Kitchen Experiments = Yummy Brownies

I have been craving something chocolate and sweet. I no longer can just run to the store and buy a candy bar or ice cream. I was reading about the avocado oil I use and scrolled through their recipes they suggested.  I was intrigued when I came across a recipe for brownies. I couldn't believe their was no dairy added.  I was skeptical if I could make something edible. I never made traditional brownies from scratch and now I was going to alter the recipe to make it fit my dietary needs. Let the experimenting begin. I have learned with going gluten, dairy, and soy free you have to be willing to experiment and try new things.  I created this blog so I can let others benefit from what I have discovered. On the right hand side of the blog is a running list of recipes I have adapted.  I hope you give them a try and enjoy them.

Ingredients Used to make the brownies

I was introduced to Avocado oil at the Ahwatukee farmers market this past fall.  I love cooking with it.  The best property of this oil is that it doesn't change the taste of your food. I made two batches of mayo to test the difference. One batch with olive oil and the other with avocado oil. The olive oil mayo tasted horrible. Nothing like mayo at all.  I ended up throwing it out. It has become a staple in my kitchen.  It also has many health benefits and a high smoke point so makes it good for cooking with.

"You can use your favorite brownie recipe and just replace the butter or oil with Ahuacatlan AvocadoOil.  Remember, the Ahuacatlan is not just great for making brownies but for all your favorite baked goods."

I was excited when I read this quote when looking at recipes using avocado oil.  The possibilities may be endless.  Looking forward to experimenting more in the kitchen in the near future.

Another hurdle with making baked goods is flour. A lot of gluten free recipes use almond flour as a substitute. However, I am conveniently allergic to almonds.  I did a lot of internet searching and came up with sunflower flour. People stated you can use it 1:1 ratio but it just doesn't seam to be the same consistency as regular flour. I noticed a lot of gluten free flour in the store is really a mixture of a few different kinds of flour. So I decided to just add a little bit of coconut flour to the sunflower flour in recipes.  Coconut flour is very thick and absorbs lots of water so you don't need a lot but it helps balance out the other flour.

The finish product! They tasted just amazing:)

I was amazed at how well the brownies tasted. It takes time to home make baked goods, but when I have a sweet tooth these sure will hit the spot.  Check out the recipe here!

Gluten, Soy, and Dairy free camping!

Our campsite at Clear Creek, Camp Verde AZ

Todd and I love camping. About two years ago we bought a pop-up and try to go camping a few times a year. One day we hope to take it out of state and start exploring the national parks, but for now we have been exploring everything AZ has to offer. This is our first camping trip since I changed my diet. Looking back on past trips, I used to be sick to my stomach most of the time. I think mainly because it is easy to grap processed comfort foods for camping. With a little additional prep at home we were amazed how easy it is to cut out the processed food (which usually contain lots of hidden sources of soy). I love the ahwatukee farmers market. I want to explore other markets but so far this has been my go to one. When I started reading food labels I was amazed how many additional things get added to food. I try to find food items with the least amount of ingredients. I have been making almost everything from scratch but sometimes the convenience of a packaged item is nice especially when traveling or camping. With lots of searching you can find those rare items with only the whole main ingredients. I couldn't believe how much soy sneaks into food. I thought I was doing a good job of avoiding it until I started researching it and really looking at labels. It is hidden within so many ingredients. For example, soy protein occurs as an impurity in manufactured guar gum, and can make up as much as 10%. Unfortunately their is not a good way to tell if it is manufactured or not so I tend to just stay away. For the iffy ingredients that contain soy depending how it is derived, I will try those foods individually and see if I react. By doing this, I have found a gluten free pasta I can have and it actually tastes very good. I never have been someone who made a lot from scratch or completely homemade but I am glad I have switched. I actually enjoy cooking now and all the additional time in the kitchen is worth it because I feel so much better. I used to come home and then decide what to make for dinner. I have found that planning ahead has been the key.

Todd & I in Sedona. We had a great anniversary dinner at
Ken's Creekside Restuarant

It was the same with this camping trip. The night before I cut up lots of fresh fruit. This is a good snack or can be added to any meal. Cut up fresh fruit also usually lasts a few days in the cooler just fine. I also cut up sweet red peppers and cucumbers to easily make a salad. I vacuumed packed steak and chicken then froze them. I pre-made hamburger patties which I froze and then vacuumed packed. We take a little charcoal grill with us camping so it easy to grill up some meat for dinner. I even found organic beef and turkey hot dogs at sprouts that were very good. For breakfast we had organic oatmeal I got from the farmers market. One morning I made an egg casserole in the dutch oven. At the last minute before we left I threw two white sweet potatoes in our bags. Glad I did. They were so delicious. Todd is still talking about how good they were. We wrapped them in foil and placed them on the fire pit grill and cooked them for about 45 minutes over the fire. The last side I made was brown rice which I cooked on the same fire pit grill. It wasn't as tender as making it at home and having total control over the heat but it was still good. We had this paired with the chicken. I made chicken salad with homemade mayo to have for lunch with Lula's corn tortillas from the farmers market. I love that the tortillas are made of two ingredients corn and water.  The best snack we had was homemade trial mix. I went to sprouts and bought balk nuts and added dried cranberries. If we were headed out for the day exploring or hiking I would through the mix in the truck to snack on. Of course I brought along my go to dried fruit from peeled snacks. I have lived on these every since October. They are all natural with nothing added. They are reasonable priced and shipped right to my house. Love, Love, Love them. Ironically, at the end of the trip we commented this was probably the easiest trip for meals once we got camping. We decided it was due to all the prep work that was done beforehand at home.

Scott and I playing Bocci Ball.  We finally had a great spot to play
and we had a lot of fun. What a great camping game.

Todd and I at V Bar V ranch.  We love exploring the area
around our campground. 

Getting out of my Comfort Zone

This past fall I made some health changes. I finally went to an allergist and started following a gluten, dairy, soy free diet along with about 10 other foods. I have started to eat "real foods" since then.  Many people have been encouraging me to start a blog. So here goes my attempt!:) I will post recipes and tricks I have learned along the way. Also you can follow all my crazy adventures. I love to bike which is no secret if you follow me on facebook. This year I started following Vanderkitten Racing and was chosen to be a VKVIP in November. Vanderkitten Racing is all about Women kicking ass.

"Everyday women doing extraordinary things"

VKVIP Camp - Making lasting memories biking in the rain with amazing women

I have had fun getting to know the pro athletes, VKVIP's, following their blogs, and learning from them. In Feb I was given the opportunity to head to camp with other VKVIP's and members of Vanderkitten Racing. I had a fun week but never realized the impact until recently. My fellow VKVIP Ashley just posted a blog titled

"something has changed since VKVIP camp"

El Tour de Mesa Finish with my VKVIP peeps
Marlene, Ami, Jill and Amy 

I agree with Ashley. Something has changed.  I participated in El Tour de Mesa on April 5. I can't believe I finished 69 miles and 2600ft of climbing in 3hrs 27min without stopping with an Avg of 20.1mph. Wow is all I can say. I wasn't even going to ride but decided to at the last minute. I can truly say I had nothing left in the tank at the end of the ride. I fought a cramp from about forty miles to the end. I suffered on Usury at the end of the ride and somehow pulled out a PR for the climb. I attacked several times to stay with Marlene or Dawn then settled back into the ride. It was great working with Marlene the first half of the ride.  I was dreading going up the hill on Shea. I saw the Jobing jersey and just focused in on catching Marlene and before I knew it we were heading down and Marlene was making sure I was eating.  Love that girl she was checking on me and I think she had one goo the entire ride.  Loved working with her on the b-line. We jumped in and out of groups till we found a great one to stay with. It was fun to get a taste of what bike racing is all about.

Finish line El tour de Mesa with Marlene, Amy, and Ken.
Thanks for always pushing me to my limits

During ride/citizen race I had plenty of time to reflect. I kept coming back to the thought that something has changed since Vanderkitten VIP camp in Feb. I used to dread climbs. Which is funny because I used to love hills back in my competitive running days. I was never a good sprinter but I would catch and pass opponents on the hills. I didn't feel that way with biking until recently. The rides weren't very long at camp because of the weather but we still got some good climbing in.

Climbing Kings Rd. 4.3 miles 6.8% and look I'm standing!
Photo Credit Jason Perry

Climbing Mt Lemon 25 miles 6800 ft of climbing
This was only a dream before VK camp now an accomplishment

I started riding out of the saddle on climbs. Liza Rachetto the team captain gave us some great pointers on climbing. I learned it is ok to get in the pain cave on a climb and it will get better. I have more confidence on the bike. Since camp, I have been riding with groups that I also thought were way to fast for me. I have taken the attitude lets see how long I can hang on. Lately I have been able to hang on longer and longer. Sometimes for the entire ride. I have never had natural ability when it comes to athletics. I have always had to work hard at it! I have been cycling for 9 years now and it is fun to keep up with my friends that I never thought I could. I still don't know how I feel about getting into racing bikes but improving and getting to know so many wonderful people has been fun.

Mt Lemon Clinic with VK pros Emily Kachorek and Tiffany Pezzulo. Thanks girls for the invaluable tips on ascending and descending.

Camp day 4 complete with Alex and Liza. We kept each other safe in crazy wind, fog, and rain while climbing 9 miles 4.5%AVG on Pagemill.  Every time I was ready to give up and slow down on that climb another kitten came up to me and wouldn't let me quit. I dug deep and kept going with their encouragement.  I proved to myself I can climb!

Heading to the climb on pagemill with the team car following us - Photo Credit Jason Perry

Amy Charity and I leading the group - Photo Credit Jason Perry