Gluten Free Quinoa Pancakes

about 3/4 cup cooked quinoa (I cooked mine in coconut milk but water is fine too)
1/4 cup coconut yogurt (I suppose you could use any soured milk or yogurt)
2 heaping tbsp. buckwheat flour
2 heaping tsp. white rice flour
2 tablespoons maple syrup,
1 egg or egg replacement equivalent
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Blend together in a Vitamix or other blender until well blended. Makes 4-5 pancakes. These pancakes really taste like real pancakes (ie: made with gluten) not gummy at all.

Broccoli Salad with Apples and Cranberries

4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 organic apples
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup plain, low-fat yoghurt with probiotic bacteria
2 Tbsp Dijon style mustard
1/4 cup honey

Combine broccoli florets, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, chopped apples, and chopped onion in a large serving bowl. Blend yoghurt, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Add dressing to the salad and toss. Chill before serving.

Meat Thukpa (Nepali Recipe)

1 lb. Tibetan noodles, similar to spaghetti, or cavatelli(I used regular spaghetti)
1/2 lb. Lamb, cut into ¼-in. slices (can be substituted with chicken or shrimps)
1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and cut into pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced (I used about 1 tsp. powdered ginger)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
3 fresh chilies, julienned
1/2 teaspoon jwanu (lovage seeds)(I omitted this as I didn't have any)
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups lamb broth (I used beef broth)
2 tablespoons musturd oil (I used olive oil)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until slightly undercooked. Drain and rinse. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of musturd oil. Add onions, fry till light brown. Add turmeric, garlic, ginger, cumin powder, and chilies. Stir well for 1 min. Put the pieces of lamb and brown well. To the lamb mixture add tomatoes, soy sauce, yogurt, broth, jwanu seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the lamb is tender. Add the noodles and stew for 5-7 more minutes. At last, add spinach and fold into the stewed noodles for a minute or so, until wilted. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with roti.

Turkish Dumpling (Manti)

Dough: 3-3 ½ cups flour
1 egg
2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp salt to taste

Filling:½ lb ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped/shredded
½ tsp salt to taste
½ tsp black pepper

For cooking:
8 cups water
1 tsp salt

Sauce:2 cups yogurt
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt to taste
3-4 tbsp butter/oil
1 tbsp tomato paste/2/3 tsp paprika
2-3 tbsp water
Dried mint
Sumac


In a bowl place the flour, crack the egg and add the salt and water. Then knead till you get a firm and smooth dough. Knead for about 8-10 minutes. Make sure to make it firm to flatten easily later. Cover it with a damp towel or cloth and leave for a rest (15-30 minutes).
Meanwhile in a plate mix all the filling ingredients and set aside.
Divide the dough into 2-3 pieces, take one piece and place on the floured counter. Cover the rest of the dough. Then with a rolling pin flatten the dough as thin as you can (as thick as the ridge of a knife). Then, cut it with a knife or roulette into ¾ inch (1 ½-2 cm) square pieces. Then place ¼ tsp filling over each square. Then stick the both traverse edges diagonally, by pressing with your finger tips. Do the same procedure for the remaining dough.
For cooking, boil the water in a big pot and add salt. Then add all the manti into the boiling water. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent them sticking to each other. Make sure not to close the lid. Cook over medium heat till manti gets soft (for about 10-15 minutes).
Meanwhile prepare the sauce. In a bowl mix yogurt, salt and garlic. In a small pan; melt the butter/oil and stir in tomato paste and water. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat. If you prefer using paprika, just add paprika into melted butter/oil and turn the heat off after one minute. Do not add water while using paprika.
Drain the cooked manti and transfer it into serving plates. Let it cool for a while and pour the yogurt sauce over. Finally pour about one tbsp of butter/oil mixture all over (adjust the amount as you like). And if desired sprinkle some dried mint and sumac over the Turkish Dumplings.
This recipe makes 6-7 servings.

We made this when we studied the country of turkey in school.

If you want to head over to the site where I found this recipe to see pictures if you need any clarification, go here: turkishfoodandrecipes.com

Whole Wheat Peach Kuchen

I had bought some peaches and they were quite "woody" and not good for fresh eating. So I tried this new recipe and it turned out great! At least the peaches were not wasted!

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup ground walnuts (optional - I did not add these)
1/4 cup butter/margarine
4 cups cut up peeled peaches
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used yogurt)
1 egg
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter, until crumbly. Pat mixture over bottom and sides of pie pan. Arrange peaches in pastry, cut side down. Mix together second amount of sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle on top of fruit. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Combine last 4 ingredients and pour over hot peaches and bake 30 minutes more or until set.
Serves 6-8.

Crunchy yogurt chicken

1 - 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt, sour cream or thick kefir
2 -3 cups crushed crackers, or bread crumbs
1 tbsp. Epicure Caesar or Ranch dressing mix
4 - 6 chicken breasts without skin

Mix dressing mix and crumbs together. Coat chicken in yogurt, dip in crumb mix and place in baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Whole Wheat Yogurt Bread for the Breadmaker

1/2 c Warm water
1/2 c Plain yogurt

1 ts Salt


2 tbsp Ground Flax seed
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Butter
 (or applesauce)
1 tbsp Dry milk powder

2 1/4 c Whole wheat flour
1 ts Active dry yeast


All ingredients except the water should be at room temp before starting. Add ingredients to the pan in the order listed. Select Whole Wheat Bread. Press start.

Homemade Crock Pot Yogurt

Here is the much anticipated and ridiculously easy recipe!

Ingredients:
--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. I tried 6 cups milk made from skim milk powder and 2 cups 1% milk and it worked out fine but is thinner than store bought yogurt. The site I found this recipe on suggests adding a package of unflavored gelatin to the yogurt when you add the culture to the milk to thicken it but we're fine with thinner yogurt.

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter. Every few batches start again with store bought yogurt as the culture will weaken with time if you always use homemade yogurt for your starter.)

--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring

--thick bath towel

Directions:
Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.
Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours. The longer you let it sit the thicker the yogurt will get but it will also get more tangy as well.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch. My batch filled 3 reused 650g yogurt containers plus two small bowls for the boys breakfast.

Add fruit as desired, I added a little sugar but this may not be needed if you bled the fruit with the yogurt instead of cutting up the fruit. Honey can also be used as a sweetener instead of sugar.

Cost of making homemade yogurt:
$1.42 - skim milk powder,
$0.51 - 1% milk
$0.52 - store bought yogurt
Total cost: $2.45 plus whatever fruit you would use to flavor. Approximately $0.82 per 650g container of plain yogurt!!!
A typical fruit yogurt that I buy in the store costs $3.49 for a 650g container.