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Category: Recipes

Gluten Free Apple, Cranberry, And Pecan Crisp

Looking for an easy breakfast or dessert that is sure to please a crowd? This not too sweet crisp is easy to assemble and delicious served warm or cold.

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I used a mix of granny smith, red delicious and braeburn apples. Use gluten free oats to make this recipe gluten free. With only 3/4 cup of maple syrup in the filling and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar in the topping the apple and cranberry flavor really comes through and the dish is not overly sweet.

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Ingredients:

Topping

  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2/3 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 Tsp sea salt
  • 1 stick (8 Tbsps) butter, melted

Apple filling

  • 6 apples cored and chopped into 1″ chunks
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tsp ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

2. Make topping: In a large bowl mix oats, flour, pecans, sugar and salt. Add melted butter and press into small clumps. Put topping in the freezer while you assemble filling.

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3. Make filling: In a large bowl mix apples, cranberries, maple syrup, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon. Pour filling into pan spread it out, pressing the fruit into the corners.

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4. Spread topping over filling, evenly distributing it to cover the apple mixture.

5. Bake for an hour, or until the crust is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly. Let it cool for twenty minutes. Serve and enjoy!

 

Anne McCranie is a Portland (Sellwood), Oregon based Personal Trainer and Licensed Massage Therapist. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your medical professional for specific dietary advice.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Ok ok I know you have been seeing “pumpkin everything” for weeks now, but these muffins are so delicious when I tasted them I immediately fell in love and wanted to share them with you.

Quick and easy to make, these babies are just slightly sweet and nicely spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and clove. The pumpkin puree keeps them moist and fluffy. The Chia seeds add a subtle crunch.

 

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Remember chia pets from the 80’s? Chia seeds are the latest “hot” food trend and for good reason.

Chia plants are native to South America and the seeds were prized by the Aztecs and Mayans. In fact “chia” is the ancient Mayan word for “strength.” These super nutritious seeds are high in protein, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins. Chia seeds contain anti inflammatory properties. My stepmom Judy suffers from painful arthritis in her knees. For several months now she has been taking Chia in her morning smoothie and swears this has eliminated her knee pain! She even has my Dad on the daily Chia program.

Almond flour is found in most grocery stores either in the baking section or bulk aisle. I used this local brand.

 

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One cup of pumpkin puree provides you with 7.1 grams of dietary fiber. It is also loaded with potassium, iron, and vitamin E which can boost your immune system. I found raw pumpkin seeds and all the spices below in the bulk bins at New Seasons.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.

Pumpkin muffin ingredients 11.15

Ingredients:

  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup shelled raw pumpkin seeds

 

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners (try these). When I made this recipe it actually filled 14 muffin cups.
  2. In a large bowl mix banana, pumpkin, eggs, sugar and maple syrup.
  3. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients (flours, chia, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and all spices), but not pumpkin seeds.
  4. Mix dry ingredients with wet until just combined, do not over mix.
  5. Using a 1/3 cup measure, fill muffin tins. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds evenly over muffins. I topped mine with a tiny sprinkling of coarse sea salt as well.
  6. Bake for twenty minutes, or until the tops are slightly browned and feel dry to the touch.

Enjoy!

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Anne McCranie is a Portland (Sellwood) Oregon based personal trainer and licensed massage therapist. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your medical professional for specific dietary advice. Anne is not paid to endorse any of these products, she loves them and wants to share them with you.

Lemon Basil Hummus

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Looking for something to do with your zucchini harvest? How bout slicing your squash and topping it with this fresh lemony hummus? I love this recipe for it’s simplicity and easy preparation. Most of the ingredients you likely have in your fridge, pantry or garden. Tahini (sesame seed paste) can be found at most grocery stores. It’s savory, nutty flavor rounds out the spicy garlic, fresh acidic lemon and sweet basil.

This high protein, high fiber snack has been shown to aid in weight loss, and reduce cholesterol. Garbanzos (also called chick peas) are a nutritional powerhouse providing iron, calcium, folate and loads of other vitamins, minerals and amino acids plus a healthy dose of fiber.

So easy to make, this would be a good project to tackle with the kids. You basically just dump everything into a food processor (or chop the garlic and basil by hand and then mash everything together with a potato masher). My philosophy is the more garlic the better so I used 4 large cloves per one can of beans. You can adjust this amount to suit your taste.

Try it and let me know what you think in the comments below…

Lemon Basil Hummus

Ingredients

  • 1  lemon
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves
  • 1  15.5 oz. can of Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1-2 Tablespoons of tahini (I found the tahini sauce pictured above at Trader Joe’s)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Zest about half of the lemon, peeling off just the yellow rind, not the white pithy part. Slice the fruit and squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl of a food processor. Add the zest to the bowl as well.
  2. Add garlic cloves to the lemon juice, pour in olive oil and process until the garlic is minced.
  3. Add the fresh basil leaves, garbanzo beans, tahini and salt and blend until smooth

 

 

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Anne McCranie is a Portland (Sellwood), Oregon based personal trainer and licensed massage therapist. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your medical professional for specific dietary advice. 

Mini Key Lime Pies (Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

Key lime pie is the official pie of Florida. No, really, as in a bill passed by the legislature in 2006.

mini key lime pies 1

Growing up in Florida I ate my fair share of key lime pie. My grandmother (AKA Nannie) made killer deserts and her key lime pie was to die for. My uncle Bob has a key lime tree in his yard. He would often come over to Nannie’s house with a bowl of limes and a hopeful look on his face and she would quickly turn the limes into a delicious pie.

For you non-Floridians real key lime pie is not bright green by the way, it is pale yellow. Key limes are small, about half the size of the Persian limes you find in the grocery store, with a more subtle flavor. If you can’t locate them “regular” limes will still make a yummy, if slightly less authentic pie. If you want to know the truth when I am out of fresh limes (or too lazy to squeeze) I use this brand of bottled key lime juice for pies, and when making margaritas.

“Traditional” key lime pie is made from sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice baked into a graham cracker crust. It may be served plain or topped with a little whipped cream (but definitely NOT meringue for crying out loud!). This according to the gospel of Anne.

The origins of this delicacy are widely debated, but most key lime pie scholars point to sponge fishermen in the Florida keys in the late 1800’s. These fishermen, often out to sea for long periods without refrigeration, combined sweetened condensed milk, local key limes and eggs. The acid in the lime juice “cooked” the eggs (like seafood in ceviche) and the pie could sit out at room temperature without spoiling.

Recently I was invited to dinner with a friend who is on a restricted diet (no gluten or dairy) so I tried this recipe and it was a huge hit! I made two batches of mini pies, one with a traditional graham cracker crust, and one with shredded coconut. I preferred the coconut crust so I am including that recipe here. Switch out the butter in the crust for Earth Balance and your pie will be gluten free and dairy free. While not traditional, this recipe is the perfect not too sweet summer treat.

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Frozen Key Lime Pie Minis:

Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:

  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 cup key lime juice plus 1 Tbsp lime zest
  • 1/2 cup agave

Directions:

  1. Soak your cashews the night before (or if you are short on time pour hot water over them, let sit for an hour then drain and use).
  2. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with baking cups. In a food processor blend coconut with melted butter. Press mixture into prepared tins. Bake for ten minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
  3. Add filling ingredients (reserving some of the lime zest for topping) to a blender and blend on high until smooth. This will take a couple of minutes. Taste and adjust for tartness/ sweetness (this recipe is not overly sweet so add a bit more agave for sweetness, or more lime juice to make it more tart).
  4. Pour filling into tins and tap on counter to release air bubbles. Top with the remaining lime zest and loosely cover with saran.
  5. Freeze for 2-4 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer ten minutes before serving. Enjoy!

 

Anne McCranie is a Portland, (Sellwood) Oregon based Personal Trainer and Licensed Massage Therapist. Anne’s healthy diet includes natural whole foods, primarily veggies,  fruit and protein. Anne consumes full fat dairy including yogurt, grass fed butter (yes butter!) and coconut oil on a daily basis. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your health care practitioner for specific dietary advice.

Beef And Beet Borscht Recipe

Beef and Beet Borscht

 

Borscht 2 1.15

I don’t know about you but I went on a little cookie binge last month. My clients brought me chocolate bark, Christmas cookies, fudge, more cookies…I also went to not one but TWO Christmas dinners!

This month I am attempting to undo the damage with a diet focused on primarily meat and veggies – plus plenty of good fats, probiotics and fermented foods.

This colorful soup is loaded with fiber filled, nutrition packed veggies. I used pasture raised ground beef. You could also use beef sirloin or pork shoulder. Omit the meat and butter and you have a flavorful vegetarian soup.

Try this Beef Borscht and let me know what you think…

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. pasture raised ground beef*
  • 2 Tbsp salt
  • 3 medium beets
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 eight oz can of tomato sauce
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 3 medium potatoes
  • 1/2 a head of small green cabbage
  • juice from 1/2 a lemon
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 4 cloves of garlic

Garnish: Sour cream and fresh chopped dill.

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Directions:

1. Set up your mise en place: Grate beets (or shred them in the food processor), finely chop your onion, shred carrots, chop potatoes into bite sized pieces, slice cabbage and crush your garlic cloves and set aside.

2. In a large soup pot over med-high heat brown the ground beef (5 minutes). Add 14 cups cold water and 1 Tbsp salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let soup simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes.

3. In a large skillet saute grated beets with 4 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp vinegar (5 minutes). Reduce heat to low, add tomato sauce and continue to cook for ten minutes. Carefully stir beets into the soup pot with the meat

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4.  In the same skillet saute diced onion in 2 Tbsp butter (1 minute), add grated carrots and continue to cook (5 minutes)

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5. After the meat has been cooking for 30 minutes stir your diced potatoes into the soup pot and cook for ten minutes more. Then add cabbage, beets, onion and carrots, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt and pepper (to taste) and cook until the potatoes are just cooked through (10 minutes).

6. Add garlic, cover and remove from heat and let the soup rest for ten minutes.

7. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with a dollop or sour cream and fresh chopped dill.

 

*You may use any cut of meat you like. When I was shopping for this recipe I found a nice little 1 lb package of pasture raised ground beef. You could also use beef stew meat, sirloin or pork shoulder. If you use bone-in  meat, simply cook the whole thing in water and after it has simmered for an hour or so remove the meat and cut it off the bone and into bite sized chunks. Don’t forget to save the bone to make broth.

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Anne McCranie is a Portland (Sellwood) Oregon based Personal Trainer and Licensed Massage Therapist. She offers this recipe to tickle your taste buds. Please see your heath care professional for specific dietary advice.