Nouveau Boulanger!

My lovely notecard. Isn't it the greatest thing? I'm so tired right now.

Below, you can see the vast assortment of ingredients littering my counter.

break 3 eggs in a bowl and beat.
add sugar to eggs and stir.
add applesauce and stir
add vanilla AND THEN add flour slowly and stir as you add. Then add powders and spices.
Grate zucchinis into bowl (or measuring cup, whatever)
And stir until your doughy stuff gets moist.
Then pour into whatever container your cooking in. Just be sure to grease your pan or cupcake paper cups first. Cupcake-sized muffins!!!! The ones in the yellow cups are zucchini and in the pink are my experimental banana things.
Mini-muffins!!!!!!
These are my loaves in batter form. Nice, eh? The closer one is zucchini and the farther is Frankenstein's creation. Cook one hour (loaves) at 325 degrees. Mini muffins take about a half hour and cupcake size take about 45 minutes.

zucchini batter close-up.

Oh! Beautiful!!!!! Zucchini bread.

Beautiful... whatever-the-heck-it-is...

Aww... cute little muffins... The mini ones are under the bigger ones.

I am officially a member of the world of elite bakers! Well, maybe I shouldn't go that far, but I'm damn close! Today I made zucchini bread muffins/cupcakes... actually, tonight. I just made them. They're actually in the oven as I write, so they technically are not done yet. I guess I'm not as close to the elite world of bakers as I thought. Oh, well. I am confident (desperate) that they are going to turn out beautifully. As promised, I took pictures and am now featuring them on here! Enjoy these pictures and this recipe! It makes two (count 'em: 2) loaves of zucchini bread (or an ass-load of muffins). Oh, and by the way, be sure to buy enough zucchini. Yikes! I had to improvise with the other "health" batch I made for me (the other ones are for my friends) because I didn't have enough zucchini because someone (Mom!) used the third one for dinner last night. Sheesh. Just kidding. Dinner was delicious and I love you. But I really did experiment! It's going to be very interesting... I mushed a banana and just kind of plopped it in there instead of zucchini and some extra apple sauce to moisten it up a little.I guess we'll just wait and see... I used agave syrup and kamut flour in mine, you can use regular flour and sugar if you want (that's what I used in the ones I made for everyone else). In the morning I'm going to mix some yogurt and cream cheese together to make a topping concoction. Plus, I have some little daisy/toothpick things to stick in the top... so cute! Tomorrow (Saturday) is my birthday party; that's why I'm making these treats tonight and tomorrow morning! Sunday is my birthday! Ahhh! 17! They grow up so fast. And by "they", I mean "I".
Love,
Belle
3 cups flour (kamut, almond, Quinoa, brown rice)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups sugar (Stevia, agave)
3 eggs
1 cup applesauce (to replace oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups zucchini

Food I Can Eat... And So Can You!

Thank God for this bread! No seriously, go ahead and thank Him. The recipe is from the Bible. Mmmm... cinnamon raisin bread that won't wreak havoc on my ovaries!
PCOS miracle cure? Lordy, I hope so! Maitake mushrooms.
So, Day 1 of my new diet wasn't so bad! Aside from the constant craving for bread and crackers... I'm fine! Sugar is really not hard for me to avoid. It's just the bread! But it's fine... I'm fine. Last night's dinner was gorgeous and I should have thought to take a picture... But I was just too interested in eating it! My mommy made soup with: zucchini, diced tomato, red and orange bell pepper, gluten-free squash broth, winter squash, bay leaf, basil, savory, olive oil, mushrooms, spinach, 1/4 cup of 1% milk, and a cube of chicken bouillon. It was colorful and delicious and a great way to start off my new life-long trek through Hell. I mean diet. This morning for breakfast, mommy made crepes! Oh, crepes! Mine was made of brown rice flour, 1 egg, neufchatel cheese (like low fat cream cheese but loads better!), mushrooms, spinach, and a piece of bacon. It was so good! I actually think I prefer brown rice flour to regular flour! I'm supposed to limit my intake of that too, so I'm going to have to get some other hippie-low carb-gluten-free-off-the-wall flour substitute. I also have to come up with healthy-yet-yummy teaparty treats for my birthday party on Saturday. Oh, and by the way, mushrooms are apparently PCOS miracle food! Did I ever mention my deep and undying love for mushrooms? Mushrooms, cheese, and bread are my favorite foods! I can replace bread (hopefully without sacrificing taste and offering my wallet up to the gods of expensive-as-all-sin organic foods), I can still have cheese as long as it isn't full of hormones, and- as I previously stated- mushrooms are the little, fungus-y loves of my life!
By the way, if your diet is grain-free, check out this cinnamon apple muffin recipe from grain free goddess. I'm also going to check out Ezekiel 4:9 Bread which is- literally- a gift from God. I mean it! The recipe comes from scripture! It's apparently fine for PCOS women to eat, so eat it I shall! And maitake mushrooms are on my list. Definitely. If mushrooms can cure this condition I will drive to the doctor and laugh in his face. Or not. I do suffer from a myriad of health problems, so maybe my doctor isn't a good person to piss off!
Happy President's Day!
Love,
Belle

PCOS-friendly Cooking

Today is my first day on the PCOS diet. No, it is nothing like the South Beach Diet or the Atkins Diet! PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Long story short: it's a problem with insulin and lady reproductive parts and hormones. Pretty much. I found out yesterday that I am among the many women in the world with this condition. Luckily I caught it early enough that if I change my diet and exercise (to help with metabolism and stuff), I should be able to fix it and hopefully still have children when I'm older. So anyway... I did my research on what NOT to eat and what TO eat to replace those things that I am NOT to eat. I am NOT to eat very many carbohydrates (especially empty carbs) and sugar (so it's a good thing that I don't like donuts, 'cause they're pretty much the PCOS Antichrist). I've been mourning over the 'no carb/low carb' rule because I am French. I eat MASSIVE amounts of bread and crackers. I'm also Spanish, I eat MASSIVE amounts off tortilla chips! I don't think being Spanish has anything to do with that since tortilla chips are a Mexican thing, but whatever, I was looking for an excuse. Oh yeah, and cut down on starchy foods. Do you have any idea how terrible THAT is for me?! I'm Irish and German, man! I live for potatoes! But, hey, I can give up bread and potatoes if it means I can have kids, because having kids is the most important thing to me (yes, I am old-fashioned!). But getting back to the point... I have promised to post recipes on here, and I still will! Just expect them to be super healthy and full of substitutes for sugar and carbs (especially bread and flour). There is always a substitute. That's my new mantra: "there is always a substitute..."
I just had a smoothie. Not exactly a PCOS smoothie (gross. That makes me think: polycystic ovary smoothie.), since I haven't had a chance to go to the organic market, but pretty close! I used coconut milk instead of sugary juice, organic yogurt (it wasn't sugar free, though. Hence not a completely PCOS-friendly smoothie), frozen strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries (not organic, which is probably another no-no for PCOS), and a little bit of almond milk because it's organic and I love it (though it had sugar, too. So, probably all my sugar for today). Friday I'm going to the store (Pilgrim's Market, the organic food store and most beautiful thing in my life) to get tofu, more organic foods, and some supplements. Anyway. I'm off to go make some breadless (and therefore lifeless) lunch.
Love,
Belle