Small's World

Father's Day Brunch

Happy Father's Day! We are excited to have a weekend that we are not running everywhere!! Our lives feel so very crazy at the moment, and a little time to do a few things that we enjoy, as well as get the house fixed back up are on our to do list!

I wanted to share a new recipe with all of you! If you are planning to make a brunch this weekend, here is a great pancake recipe! We have enjoyed this one for awhile!

Vegan / Gluten Free Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut milk + 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbs Flax seed + 6 Tbs warm water
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1 Tbs arrowroot flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1 Tbs maple syrup

 Method:

Prep the oatmeal at least 1 hour before making by combining the 1 cup of oats and coconut milk in a container. Place this in the refrigerator. This can be done the night before as well. Once the oats have soaked for at least an hour, start preparing the remaining ingredients. Mix the 1/4 cup of coconut milk and lemon juice, and mix with a fork and set aside. Combine the 2 Tbs of flax seed and 6 Tbs of warm water and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, coconut milk and lemon juice and flax seed and water mix. Stir until well combined. Cook pancakes on griddle. These usually do not stick too much, but add a little oil if you are having issues. Turn over when bubbles start to form on pancakes. Serve with powdered sugar, fresh fruit, and maple syrup! Enjoy!

I hope all of you enjoy your weekend, and if you try this recipe let me know what you think!

 

 

Review of Danielle Walker's New Cookbook "Celebrations"

As some of you might know I met Danielle Walker of Against All Grain when her second book launched. Both me and my sister are gluten free, and are always looking for some great recipes and ideas! After meeting Danielle and buying both of her cookbooks, I set to work trying them out and of course following her on social media. One of the things that impressed me the most is the recipe trying and testing she does! It is wonderful to have someone that spends so much time perfecting and trying the recipes she creates; because you know when you try them they will work and be delicious! I have to say that has been true for her first two books and is just the same for her third book being release today! I was very lucky to be a part of her launch team for this book and have been able to try out a few of the recipes these last couple weeks. I was super excited when this turned up on my doorstep!

 

I have to say they are absolutely delicious! One of the best parts, is this book is titled Celebrations and is being released with perfect timing for the holidays! I am sure many of you know that being gluten free, dairy free, paleo, or with any other dietary restriction or choice can make it very hard to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. After years of walking through this experience and trying different ways to include everyone, I am so excited to walk into this holiday season with Danielle’s new book! If you have been in the same situation before, I would encourage you to try this cookbook out! You will not be disappointed! Here is a look at what I tried so far:

Gingerbread Latte

 

 

Pesto Filled Deviled Eggs

 

Vanilla Cupcake

 I know all of you would enjoy this book, and if you have not checked them out yet, do try Danielle's previous two books, Meals Made Simple and her first cookbook Against All Grain. Some of my families favorite recipes are from these books! They are full of wonderful ideas for family and children! Let me know if you do buy this book and try it this holiday season! I would love to hear about your stories and celebrations too!

 

Perfect Way To Celebrate A Three-Day Weekend With Gluten Free / Vegan Blueberry Muffins

I don't know about you guys, but when a three-day weekend comes along, I almost always bake something fun for breakfast! One of my favorites is muffins. I have been looking for an awesome blueberry muffin recipe for some time, and finally ran across a vegan recipe from Oh She Glows. I adapted her recipe to make it gluten free, added a few fun toppers and ended up creating some of the best tasting gluten free muffins! Way better than some of the store bought ones I have purchased! My son loves them too...always a good test.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try something new this weekend.

Gluten Free / Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

For gluten free flour mix:

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup sorghum flour

Other Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons sugar plus a little extra for a topping
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon plus a little extra for a topping
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 1/4 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
• Rolled gluten free oats (optional for a topping)

Method:

First mix the gluten free flours together with the sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Next mash the ripe bananas and measure out 3/4 cup. As suggested by Oh She Glows, any extra can be saved for smoothies! Add the milk, vinegar, maple syrup, and vanilla to the mashed banana and set aside (no need to mix). Melt the coconut oil either in the microwave or on a pot on the stove. Mix the coconut oil in with the wet ingredients and mix. Place the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mix and combine. Gently fold in the blueberries. Place the blueberries in the muffin tins and press a few blueberries to the mixture. Sprinkle with rolled oats, cinnamon and sugar, then place in the oven at 350°F. Check on them around 30 minutes, may take as long as 45 minutes (gluten free / vegan baking seems to take longer than other recipes, but always check at shorter intervals to make sure you do not burn them!)

I hope all of you have a great 4th of July weekend! We are planning a small BBQ and of course some fireworks! Follow me on Instagram at smallsworldpics to see some of the food, decorations, and fun we have planned for the 4th!

Enjoy your weekend!

A warm drink for those lingering spring colds

I don't know about any of you, but we have been battling annoying colds on and off this winter! I had a horrible one in January, my son followed not long after, and my husband just went down a couple weeks ago with something as well. We again all have the sniffles! I tried about ever natural cure that I know, and still was miserable with my cold. With my son we tried the same, but he finally had to go on antibiotics, which did make him better. My husband was better after about a week, but also miserable for a few days. Hopefully sunny warm days are close and these colds start to disappear. 

For any of you still fighting off these winter chills or colds, I thought I would share my favorite hot drink that always helps boost my spirits and take care of any sore throat I might have. This started from an article I read a couple years back, but I have put my own spin on it and use it any time I start to feel a cold coming on.

 

Cinnamon and Honey Hot Drink

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups hot water

Method:

Place the cinnamon and honey at the bottom of a mug. I find it easiest to keep the spoon or tablespoon of honey in the cup and remove after the hot water has been poured in. Pour the hot water over the mix leaving a little room from the top of the mug. Next add the coconut milk and stir.

Do any of you have some favorite drinks you head to when feeling under the weather?

Irish "Rainbow" Cupcakes

 

In honor of St. Patrick's day my son and I made some "rainbow" cupcakes over the weekend. We tried some natural food dye for them, and although they are different colors, rainbow is really not one of them. Even so they are fun and tasty and definitely yellow, orange and green enough to be considered a great St. Patrick's Day treat! If you really do want rainbow though, I would suggest trying real food coloring...I think it would go over a little better. I found this idea years ago on the Betty Crocker website, and was excited to make these again with my son!

 

Want to make some of these yourself! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix (we used Pamela's)
• Egg replacement powder (if making vegan...I use Ener-G)
• Food Coloring (I used Color Garden)

Method:

Mix the ingredients according to the package. If making vegan, substitute out the eggs for an egg replacement powder. Next separate the batter into different containers. One for each color you would like to have in your cupcakes. Now add in a different food coloring dye to each separate bowl, and mix until you have the colors you desire. Alternate, pouring a small amount of each colored batter into a muffin tin until it is full. Place in the oven and cook as directed. If you do end up using natural food coloring a great tip I received was cooking the cupcakes at a lower temperature (I tired baking at 275 degrees which did seem to help) for a longer period of time. This did seem to help hold the color better than other times I have used natural food coloring.

Enjoy!