Italian Style Turkey Meatballs with Flaxseed - Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free

I am very happy with how my Italian style turkey meatballs turned out.  Hubby loved them so much, I made these two nights in a row!  Ground lean turkey meat is normally very dry, due to its low fat content.  Unlike conventional meatball recipes, I used a magic combination of ground flaxseed and water instead of breadcrumbs and egg to bind the meat together for a moist, soft meatball.  I also add ground flaxseed to my hamburger patties too. 

I quickly pan-fried the meatballs for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned and cooked.  I used a 1" ice cream/cookie dough scooper and dropped each meatball onto the hot frying pan without getting my hands dirty.  Note:  the uncooked turkey mixture is very soft but cooks up beautifully.      

I topped them with a tomato spinach sauce with coconut milk.  Hubby LOVED these and he normally prefers the classic all-beef Italian style meatball.  

Italian Style Turkey Meatballs with Flaxseed - Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Egg-free

1lb lean ground turkey

3 Tbsp ground flaxseed

3 Tbsp water

1 clove garlic, grated or chopped finely

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp dried basil or 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1/2 tsp salt or no-salt seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl, and combine with your hand or mixer. (I used my KitchenAid mixer.)   Form into desired sized meatballs.  Turkey mixture is very soft.  

Preheat pan on medium-high heat with about 2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil.  Pan-fry each side for 2-3 minutes until browned and cooked.  Serve with your favourite sauce.  

- Adapted from Hamburger Patties with Flaxseed

Dinner tonight:  Italian style turkey meatballs and spaghetti squash smothered in a hearty tomato-spinach-coconut milk sauce.  Served with a huge green salad and sauteed kale with garlic and ginger.  The kiddies enjoyed their turkey meatballs with cheese tortellini and sauteed kale.  

Enjoy!

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Gluten-Free & Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake, or not - Refined Sugar Free

Most of the time, my baking is dictated by what I need to use up before it goes bad.   I had some leftover blueberry pie filling after making some braided crossover blueberry strudels (as shown in the red bean puff pastries entry).  I was going to make a Cherry Sour Cream Coffee Cake with the leftover blueberry pie filling, but I had a sudden urge to try make a coffee cake that was gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free.  What a challenge!

Success!  Things worked my way!  Very easy to whip up and versatile for an after school snack or afternoon coffee or tea break.  My 5-year old Nessa helped me make this.  I had to add this recipe to my repertoire.  I will make again! 

Instead of cow's milk, I used unsweetened Coconut Dream.  The flaxseed replaces the egg and maple syrup is used instead of refined white sugar.  Being lazy, I did not want to blend my own gluten-free flour.  I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour in my pantry.  I had a package of this and didn't like the flavour of this chickpea flour blend.  I am so glad I gave this another try! 

This is originally a vegan whole wheat blueberry muffin recipe. Luckily, I was able to modify this to be gluten-free and in a pan for a lovely coffee cake.  I sprinkled some coconut sugar and cinnamon on the top of the batter before baking.  Next time, I will combine the sugar and cinnamon together before sprinkling for a prettier presentation.  I will also try make blueberry muffins too.  

If you do not have to go egg, dairy and/or gluten-free, you can use two eggs, cow's milk and whole wheat flour. 

I was impressed how soft and fluffy it turned out!  Not crumbly at all.  I would not have known that this was gluten-free and vegan.    

Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Swirl Coffee Cake, or not

makes 1 8"x8" pan and 1- 7"x3" loaf pan

1/4 cup ground flaxseed or 2 eggs

1 3/4 cup Bob's Gluten-Free All-purpose Baking Flour or whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp xanthan gum, if using Bob's Gluten-Free All-purpose Baking Flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup dairy or non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened Coconut Dream)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I prefer lemon juice)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup maple syrup (I used 1/3 cup maple syrup, since my blueberry pie filling is already sweetened)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp orange zest (I used 1/2 tsp lemon extract + 1/4 tsp orange extract)

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used roughly 1/2 cup leftover blueberry pie filling)

optional:  brown sugar or coconut sugar, cinnamon sprinkled on top

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line 1- 8"x8" square pan and 1- 7"x3" loaf with parchment paper.  Or line muffin tin with paper liners.  

Mix together milk and vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup.  Set aside

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients:  flaxseed, flour, baking soda, xanthan gum (if gluten-free), cinnamon and salt.  

Add the maple syrup, oil, vanilla and orange zest to the milk/vinegar mixture.  

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula until just moistened.  Fold in fresh or frozen blueberries.    

Scoop batter in prepared pans or muffin cups.  If using blueberry pie filling, dollop by tablespoonfuls all over the pans and swirl around with a butter knife.  

Optional:  sprinkle the top of the batter with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.   

- Adapted from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking:  Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I can't wait to share this recipe with my gluten-free and vegan friends! 

[Edited to add] As the cake sat a few hours later, the texture was still soft and fluffy, but the taste of the chickpea flour and ground flaxseed gave the cake a strong aftertaste.  This recipe is worth another try with a different gluten-free flour blend.  

Enjoy!

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Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties with Flaxseed - Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free

I like to simplify breakfast as much as possible.  When I wake up, it's a mad dash to get all three kiddies dressed, fed and off to school. Then is it my turn for breakfast!  Now that I am not eating eggs, I sometimes have lean turkey breakfast sausage patties to help start my day.  I make a batch and reheat them the next few days.   
  

At first, I tried Gracious Pantry's Clean Eating Turkey Breakfast Sausage.  It was a very easy recipe to whip together.  However, the ground turkey's flavour was a little too strong/gamey for me and needed a few more herbs and spices to counter this.  Then I found Food.com's Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties recipe that used more herbs and spices.  It was fun to use a wide range of herbs and spices from my inventory. 

We don't eat spicy food, so I toned down the heat considerably.  I didn't expect the children to eat these turkey patties but they enjoyed them as well!  It is a very forgiving and flexible recipe.  If you choose to make them spicier or more bland, adjust the seasonings as desired.  I played around with this recipe several times and I'm happy with the amounts of these herbs and spices.  I don't use salt, so adjust to taste.  

The addition of ground flaxseed and water helped improve the lean and dry texture of the ground turkey.  It helped bind the meat together (like an egg) and also provided extra fibre and healthy fat.   

I mixed all the ingrediets into my KitchenAid stand mixer and for a minute or until well blended.  Then I used an ice cream/cookie scoop to make large meatballs and patted them out to make 2-inch sized patties. With a digital scale, my ice cream scoop of meat weighed almost 1 1/4 oz.  When cooked, they turned out to be roughly 1 oz each.  Perfect portion control! 

I panfried them with some olive oil.  They cook up really fast!  

Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties with Flaxseed

1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey

1 1/2 tsp ground sage

3/4 tsp thyme

3/4 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp chili flakes

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Combine all ingredients and blend well.  Refrigerate meat mixture overnight (optional).  Form into patties and cook as needed, freezing leftovers.  Don't overcook or they will dry out--remove from the heat as soon as they're no longer pink inside, but still juicy.  (If you prefer a moister texture, you add a splash of olive oil or an egg to the mixture just prior to cooking)

- Adapted from Food.com's Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties

My lunch today!  Turkey sausage patties served with a fresh mixed green salad, some fruit and a side of brown rice pasta topped with melted vegan cheese.  It was delicious!

Enjoy!

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Gluten Free Classic Vegan Pumpkin Pie (Dairy-free, Soy-free, Egg-free)

Today is the start of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  It is very much like the American counterpart, but we have it earlier in the year.  I haven't put much thought in our dinner this weekend yet, but I thought that I would get a start on dessert!

Lately, I have been having some health issues and bad acne.  To change things up, I decided to go soy, dairy, egg, chocolate (gasp!), and gluten-free for 6 weeks.  I'm happy to say that I've gotten used to my regime and am embracing the other delicious foods I can enjoy!

I decided to tackle the classic Thanksgiving favourite:  pumpkin pie.  First the crust had to be gluten and butter free.  Thanks to all the wonderful resources on the net, I lucked out with a delicious gluten-free crust  made with a blend of rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sweet rice flour and xanthan gum.  In the world of gluten-free baking, this is a very standard mix of ingredients.  There is a science behind gluten-free baking where all the qualities of each different flour/starch combine to mimic wheat.  It was PERFECT on the first try!  The crust was flaky, crispy and it held the pumpkin filling beautifully.  

Next, the pumpkin pie filling had to be butter, milk and egg free.  I found an amazing one that all the kiddies loved and asked for breakfast the next day!  Again, the hard part is to find substitutes to replace the binding of eggs (use of cornstarch) and the creaminess of milk (use of coconut or almond milk).  The filling was very easy to whip up.  

I also take into consideration that this will not be exactly like the "regular ones", but still a very delicious dessert.  It will be one that everyone would like to try out of curiosity and then be pleasantly surprised at how yummy it is.  

Classic Vegan Pumpkin Pie

1 - 8-inch or 9-inch unbaked pie crust (wheat, gluten-free or storebought)
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 15-oz can)
1 cup plain nondairy milk (soy, almond, coconut)* 
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white)
2 1/2 – 3 Tbsp cornstarch (I used 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch and 1 Tbsp cornstarch)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (or freshly grated nutmeg, just estimate!)
vegan whipped topping, if desired**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pumpkin, non-dairy milk, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and spices in a large bowl, and mix very well with an electric mixer (alternatively, you can combine these ingredients in a blender). Pour into unbaked pastry shell, and bake for about 60 minutes. The pie will still be jiggly when you take it out of the oven, but it will firm up as it cools. Cool completely on a cooling rack, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving. Serve chilled and top with vegan whipped topping if desired.

* To be nut-free, I used Coconut Dream coconut beverage as it does not have a strong coconut flavour.  The original recipe states that almond milk will also produce great results.  Canned coconut milk will yield a rich and creamy pie but the flavor of the coconut will come through. Rice milk is not recommended as it is too thin for the nice creamy consistency.  

- Adapted from Vegan Spoonful: Homestyle Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

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