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Wholesome Chef Mici

Fermented Kayu Bread

11/11/2021

Kayu bread is a macrobiotic delicacy. This Gluten free version takes me back to my Kushi Institute days. We didn't eat much baked flour goods, so it was always a special occasion when we had enough rice leftover to ferment into kayo bread! This is a chewy almost pudding like bread that makes any snack or meal hearty.

Enjoy with butter and jam!

Short grain brown rice (I used 2 cups dried and pressure cooked with double water)
Miso of choice (I prefer chickpea miso, but any will do)
Optional probiotics (I just used what I had in fridge)
Gluten free flours of choice (I like Pamela's Pancake Mix and Bob's 1 to 1 GF blend)
Honey

Place your rice in a bowl and add 1-2 cups of water, 2 Tbs. miso and 1 capsule of probiotic.

Cover with plastic wrap and make some holes for air circulation.

After a day, it will release a lot of water and look like this. Stir 2x/day.

On the second day, add some flour and honey just to feed the fermentation process. Cover and let sit for another 1-3 days (staring 2x day). It should smell fermented but not like it's gone bad. This is hard to teach. You just have to trust your nose and instincts as to when its ready to put in oven.

Line your bread pans with parchment paper and spray with oil so the dough won't stick. Mix in enough flour to create a thick cake-like batter.

Bake at 350 for at least an hour. The top will turn brown and it will rise a bit, but it will also always be sticky inside due to the amount of rice, so use your instincts as to when to take out. Because I slice each spice and toast in a toaster oven each time I have it, that crisps it up a bit before eating.

Soft and delicious. Add favorite toppings and don't eat it cold. Much better warmed up and crisped a bit on edges.

Hazelnut Truffles

11/8/2021

Who doesn't like the combo of hazelnuts and chocolate? Made in heaven like peanut butter and jelly! I have a hard time keeping these around. Down the hatch they go! Make as many as you can afford... (hazelnuts are pricy). you won't be sorry. Great for guest or just a hazelnut snack mid day.
Enjoy.

Hazelnuts (as many as you like! I used about 3 cups for this)
Cocoa powder (I prefer dutch process) I used about 1-2 Tbs.
Parchment paper

Optional:
Coconut sugar (I used about 2Tbs.)
Coconut oil (not virgin) I used about 2-3 Tbs.

Lightly toast your nuts at 250 degrees for around 15min or until you smell a hazelly goodness.

Roll between two pieces of cloth to remove most of the skins.

Set aside 30-40 or so nuts to add to the center of your candies.

Grind down your hazelnuts in a food processor. This picture shows them not ground enough. You want the nuts to come together as a paste, but not runny like peanut butter. Watch it closely. Takes about 5 min to achieve.

Then add a bit of cocoa powder and coconut sugar if you like. To taste. (For 3 cups of nuts I used like 1-2 Tbs of each)

Take one of your whole hazelnuts and wrap it with enough nut paste to cover and roll into a ball. Place on a cutting board lined with parchment paper.

Freeze for 30-60min.

Melt your chips in a double boiler, as to not burn your chocolate.

I like to add some (not virgin) coconut oil to thin the chocolate.

*This makes the dip have a thinner coat. You don't have to do this if you like the chocolate dip to be thick.

Dip into the melted chocolate and place back on the parchment paper. Refridgerate until chocolate is set. Like 10min.

Try to save some for company... or your family... LOL...

Raspberry Almond Cookies

9/17/2021

This is a fun, pink adaptation of a traditional Italian Amaretti. I adjusted it to my lower sweetness level with coconut nectar and stevia. You can dust with powdered sugar or ground coconut sugar for that extra added sweetness and traditional look.

Raspberry Amaretti

4 Egg Whites (5 if small eggs)
1 cup Coconut Sugar
5 drops Stevia
3 cups Almond Flour
1 tsp. Water if needed
1.2 oz Freeze-dried Raspberries (1/4 cup ground)
20-30 Fresh or Frozen Whole Raspberries

Just Almond Amaretti

4 Egg Whites (5 if small)
1 cup Coconut Sugar
3 cups Almond Flour
1 tsp. Almond Extract
1 tsp. Water if needed
Powdered sugar or powdered coconut sugar

Follow the instructions below, just leave out the raspberry.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Blend/grind freeze dried raspberries to a fine powder. 1/4 cup

Sift your coconut sugar if clumpy.

Separate your egg whites and whisk for a few min until you have stiff peaks.

Fold in the almond flour, coconut sugar, stevia and dried raspberry powder. This mixture should be moldable in texture. use water to adjust if needed.

Either roll a raspberry into the center and cover or let it sit on top. Your choice. I prefer the surprise of the raspberry when you bite into it, but the raspberry on top is festive and beautiful, too.

Dust or roll in powdered sugar.

Bake for 12-17 min.

This batch makes 20-30 cookies depending on how big you make them.

Once cooked for 5-10min, smash them with a fork if you like them flat. Then finish cooking.

Bµche N⍥el - Yule Log

12/21/2020

Buche de Noel is basically a Roulade that you make to look like a log in the forest at Christmas time. It consists of a light egg sponge (usually chocolate because logs are brown) and filled with the mouse or pudding flavor of choice. It's then rolled up with a spiral of goodness inside. You top it with frosting or chocolate and decorate it like a fallen log on a winter journey to a friend's house. It's fairly simple to make, it just requires 3 things. A thin egg cake, a pudding or mouse and chocolate decorations.The following is my simplified version. It was really fun to eat and give to friends, as I made 3!

This one is grain and dairy free!

Pudding Spiral:
2 cup Macadamia nut milk (vanilla)
1 Egg
1/3 cup Rice flour
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2/3 cup Dark Chocolate chips
4 drops stevia
1/3 cup Agave, Honey or coconut sugar
2 Tbs. Cocoa powder (dutch process)
Optional: Peppermint extract 6 drops

Sponge:
6 Egg whites
6 Egg yolks
1/2 cup Coconut sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 drops Stevia
1/4 tsp. Salt

Little oil for parchment paper baking

Decoration suggestions: Chocolate chips, marshmallows, peanuts, rosemary sprigs, powdered sugar.... have fun!

Make the pudding first as it needs to cool. Prebake Oven to 375.

Whisk all the ingredients over low heat until it becomes pudding thick. Place in a bowl and put in the fridge to cool. stir occasionally if you like to not let a skin form. No big deal if it does though. There's plenty of pudding left over. In fact you could make 2 logs with this amount of filling. (Nice to have pudding around for a snack with fresh fruit).

Separate your yokes and whites. Whisk your whites until soft peaks form.

Then add the coconut sugar slowly until you have nice firm peaks. Set aside or in fridge while you make the yokes mixture.

Mix the rest of the song ingredients together:
6 Egg yolks
1/3 cup Cocoa powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 drops Stevia
1/4 tsp. Salt

And then fold into the egg white mixture gently, as to not disturb too much of the air you just whipped into it.

Spread the sponge onto the oiled parchment paper on a cookie sheet so it's a thin layer.

Bake one 375 for 12-15 min till it's cooked and springy.

Dust a tea towel with powdered sugar or coconut sugar. Tip the cake upside-down onto the towel and peel off the parchment paper. Roll it either lengthwise if you want 2 thin logs or widthwise if you would like a thick short roll with lots of spiral inside.

Set aside for 30 min or so till cool.

Once the cake and the pudding are cooled. spread pudding over the cake leaving a border. Then roll up in the same way you did without the pudding inside.

this picture is the short one, so you can see there isn't much spiral but it does make for 2 logs and is still delicious!

Melt some chocolate chips and cover the log. Make bark-like indents so it looks like a fallen tree. You can also cover marshmallows or nuts with the chocolate for ground cover and texture. I used peanuts and coconut sugar for earth and sprigs of greens and rosemary for that outdoor feel.

Finally dust with powdered sugar for a snowy effect if you like.

Beef Moussaka

2/17/2019

Mmmmmm... Moussaka!
I just love the smell of those Middle Eastern spices that fill my home when it's baking in the oven. I make this quite a bit for a few of my clients. Sometimes, dairy free, sometimes onion/garlic free, or sometimes egg free... depending on the needs of the person I'm cooking for that day. Me, I like it with beef not lamb, goat dairy not cow, and without peppers. The version here is no peppers or onions, but it still tastes great if you take any one of these mentioned ingredients out. Great for a rainy day or big event with friends.

1-2 lbs. Ground Beef or Lamb
1-2 cups of Onion
2-3 cloves of Garlic
1 can of diced Tomatoes
1 Zucchini or Summer Squash
1-2 Red Bell Peppers (optional)
1 cup Red Wine
2-3 Eggplants
1/4 cup Raisins (I prefer golden)
Salt/Pepper
Olive oil
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ginger
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/8 tsp. Cayenne

Béchamel Sauce:
1/2 cup GF flour (I prefer 2/3 rice,1/3 arrowroot)
2 1/2-3 cups Milk (I prefer goat or light coconut)
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
2 Eggs (pasture raised)
1 large Goat Cheese Log
1 lemon zested

Slice and bake eggplant on a cookie sheet with olive oil and salt for about 30 min or so till soft and starting to brown. 350 degrees.

Mince garlic (and onions/peppers if using) and sauté with squash for 3-4 min. then add Beef and cook till almost done.

Add the canned tomato, spices, raisins and S/P to taste. Stir over med flame for 1 min. Shut off burner.

Line the bottom of your casserole dish with half of your eggplant. Then pour the beef mixture over this layer.

Top with the remaining eggplant.

For the Béchamel sauce:

Dilute your flour in 1/2 cup of milk and mix till there are no lumps. Then add the egg and mix well.

Add the nutmeg, zest and goat cheese to a pan with the rest of the milk and flour mixture. Stir constantly over med flame until it starts to thicken. Don't let it boil. Just stir, stir, stir. Should take about 3-5 min or so.

Pour over the eggplant.

Bake uncovered for 45min-1hr at 350, or until you see bubbles and the top starting to get brown.

Try not to burn your tongue! The smells are intoxicating! You may try to eat while it's too hot!

Marinated Strawberries

5/16/2018

It's Strawberry Season!!!!

Oh I just love fresh, sweet strawberries, don't you!? My mom used to marinate them in sugar and put them over sponge cake with fresh whipped cream. I think they are good all by themselves! But feel free to put them on pancakes, ice cream, cake, etc...

Strawberries have a strong sour undertone that is balanced by a little sweet. The honey, sugar, or maple with break them down into a lovely syrup. Please pick wisely the type of sugar you use. Cane sugar is a good preserver, but lowers the immune system and leaches minerals from our bones and teeth making us weak. There are plenty of other options for sweet. Do the one that works for you. I'm a honey girl!

16 oz. Fresh Strawberries
1-2 Tbs. Honey or: coconut sugar, date sugar, maple syrup, maple sugar, birch xylitol, date syrup....

Wash and sanitize your berries.

Cut them in slices and add your sweetener to taste.

Stir or toss.

Refrigerate overnight.

It makes a nice syrup.

Enjoy!

Japanese Ginger Dressing

5/25/2017

2 Tbs. Onion
2 Tbs. Fresh Ginger Root, (peeled)
2 Tbs. Celery
1 Tbs. Ketchup
4 Tbs. GF Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. Ume Vinegar (or salt to taste and increase lemon by 1 tsp.)
1-2 tsp. Honey
3 drops Stevia
1/3 cup Rice vinegar
1/2 cup light sesame oil or other light oil of choice
2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Oil

One of things I loved when I used to eat out was the ginger dressing you would get on your salad when you ordered at a Japanese restaurant. Pungent and a little sweet. I found the right combinations with wholesome ingredients to make it just like the real thing.

This dressing is on the sweet side, so adjust to your taste.

Gather your ingredients, there are a lot!

Peel your ginger and cut horizontally to break the fibers into small pieces. This helps make for a smoother dressing. Sometimes the blender will not do the job and there will be ginger stings in your final product.

Blend it all up until smooth.

Store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

SNACKS: store bought

5/24/2017

Snacks! I'm always boasting about making your food fresh from garden or farm ingredients, but as much as I love to cook, I have a busy life and need something to grab once in a while. Most pre-made food gives me the willies with all the excito-toxins and plastic... no thank you. But over the years I have found a few brands that have good ingredients.

Here's a picture image of each one and a little note on how I might use them or other tidbits.

Grain free and nice when you need some crunch! The Jalapeño flavor is lovely crushed up in a salad to add a bit of kick!

These sea salt ones are great but a little on the salty side.

Other flavors:

Rosemary
Cracked pepper
Sun dried tomato
Cheddar
Jalapeno
Everything
Plain

I really dislike Cliff bars in general, but they have a subdivision called Kit's that's really clean and tastes good. Not too sweet. Perfect to keep in your purse.

Other flavors:

Peanut butter
Cashew
Dark chocolate almond-coconut
Chocolate with chili (really yummy!)
Chocolate walnut
Chocolate peanut
Cherry sunflower seed

These trail mixes are sprouted! My favorite is the spicy mango (jalapeño).This wild berry is my second favorite. Fun for a day at the beach or just to have in your day pack if out on a hike.

Other flavors:

Malted Maple
Honey Seracha
Dark Cocoa
Wild Berry
Thai Curry
Manago Goji
White Chocolate
Banana Hemp
Spicy Mango

These are raw and super full of protein! I also love their lemon pie flavor! Crunchy when you first open the bag, but after a day or so, they become soft, so eat 'em up!

Other flavors:

Spirulina Banana
Lemon Pie
Sweet Crunch
Ginger Snap
Choco Crunch
Spiced Chai

I'm Italian, so I just love the taste of chestnuts. This company does nothing but cook and shell them! Perfect little snack. Fills you up and keeps a level head as they are sweet but full of protein to balance it... no crash.

Need sweet crunch? These are awesome. Just apples! We even found them at Costco!

I'm a freak for lemon! This company makes these in a lemon flavor that is off the charts delicious. I don't have a picture, because they don't last long in my fridge! My second favorite is the chocolate chip!

They make little pies, too, but beware. The ones in picture use maple syrup (which is bad enough as far as sweet goes), but some of the pies they put agave in. Agave is a sweetener that has one too many carbons on its molecular chain. It doesn't burn clean. It can have a terrible effect on blood sugar.

I'm not big on chocolate, but this brand and this flavor is super good.

Sweet and salty!

These are made with rice flour. I don't partake in grains often, but this is such a treat! Tastes just like Gnocchi, only better! No gluten reaction.

Summer isn't summer without a hot dog! These are grass-fed and no BS like MSG or maltodextrin! Love this company for offering them at my local grocery store at a reasonable price.

Grain free tortillas that taste so good I have tacos 3-4 times per week. They are soft and hold well when you overfill like I tend to do.

I just love plantain chips! Not all are clean. I react to the ones from Traider Joes and Whole foods. I think they have gluten in the oil that they fry them in. But the Sprouts ones and the Inka chips brand are great. Just 3 ingredients.

Use them like tortilla chips in a taco salad or tortilla soup.

Because I was trained in Macrobiotics, I think I love sea veggies more than one should! This company cooks them in a little sesame oil and sea salt. I feel so good munching on these with all their minerals. Seems to help balance if I have too much sweet.

Favorite flavor of Larabar.

What's yours?

Carrot Cake Truffles

4/19/2017

2 cups Nuts ( I used part Walnut and part Pecan)
1 cup Madjool Dates 8-10
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Apple Pie Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, all spice mix)
Pinch of Sea Salt
4 drops of Stevia
3 cups Carrot, finely grated
3/4 cup Almond butter
1-2 tbs. Honey or Maple syrup
Almond flour as needed (about 3/4-1 cup)

Cocoa powder or shredded coconut for rolling

My Birthday often fell at Easter growing up and my mom loved to make me a carrot cake shaped like a lamb. So since this year my birthday was a few days before Easter, again, I thought I'd come up with something different that mimicked my mom's idea.

The dessert name "truffle" derives from their traditional shape, which resembles the truffle mushroom. You can roll them in cocoa powder or nuts of choice. Theses carrot ones are mildly sweet with a hint of warm spices. Raw and Vegan. I keep them in the freezer and pull them out a few hours before guests arrive for a quick and delicious snack to serve. Super satisfying.

Makes 40-60 truffles depending on size you roll them into.

Blend your nuts in a food processor until fine.
Add your dates ( I find chopping the dates first, to be helpful on the processor.)

Finely grate your carrot and add all ingredients -minus the almond flour- to the food processor and blend till smooth.

Place mixture in a bowl.

Add enough almond flour to make the "batter" rollable. The amount will depend on many factors like how wet your dates or carrots are or which nuts you use or how oily your almond butter is.

Roll in shredded coconut...

Or cocoa powder.

You can melt chocolate chips and dip your truffles, but I find all that unnecessary. I'm not a big chocolate lover, but please do, if that pleases you.

~Happy Easter!

Raw Mint Macaroons

4/11/2017

Spring is here, and the mint in my garden is happy and abundant! It inspired me to make mint macaroons. You can make these with or without cocoa. The two versions with the same procedures are to follow. Light and not too sweet. Just right.

Makes 20-25 small (1 tbs.) cookies

Chocolate Mint Macaroon: White Mint Macaroon:
1 cup Blanched Almond Flour   1 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut 1 cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Vanilla   1/2 tsp. Vanilla
3 drops Stevia 3 drops Stevia
1/2 cup Duch Process Cocoa Powder 4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted
4-5 tbs. Coconut Oil, melted 2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup
2-3 tbs. Honey or Maple Syrup 1/2 tsp. Mint extract
1/2 tsp. Mint extract 1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped
1/4 cup Fresh Mint, chopped   1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips
1/2 cup GF Chocolate chips

Place all your ingredients in a bowl.

If you can find the mini chocolate chips, they look the best since this cookie is on the small side.

If making the white mint cookies, wash and finely chop your mint. Then add to the mixture.

Mix everything with a spoon until well combined. You want the "dough" to be slighty wet but also sticky.

If you squeeze some of it, it needs to make a loose ball.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Wet an ice-cream scoop or spoon so the "dough" doesn't stick to it. Then scoop and pat the mixture in tight. Tap the side of the spoon and it should slide right out.

Let it set up in the fridge for an hour (or freezer for 20min). Store in a glass container in the fridge.

Great for a light dessert after a heavy dinner.

Minty goodness!

Author

Mici is the owner of Wholesome Goodness.

These recipes are focused on wholesome ingredients from the garden or farm with very little sweet if any. They are gluten or grain free and organic, grass-fed or pasture raised.

She menu plans, shops, cooks, cleans and fills the fridge with healthy Gluten-Free meals and naturally sweet desserts!

She also teaches and does personal menu planning for those with restricted diets.

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"I have been richly blessed by Mici’s healing presence in my life. As a facilitator of personal transformation, her passion and dedication to serving others is evident. I have grown tremendously from her gifted use of emotional healing work, nutritional counseling, culinary artistry and organizational skills. She unfailingly demonstrates the highest efficiency and effectiveness, true strength of character, wisdom reaching well beyond her years and a generous heart of gold."

~Gabriella B.