Mill)
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 c sugar

egg replacer for 4 eggs (Ener-G)
1.5 c apple sauce (no additives) in place of oil
1.5 c grated carrots
0.5 c finely chopped celery
1.0 c finely chopped rhubarb
8 oz crushed pineapple, drained
0.5 c chopped pecans

(apple sauce, carrots, celery could have been increased from her original recipe to provide more
moisture)

Sift dry ingredients. Beat or mix eggs, add applesauce, veggies, then
dry ingredients. (When using Ener-G egg replacer, I usually just use the powder with out additional water)

Bake in a greased and floured spring form pan (or other of your choice)
at 350 for 45-50 min or until tooth pick comes out clean.

When fully cooled frost

Modified cream cheese frosting:
8 oz rice cream cheese
0.5 c sifted powdered sugar (could use less)
2-3 oz Smart Balance spread
1 tsp almond extract

Enjoy!