What's in a Name? That Which We Call a Recipe...

I like to name my recipes. Like a newborn or a family pet, a recipe’s name should have something with meaning, something with importance. Sometimes all it takes to name a recipe is to say what it is, like “Blueberry Oat Bagels” or “Panna Cotta”. But for the most part, it takes a lot of creativity and even more thought, such as: “Sweet Pea Pucker Smoothie”; “All Dressed Up Quinoa Salad”; “Little Bitty Popover Bites”; and finally, this recipe… “Agent Orange Smoothie.”

Now, you’re probably thinking: “does she mean the cocktail or the pesticide (definitely not), the comic book character or the Tori Amos song?” If you thought Tori, you thought correctly.

There are some songs that pop into my head on their own accord, and besides the Rites of Passage by the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos’s Boys for Pele is one of my favorite albums. Her song “Agent Orange” transports me to Miami, where tropical foods are plentiful and suntans equally so. I imagine Agent Orange to be a Miami Vice kind of detective, with an orange as a head, whose favorite highball drink is organic carrot juice and vodka, and is a sucker for the ladies. Or maybe he is a redhead investigator in San Francisco who falls in love with a tourist that insists on calling his beloved city “Frisco”. There is no way to tell what the lovely Ms. Amos meant, but that’s the beauty of her music. It’s all about the stories you find in her lyrics.

So listen to her album, skip to track no. 14, and take a sip of this orange-less orange drink simply made for a year of eternal summer and clear blue skies.

"Agent Orange" by Tori Amos (1996)

Gotta tell you what I heard

From agent orange

Mister suntan

Mister happy man

Mister I know the girls on all the world tours

Mister agent, yeah

He's my favorite

And they don't understand

He's got palm oil pants

Yes, he's down and there and everywhere

He's getting in too deep in this

Underwater city where she swims and swims

Agent Orange Smoothie

140 g Frozen Mango chunks
1 Frozen banana
420 ml Carrot juice
200 g Whole milk yogurt (or canned coconut milk for a vegan delight)

Place the ingredients in a blender until thoroughly combined.
Pour into 2 glasses and serve cold.

Makes 2 servings.

The Candida-Hypothyroid Relationship: Do I Have a Yeast Sensitivity?

When you or someone you love has hypothyroidism, it really is a trial and error sort of condition, and it can be a bit confusing/irritating (or, you know, a lot). You need to figure out what foods you should or shouldn’t eat. You need to understand the limitations of what your body can do in regards to exercise and find ways to work around it. You need to learn, over a period of time that can last for months or even years, the dosage of medication that helps the thyroid function normally. You need to understand what you’re body is telling you in the most subtle of things, such as how you are feeling, what you are experiencing, and why certain things affect you at that moment.

The positive side of having to be so perceptive to your body is the ability to detect patterns and sensitivities you have. One example is the reason I wake up so early in the mornings isn’t that I’m hungry; rather, I’m thirsty and overheated. I learned this lesson at 2:30 this morning and am fairly certain it will sort itself out if I have a huger glass of water next to my bed (and remain hydrated throughout the day). But I’m referring to something that has been consistent since I posted this recipe. That is, my reaction to yeast in food.

(source)

In my ignorance I mentioned after getting glutened the possibility of having a candida overgrowth, without the tests to back it up. However, I found this article written by Dr. Michael McNett about the correlation between candida and the thyroid. The bullet point that stuck out at me was the following:

There has been a higher incidence of candida sensitivity in Dr. McNett’s fibromyalgia/hypothyroid patients.

I’ve researched the symptoms of candida (yeast) sensitivity and overgrowth, and from what I found didn’t really apply to me. But in my personal experience with eating yeast (both in food and in drink), it was never very positive. When I bread the first time, I thought it was because of the length of fermentation that made me feel “intoxicated”, craving sugars and bread, bloated, constipated, terrible stomach cramps and bubbles, etc. Upon further yeast bread making attempts, however, it was the same thing. As with drinking wine or cider, it doesn’t take much for me to feel the affects (less than 60 ml is a typical glass for me… and I rarely drink). This could be because I exercise a lot or, the most likely, I’m not big on drinking. But from what I can see, there is a link between yeast sensitivity and hypothyroidism. The weirdest part is when I don't eat yeast-based foods like bread, I don't crave it at all. But when I do, I am compelled to eat slice after slice after slice.

I’m sure the GFRR can forgive me for removing yeast from the bread equation for this month's challenge, but I’m fairly convinced yeast and I have a like-dislike sort of relationship going on at the moment.

Does this mean I’m going to go on the Candida Diet? I’ve raised this question before, and I think the answer is the same. At the moment, until I feel compelled to get tested for candida overgrowth/sensitivity, I’m simply going to continue observing my reactions my body provides.

Articles on yeast sensitivity:

"Yeast Sensitivities" by Dr. Suzann Wang (2007), Green Health Spot (image also used)

"Estrogen Dominance and Hormone Imbalance" by yeastinfectionadvisor.com

"Gluten Intolerance vs. Candida Symptoms" by gfcf.com

Busy Bees

It gives me great pleasure to write this post, because it has three things I love in this world: family, food, and photography.

Every couple of years, my family (both biological and extended) brews mead. It is a drink of fermented honey (sometimes labeled “honey wine”) found throughout Europe, Asia, and in some parts of Africa over a period of eight thousand years. To us, like our ancestors of which we take precedence, we view it as sacred work. It is a craft that requires all to assist, from sanitizing the five-gallon carboys to measuring out the honey and water ratio to pouring in the yeast and mixing it all together. This year was our largest batch yet: forty-five gallons of newly made mead. And after nine months, it will be ready to bottle.

 

Now, before everyone gets excited, we cannot distribute mead for the purpose of making money, as we are not legally certified to do so. We make it for personal consumption and to share with friends at our monthly get-togethers. Those who take part are of drinking age and drink responsibly as stated in U.S. law. Plus, should you wish for a taste of what we refer as “The Drink of the Gods”, by all means brew your own. I am personally hoping to create a gluten free honey beer this summer, a recipe I will most certainly share with you all. This post, on the other hand, is to share the experience of making mead, with the permission of everyone involved… oh, and share a honey-based recipe to follow.

I love honey. It is my sweetener of choice besides naturally sweet foods and pure stevia. Before my family started brewing, I thought the only honey flavors out there were clover, wildflower, and buckwheat. But oh no, there is so much more variety than that. For our brewing purposes on Saturday, we used the following: wildflower, avocado, killer bee (which tasted like grape), and Scottish heather. They not only differ in color, but in consistency and taste. We purchased our honey from The Bee Folks (they also sell mead making kits) in one-gallon containers as well as a whopping five-gallon bucket from the Amish farm we buy from once in a while. Just imagine: nine gallons of honey for nine carboys. This particular batch is likely to last us for five years at least.

And of course we had sticky fingers from tasting the leftover honey.

 

Along with honey, I love the beings that make it: the bees. When I was part of the Benjamin Franklin Summer Institute of South and Central Asia, some of the kids who didn’t have host families for the week spent the weekend in a beautiful home where Environmental Studies on the Piedmont is located. I came up for the day to hang out with the kids and learn all about bees and beekeeping. 

And maybe I was giving off acceptable pheromones or maybe it was my respect for these small sentient beings, but I was not afraid and I didn’t get stung once. There is nothing quite like honey straight from the hive, and chewing on warm honeycomb like gum. I had more respect of where an important source that is essential to living comes from, and I hope humanity works toward helping the bee population grow to its utmost potential.

Four hours of grueling work meant a hungry group of people. As I was in charge of the menu, I was inspired to put honey in everything. I made a simple salad dressing of grapeseed oil, lemon, and honey, which was also used as a glazed for the salmon. Honey liquor was used to marinate the chicken. And finally, honey took part in making an amazing pie.

I was first inspired to make a coconut “cream” pie when five pounds of dehydrated coconut pieces came to my door from Essential Living Foods. (I also ordered coconut nectar sugar, which comes from the blossom and not the palm.) I gave a little under a pound to a good friend of mine, but I still have enough to last me quite a few recipes in the future. Seriously, the bag is the size of a baby, so if you have any recipes you think I should use them in please leave a comment below.

Chocolate Coconut Custard Pie (inspired from this amazing recipe)

1/2 of Morri’s pie crust recipe
Butter, for greasing the pie pan
4 Large eggs
640 ml Canned coconut milk
105 g Honey
1 1/2 tsp. Bourbon vanilla
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
15 g Cocoa powder, sifted
50 g Raw dehydrated coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface until formed into a large flat circle, about one-eight of an inch thick.
Transfer the dough into a greased nine-inch pie pan and smooth the edges (you are not likely to have leftover dough scraps).
Evenly lay out the dehydrated coconut pieces on the bottom and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk, honey, vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder with an electric mixer until thoroughly integrated.
Pour the custard into the pie pan and bake for 15 minutes.
Decrease the temperature to 350ºF for an additional 40 – 45 minutes, or until the center has firmed slightly.
Take out of the oven to cool on the counter-top until room temperature (at least three to four hours), and then place in the fridge to chill (at lease three to four hours).
Serve chilled with whipped cream, ice cream, and coffee.

Makes 8 – 16 servings, depending on the size of the slices.

Noodling Over The Possibilities

After walking at S/CAR’s convocation, a sense of closure enveloped me; only, it wasn’t calm and peaceful. I felt a door open, and I was immediately pushed through it and brought to a screeching halt.

My fitness regimen was lax this week, simply because I was so tired, which means my social life was rather lax also. I had the privilege to attend a roundtable at the USIP on Wednesday, and I worked my regular hours at the community center, including a babysitting gig, but I didn’t do much of anything else. My body was sluggish and my mind was racing at the most inconvenient times. The nightmares (yes the zombie kind) have reared their not so pleasant heads, not to mention waking up at 3:30 most mornings. 

The recipes are lining up… sigh.

 I wish I had something inspirational and uplifting to write, and I’m sure I will on Sunday, but right now I want to focus on important things and tell you what I’ve learned another time.

So I hope this noodle dish will fill you up as it did for my family and I. It was one of those dishes I made before I graduated and was in need of comfort. Fusilli is my favorite kind of noodle, corkscrew in appearance and a wonderful texture to chew on. It had been a while since I’d had the pleasure of eating a noodle-based dish where the noodle was the main attraction, and I loved it so much I wanted to share.

A warning, though: it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made. In my opinion, noodle dishes are supposed to have their ingredients thoroughly mixed, with a different flavor for each bite. Oh, and topped with cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.

Fusilli with Sautéed Prosciutto and Vegetables

240 g Dried fusilli noodles (I used the Trader Joe’s brown rice fusilli)
Juice of 1 Lemon
45 ml Olive oil
1 Green bell pepper, finely diced
1 Red onion, finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
113 g Sliced prosciutto, shredded into bite-sized pieces
28 Basil leaves

20 Mini pearl grape tomatoes, halved horizontally (as garnish)
40 g Pecorino Romano, finely grated

In a medium stainless steal pot, bring up to 2 quarts of water to a boil on medium-high heat and cook the fusilli noodles as instructed on the bag/box.
When cooked, drain the water and pour the noodles back into the pot, along with the lemon juice and olive oil.
In a large cast iron skillet on medium heat, grease the bottom with your choice of cooking oil and pour in the pepper, onion, and garlic.
When the pepper has at least softened, add in the prosciutto and cook until browned.
Turn off the heat and fold in the basil leaves until slightly wilted, and then add the fusilli noodles.
Pour the noodle dish into four bowls, and garnish the tops with the tomato halves and cheese.
Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.

Choices

Has it really been a week? Seven days flew by like there were twenty-four minutes in a day instead of twenty-four hours. So much has been happening lately, and because of it I haven’t felt much like blogging.

In an attempt to regain some sort of control of my destiny, I decided to increase my fitness regimen. Yoga has sort of slipped from my daily routine, but rock climbing six times a week along with my attempts to run three miles five times a week (the latter is new) outside or on the treadmill/elliptical has brought much frustration. In truth I was expecting miracles, hoping to see my “problem areas” melt away and a lean, strong, and confident Morri would show herself in the mirror. But because I’m working out more, I am waking up early again, hungry and tired and doing what I can to stay in the present through partially closed and exhausted eyes.

From last Tuesday to today, I have done what I know makes me feel in control: cooking and baking, exercising and eating. But it’s a little better now… kind of.

Looking b.a. with my B.A., but really...

I know I said I finished school in December, and received my diploma in February, but I participated in my school’s convocation ceremony last Saturday. To think I had considered not walking across that stage in my cap and gown, cheering and being cheered by friends and family. Grinning ear to ear, I was inspired by the speakers and their speeches, and I fell in love with my discipline all over again. There was a feeling of closure as I moved my tassel from the right side of my green cap to the left, embracing my peers, both graduating and not. And because of this memory of facing the stage and listening to these beautiful people speak, and shaking hands with the Dean, and being photographed and smiling all the while, I decided to apply for grad school in the Spring.

... I'm freaking ecstatic!

Wish me luck.

I learned this week that life is all about choices, and how the choices you make not only affects you but everyone around you. Sometimes these choices are hard, and you need to see where your priorities lie and conflict. (This is conflict resolution in its intrapersonal form: what are you willing to negotiate or compromise or give up for another priority or choice? Are you even able to?) Sometimes the choices you think are easy turn around and show you another choice that takes you down another path entirely.

We had a full house!

My biggest fears are the fear of regret and the fear of time, (and I’m terrible at decision-making when both choices are equally grand and amazing), especially when I have put upon myself a schedule of the times in my life said choices are to be completed. It’s silly, it’s exhausting, and I’m done with focusing on the uncontrollable things and making the things that are controllable not good enough.

I have a good life with numerous options. I have my education, my loved ones, my health, and my passions. That’s really all anyone can ever ask for. 

There are times, though, when comfort is needed on a plate, something rich and filling, diverse and healthful, and sweet and savory. Risotto (or any rice dish that has a creamy consistency, really) has become one of my favorite dishes to play around with, and I wanted a recipe that had ingredients synonymous to spring.

Sweet Rabbit Risotto

800 ml Water
1 2 lb/32 oz Rabbit, whole or in pieces
1 tsp. Sea salt
292 g Arborio rice
2 Carrots, grated
1 White onion, coarsely chopped
1 Garlic clove, coarsely chopped
2 Green onions, thinly sliced
120 g Petite peas, frozen or fresh
45 g Walnut halves, coarsely chopped
50 g Dried currants
1 heaping tbsp. Dried parsley
1/2 tsp. Dried tarragon

In a pressure cooker (or large pot) on medium-high heat, cook the rabbit in the water (along with the teaspoon of salt) until the meat can be easily removed from the bones (for a pressure cooker, this will take about an hour, while in a regular pot it will take significantly longer.
Remove the rabbit from the water and place it on a cutting board, shred the meat with a fork, and place the meat in a bowl to use later.
Pour the Arborio rice into the rabbit broth and cook as you would normally prepare rice.
In a large cast iron skillet on medium heat, grease the bottom with your choice of cooking oil and add the remaining ingredients (except for the parsley and tarragon) to cook until soft and slightly colored.
When the rice is done, fold in all the other ingredients until completely integrated.
Serve hot over French-cut green beans.

Makes 8 servings.

Safe Travels: A Sweet Tradition

Does anyone else associate almost every great memory they’ve ever experienced with food? I look back on my college career (and perhaps beyond, now that I think about it) and I recall faces but not names, places but not directions on how to get there, and classes I attended but not the professors who taught it. But for some reason, every single memory that has food in it I can remember it perfectly. I know where I went, what I ate, and whom I was with. I know how I felt before, during, and after eating it.

Food has become quite an intimate thing for me, because nothing else parallels the creativity and the adventure of going to a restaurant or coming up with a recipe. I think back on the time my first roommates at George Mason University took me to Choices By Shawn, a place I would later enthusiastically take others and still wholeheartedly recommend their fries. When friends heard or found out I was gluten free, they would text me the name of a restaurant offering gluten free foods or say they found a product at the store I should try (usually a beer brand). And when I had a recipe I wanted to experim-, I mean, share (Right. Share. That’s the word.) with them, many were kind enough to have a taste and tell me what they honestly thought.

These people, my dearest friends, are the reason I pursued my mad scientist tendencies in the kitchen without my being sorry about it. No one has ever told me “It’s good, I mean, for a gluten free recipe.” If a recipe needs some tinkering, the people in my life will sit down and work with me to make it stupendously delicious. One of those people, and forgive me for the mushy gushiness, is the boyfriend.

When he and I first started dating, he and I would walk around campus after dark or go to the gym right before it closed. We are both fairly active, now in the form of running and rock climbing, but early in our relationship it was a form of bonding.

He didn’t bat an eyelash when I told him I was gluten free. In fact, he was interested in what I ate to make sure I didn’t get glutened when we went out to eat or when we made food together. On our first Valentine’s Day, he made us buckwheat blini with cream and fruit preserves.

But one night, before we actually started dating and being more than friends, we did something so random and so spontaneous I knew I was in it for the long haul.

We made pie, a delicious gluten free apple pie… at 10 p.m.  

It must have been after a late “date” night at the gym, but we came back to the Mason townhouses and found ourselves with nothing to do. We could watch a movie or do homework. We could go on a moonlit walk around Fairfax. But really, after a workout like that, we wanted food. And then he said, “I know! Let’s make a pie!”

“At 10 p.m.?” I asked, incredulous. I’d never baked something so late before, and I was known for my early bedtime. That, and we didn’t even have the ingredients to make a pie.

Before I knew it, we were in his car on the way to Wegmans, still wearing our workout clothes and sneakers. We found a pre-made piecrust in the freezer section, got a bag of organic Granny Smith apples, some whipping cream, and we were good to go.

I still think back on the memory with a smile, especially now that he is gone for another summer to sell educational products in Texas.

Why? Because he wanted to make a pie before he left. An apple pie.

Unfortunately, this particular pie was fresh out of the oven and too hot to handle right when he walked out the door on Saturday, so he didn’t get to taste how delicious it was. But with the family getting together for the weekend, it didn’t last very long and was happily received.

“It was never about eating the pie, anyway,” he explained. “All that mattered was making it together.”

So now we have a new tradition. Whenever one of us is going away, no matter how long, we will make pie the night before. It isn’t to symbolize that the person is leaving; rather, it’s to symbolize safe travels and great adventures while apart.

I’ve said this before; this isn’t a goodbye. It’s a see you later, a "safe travels" and "I wish you well" sort of thing. Still, I can’t wait for him to come home. 

This pie’s crust is the same one from October’s GFRR challenge, only this time I measured it out in grams. One of the hardest things I’m noticing is how ounces and grams are converted to each other. Sometimes, I see thirty grams equaling an ounce while others say 28[.349] grams is an ounce. And then of course there’s the difference between the fluid ounce (29.57 grams or milliliters) and the regular ounce. One cookbook, I don’t recall which one, had pages of these different measurements and briefly caused my head to spin. I’d just made it easier for myself by rounding it up to thirty grams/milliliters per ounce for my recipes, and so far they’ve worked out fine.

Unless it’s a recipe that I make from a cookbook with those specific ounces to grams measurements, Meals with Morri is a 1 oz = 30 g/ml kind of blog. I tried making the dough by first measuring it out by ounces and then converting the scale to grams. The dough turned out just as delicious as before, but I ended up using more water than I had in the fall (likely due to the weather more than anything), and it was just too frustrating with how an ounce varied in its weight.

Along with a bag of Granny Smiths, we also had quinces that needed to be used up, so it just made sense to combine the two. And although apple is usually a double-crust or lattice-topped sort of pie, I used the remaining scraps of dough from the bottom crust to top the pie using cookie cutters in the shape of animals. I didn’t have room for the moose shape, though, so I placed in the center a star instead.

Safe Travels Apple Quince Pie

For the piecrust:
223 g Unsalted butter
112 g Glutinous rice flour
86 g Amaranth flour
56 g Garbanzo bean flour
58 g Tapioca starch
28 g Coconut flour
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
120 ml Ice water

For how the dough is prepared, click here. Like the recipe in November, this will make enough dough for two crusts, so save the other half of this recipe for another sensational pie you have in mind.

For the filling:
4 Quinces, roughly chopped
70 ml Honey
3 (around 154 g each) Granny Smith apples roughly chopped

Honey syrup (30 ml honey and 30 ml Water)

Place the chopped quince into a pressure cooker or large pot and fill it with water 2 – 3 inches above the fruit.
Stir in the honey and cook on medium heat for two or three hours and let it sit until the liquid has thickened into a syrup.
Fold in the chopped apple and set aside.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring to about room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Dust the counter or cutting board with tapioca starch.
Use a rolling pin and flatten the dough into a flat circle.
Place the dough into a greased 9-inch pie dish and remove the extra dough around the edges for the shapes on top.
Pour and evenly distribute the fruit in the dish, and then lay the pie dough cookie cutter shapes to your preference.
Bake for 15 minutes, and then brush the dough with a silicon pastry brush the honey syrup.
Pour the remaining honey syrup throughout the filling and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it sit for a few hours before serving with whipped cream and your hot drink of choice.

Makes 1 9-inch pie, or 8 servings.

Do You Know the Muffin Method?

There are a couple of recipes that I seem to have trouble with, the most notable being muffins. I know, in comparison to pâte à choux or popovers, you’d think that muffins would be easy-peasy lemon squeezy. They are very persnickety, and demand a lot of attention to detail.

The first time I attempted to make gluten free muffins for this blog was for the GFRR. To remove some of the fat and sugar content, I substituted butter for avocado and the sugar for a little maple syrup. After a few other recipes, such as my cornbread rounds, I noticed that there was a greasy crumb to my muffins and I had no idea why.

I learned that muffins/quick breads need a certain amount of “sugar” to balance its “fat”, no matter what you use in place of both. If you omit one the other will cause an imbalanced product, too greasy and/or too dense and chewy.

I started doing research on baking the “perfect” muffin after my chocolate muffin recipe didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Fearing that it wouldn’t be cooked after the designated time had elapsed, I baked them for an additional fifteen minutes. They were baked through all right, but they didn’t have the crumb and overall texture I was looking for. If I’d taken them out after thirty minutes, as Ruhlman instructed for his muffin ratio, I’d have been golden.

They still tasted pretty amazing though.

After reading up on "The Muffin Method" from The Balanced Pastry Chef, I learned a thing or two about muffins: how they differ from cupcakes, how to get a peak versus a dome muffin top, and why it’s crucial to keep the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls before mixing together. Ah, the joys of food science at its best.

So what did I learn from the two muffin recipes I created? Well,

1. Do not over-bake. Seriously.
2. Keep the wet and dry ingredients separate before combining, and make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (as in, between 70 - 72ºF).
3. If substituting fats and sugars, make sure that you keep the ratio of ingredient types balanced.

Next time I want to try baking muffins at a higher temperature for those majestic peaks I read about, maybe baking half the batter at a lower temperature to see just how different the tops actually turn out.

The story behind these muffin recipes differ, as one was made for the ultimate indulgence and one was to go back memory lane with every bite. The chocolate muffins are meant to be a treat, something that says “Late Night Snack”, while the apple muffins were made with breakfast (and the doctor) in mind. Like the chocolate, I did not skimp on the apples with this recipe. There were apple chunks and applesauce in there for double the apple love, tasting more like a moist coffee cake in a muffin package. Mama Dazz and the boyfriend really liked this one, but I’ll post it another time this month.

For now, indulge yourself and "... keep the doctor away" later.

Late Night Chocolate Muffins

60 g Cocoa powder
60 g Mesquite flour
60 g Blanched almond flour
60 g Quinoa flour
120 g Maple sugar
1 tsp. Sea salt
2 Large eggs, room temperature
240 g Whole milk yogurt, room temperature
113 ml Unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Unrefined apple cider vinegar
Cocoa nibs, as garnish

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Combine the flours, maple sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a quart measuring cup, blend together the eggs and yogurt until you have a smooth consistency.
With a hand mixer or a whisk, add the wet ingredients to the dry until just combined along with the baking soda and cider vinegar, and then slowly pour the butter until all has been added.
Pour the batter into greased muffin tins, about three-fourths the way, and lightly garnish with a sprinkling of cocoa nibs.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the blade of a pairing knife inserted in the center come out clean.
Let it cool in the muffin tins for 10 minutes before popping it out onto a cooling rack.
Serve warm with coffee or a glass of milk.

Makes 12 muffins.

Eating with the Thyroid in Mind: the Carbohydrate Discussion

I swear this thyroid-related post started on Thursday; it just took a few days to get it all together.

Besides goitrogenic foods to consider as part of the hypothyroid diet, I started looking into what people thought was the ideal diet for this condition, more specifically in the role of carbohydrates. 

(source)

If you are hypothyroid, you may notice the craving of carbohydrates over any other food group. According to Maura Banar’s (2011) article “Hypothyroidism & Carbohydrates”,

“This may be due in part to a decrease in the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is responsible for feelings of calm and pleasure. Since carbohydrates tend to raise serotonin levels, craving them is your body's way of trying to restore balance. Unfortunately, because your metabolism is also compromised with hypothyroidism, your body is also less adept at using the excess calories you eat in an attempt to satisfy your cravings. Left untreated or misdiagnosed, hypothyroidism can therefore lead to obesity and increased risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

So along with avoiding gluten/wheat, soy, millet, and raw goitrogenic foods, we have to avoid carbohydrates, right? Not necessarily. In some cases, whole cereal grains are considered essential to thyroid health, as Banar continues to say:

“Because hypothyroidism can lead to an increased risk of chronic and preventable illnesses, if you are experiencing symptoms, it is important to see your doctor. Once your condition is properly managed, you should have increased energy, which can help you implement a plan of regular physical activity to lose and manage your weight. Making significant changes to the foods you eat, including carbohydrates, can also help increase energy levels and decrease weight. Individuals with hypothyroidism should emphasize foods that contain antioxidants. These include fruits and vegetables, which are also rich sources of carbohydrates. Eating whole-grain versions of breads, cereals and pastas adds dietary fiber that can help you manage your weight.”

Most of the resources I found looked at carbohydrates with a focus on weight loss with a thyroid condition. It is especially difficult to maintain a consistent weight with hypothyroidism, particularly a healthy one, and many end up being overweight despite calorie restriction and an active lifestyle. Recently the newest dietary lifestyles to become popular are the Paleo[lithic] and Keto[genic] diets, both of which are low carbohydrate diets (paleo carbs are found in fruits and veggies). Those who are overweight to the point of obesity have seen continuous positive results with these diets with fast weight loss. However, changing to a low-carb diet too fast can trigger thyroid problems and hormone imbalance, as Dr. Cate (2012) wrote:

“People who run into trouble going low-carb seem to follow a pattern. They follow any number of diets from SAD to vegan before making a relatively abrupt switch to a low carb (often less than 50 gm) diet. At first they lose weight as hoped but then, instead of feeling more energetic from their weight loss, they develop fatigue, sometimes accompanied by symptoms of low thyroid function including cold extremities, hair loss, and digestive problems. Only by consuming more carbs again can they reduce these symptoms.”

In other words, “Research in humans shows that… our thyroid hormones are influenced by major changes in the amount of carbohydrate consumed.”

(source)

I went through the grain-free, low carb regimen last fall, and I did lose some weight, but I also lost patience, the ability to retain information, and had the overall feeling of imbalance and adrenal overdrive. (And it is likely not related, but I noticed my immune system was rather iffy.) This is not to say I don’t enjoy having grain-free meals or days, but like all foods, carbohydrates are wonderful additions to a healthy lifestyle with moderation. All bodies handle food differently, including carbohydrates, so some may benefit from a low-carb diet living with hypothyroidism and others may not.

For example, my body benefits from gluten free cereal grains (i.e., CGF oats, buckwheat, rice, etc.) and fruit with nut butter in the mornings. I’ve experimented with high-protein/low-carb breakfasts and ended up hungry a lot sooner than I would be had I eaten my preferred morning foods. Throughout the day, however, I choose high-protein/fat foods over cereal grains, and the majority of my carbohydrate consumption comes from fruits and veggies. (I may eat between 1 – 6 servings of cereal grains on any given day… usually in the form of rice crackers.)

After dinner, because of my increased rock climbing and running activity, I find that I am still hungry and curb that hunger with a bowl of rice cereal, yogurt, and applesauce.

So is there an ideal diet for hypothyroidism? I think it varies person to person. Since it is difficult to maintain a healthy weight with both thyroid conditions, being low-carb may help make it easier. Mary J. Shomon, author of the book Living Well with Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You… That You Need to Know says that processed carbohydrates like breads, pasta, and sugary foods may promote weight gain for a person with hypothyroidism. Tracey Roizman, author of the LiveStrong article “Is a Low-Carb Diet Good for Hypothyroidism?” (2011) also goes further to paraphrase Laura Richard’s book The Secret to Low Carb Success: How to Get the Most Out of You Low Carbohydrate Diet:

"A low-carbohydrate diet can discourage yeast overgrowth, a condition that can suppress thyroid function and lead to hypothyroid symptoms such as low body temperature and cold hands and feet in some people."

Be sure to talk to your physician before changing your diet, though it seems clear that eating whole grains (gluten free, preferably) and as unprocessed a dietary lifestyle as possible will help keep you and your thyroid happy campers.

For more resources on the topic, click on the following links for the low-carb/hypothyroid discussion:

1. livestrong.com search: "hypothyroidism" + "carbohydrates"
2. thyroid.about.com search: "hypothyroid" + "carbohydrates" 
3. "Seven Thyroid Diet Secret." Mary Shomon (2009). http://thyroid.about.com/od/loseweightsuccessfully/ss/dietsecrets.htm
4. "The Zone Diet for Thyroid Patients and Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism." Mary Shomon (2003). http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/zonediet.htm
5. "Best Foods for Hypothyroidism." Debbie Whittaker (2001). http://www.herbcompanion.com/cooking/Smart-foods-for-hypothyroidism.aspx

Inspiration from a Chocolaty Flop

Sometimes great ideas for recipes come to you just after another reveals itself to be a flop. I was inspired to make chocolate muffins, the ultimate breakfast indulgence, but without all the sugar. So I used applesauce and stevia, and let’s just say that applesauce and chocolate do not go together. I also attempted to make it dairy free, and the sunflower seed oil I used in place of butter turned out to be a big mistake.
 
So what did I get in my muffin tin? Well, it was: bitter and not at all sweet; crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside (neither one a compliment); and chocolaty, yes, but completely unbalanced in flavor.

It’s flops like these that I really wish baked goods were compostable.
 
Since it was still early in the day (I woke up early for a morning rock climbing session), I felt I could still make a recipe before my shift at the community center. I thought about remaking the muffins, but that looked to be a recipe for another day, so I thought about making something I planned on doing later in the week.

I know, I know… it’s completely random. How does one go from muffins to spring rolls (of all things) in a morning? I honestly have no idea, but this recipe worked with what I was craving at the moment. It was filling, clean (in the sense I could taste every ingredient), and filled with delicious vegetable goodness. That, and I think Meals with Morri needed a recipe that didn’t call for cooking or baking anything.

Spring rolls are something I’m surprised gluten-freers aren’t embracing more. The rice paper is relatively easy to find – not to mention inexpensive – and you can stuff it with practically anything. You can have sauce/dressing in the filling without fear of it dripping on your hands. It’s the perfect finger food on the go, and highly adaptable to your dietary lifestyle (save the grain-free crowd, sadly).

I made mine with tuna salad as I have done with lettuce wraps and socca in the past, but I added some Asian flavors to change it up a bit. For this recipe, you don’t have to use tuna. You can cook up some chicken, use another species of fish, or go completely veg with beans and/or quinoa.

Either way, I guarantee it will be delicious.

Tuna Salad Spring Roll Wraps

10 Rice paper sheets
5 Romaine lettuce leaves, halved and stemmed
2 cans 5 oz/142 g Albacore solid white tuna in olive oil, drained of excess oil
2 Small red onions (or shallots), finely diced
2 Carrots, grated
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Ginger chunks (garlic clove size), finely chopped
5 ml Unrefined apple cider vinegar
1 Small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
184 – 200 g English cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced

In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly mix together the drained tuna, onion, carrot, garlic, ginger, and apple cider vinegar.
Take one piece of rice paper at a time, and dip it into warm (not hot!) water for 5 seconds in a shallow bowl or until it softens.
Place it on a flat surface and lay the pieces for one lettuce leaf down, followed by the tuna salad, and then the cucumber and pepper slivers.
Fold it into the shape of a roll like so, or however you wish to serve it (I left one end open for a “wrap” appearance.)
Garnish with black sesame seeds and serve with a dipping sauce containing coconut aminos, Penzeys wasabi, and white sesame seeds.

Makes 10 spring roll wraps. Serves 2 – 5 people depending on meal preference.  

Goitrogenic Foods and the Hypothyroid: How to Jam with Strawberries

When it comes to the gluten free diet, the list of foods to avoid is simple enough. True, the labeling of gluten-filled ingredients as additives can be difficult (Example: HFCS is not only made with corn; but with wheat and rice also), but in the purest sense, for a gluten free diet you avoid gluten. No wheat, no problem.

For those with a hypothyroid condition, however, there are other foods you need to consider: goitrogens, the thyroid's worst nightmare.

Raw Strawberries = Goitrogenic (source)

According to the World’s Healthiest Foods site: "Goitrogens are naturally-occurring substances that can interfere with function of the thyroid gland. Goitrogens get their name from the term 'goiter', which means an enlargement of the thyroid gland. If the thyroid gland is having difficulty making thyroid hormone, it may enlarge as a way of trying to compensate for this inadequate hormone production. Goitrogens, like circumstances that cause goiter, cause difficulty for the thyroid in making its hormone."

Oh dear.

The two categories of foods associated with this disruption thyroid hormone production are soybean-related and cruciferous foods. Not included in either category, such as strawberries, peaches, and millet, also contain goitrogens.

List of Goitrogenic Foods

Cruciferous veggies including:

• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Mustard
• Rutabaga
• Turnips

 Misc.:

• Millet
• Peaches
• Peanuts
• Pears
• Pinenuts
• Radishes
• Soybean and soy products, including tofu*
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Canola Oil

*From Alternative Therapies' (healingdeva.com) "Hypothyroidism Foods to Avoid" on soy’s adverse affect on the thyroid: “Soy contains a hat trick of ways to tamper with your thyroid. It contains isoflavones, which can trigger thyroid antibodies creating an internal war of inflammation. Next…they can fake out the thyroid by masquerading as thyroid hormone, making an already low productive thyroid down right comatose. Finally, isoflavones can tackle block iodine, triggering a goiter.”

It was rather easy to avoid soy and gluten-based foods because of my intolerances to both, but I happen to like many of the foods listed as goitrogenic. Kale is my favorite leafy green veggie, and I absolutely adore Brussels sprouts. And peanut butter? My beloved peanut butter that pairs with the Granny Smith apple oh so well? What was a girl to do?

Why, you cook them of course.

Research studies are limited in this area, though cooking does appear to help inactivate the goitrogenic compounds in food. Isoflavones (found in soy) and isothiocyanates (found in cruciferous veggies) seem to be heat-sensitive, making cooking the ideal choice for lowering these thyroid-hurting substances. “In the case of isothiocyanates in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli,” WHFoods.com states, “as much as one third of this goitrogenic substance may be deactivated when broccoli is boiled in water.”

So if you can’t live without these foods, such as is the case for me in regards to kale or peanut butter, make sure it is has been cooked in some way (and thoroughly) and consume in said cooked form no more than 2 – 3 times a week (or less).

Now, I like strawberries, and if you’ve read this far you know it’s a goitrogenic food. That means no fresh strawberries in smoothies, on top of CGF oatmeal, or mixed in yogurt. As far as oatmeal is concerned, I simply add it to the oats while cooking over the stovetop, so that's not a problem. But what happens when you have a “Buy 4 16 oz containers for $6” sale of strawberries to use up and you can’t eat them as is?

You give two to a family member to use as they please, and the remaining two is turned into a fruit spread of epic deliciousness. Sadly, I do not have a recipe for it, but it did leave me inspired with future jam/preserves and pickling ideas.

This particular spread has three ingredients: strawberry juice (I sieved the puree as best I could for a smooth consistency), freshly squeezed lemon juice, and honey. The result was an easy-to-spread jam, though I would have preferred it a tad thicker (i.e., leaving in the puree). And I also want to experiment with concentrated fruit juices and fruit pectin as sweetener replacements, so if anyone has experience with that please let me know.

Goodbye April Woes

The hardest thing after being sick is getting back into your old routine. Running two miles proved to be a lot more winding than I remember, and I could only rock climb for twenty minutes before getting frustrated and tired. I still haven’t done much yoga (not at all, actually), and I was at least able to complete seventy-five percent of my core workout, but I feel like my two week hiatus has completely thrown all my hard work out the window. Now, a week later, and I’m almost back to where I was, running three miles and climbing for an hour.

April was going to be the month of recipes and thyroid information galore. It was going to be the month I would be running at least nine miles per week. It was going to be the month I could rock climb V1s with ease. I was going to be Morri, Super Duper Gluten Free Blogger Extraordinaire, making The Perfect Recipe for this month’s Gluten Free Ratio Rally.

By the way, we made bagels.

On the other hand, I did set out what I wanted to accomplish for the week: I did exercise; I did go out into the world specifically to be social; I did make recipes; and I have been studying extensively on the culinary arts and the business behind it. My goal was to ease my way back to where I was before getting sick, and I think I did a fairly good job at it, despite not posting here every day. There’s even a new page on Meals with Morri, one I am particularly excited to make a place of information and growth.

In between my moments of angst, frustration, and little pity parties, this is probably the best week of sleep I’ve had in… months? Years? I can’t even remember the last time I’ve slept past 5:30 in the morning. But this week, I’ve been waking up after 6:30, a personal triumph in my sleep maintenance insomnia.

For now, I want to talk about comfort, and fulfillment, and presentation.

There are some foods out there that don’t look particularly glamorous or are especially difficult to photograph. I personally have the darnedest time taking pictures of beverages and condiments. Maybe it has to do with the settings on my camera that I haven’t fully mastered quite yet, or maybe it has to do with the containers I put them in, but some foods need some help in looking delicious.

Beverages, dressings, and condiments aside, pilaf is the perfect example of this.

Pilaf is a class of rice (though not always) dishes found all over the world. It is found in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and terms for [rice] pilaf are found in Mandarin, Danish, and Greek. It’s the sort of One Dish Wonder food that can have all the fixings: grain (typically rice), meat (at least, a protein), fat, fruits, and veggies. It is closely related to the Spanish paella and Creole Jambalaya, two dishes that are definitely on my “To Make” list. Oh, and biryani, how could I forget?

Pilaf is the ultimate comfort food: nutritionally balanced, texture and flavor diverse, and able to feed a ton of people in one batch. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, I know, but it’s one of the most adaptable and economical dish there is. Pilaf is the sort of dish you could have every day and every day it would be a little different, one that could feed a family that needs that kind of security.

This recipe is all about its personality, and not necessarily how it looks on a plate. So go on, make some pilaf/plov/pilav/pilafi. I guarantee a feeling of contentment, fullness, and leftovers for the next few days. 

Turkey Quinoa Pilaf

252 g Dry white quinoa
750 ml Water
20 g Dried parsley
20 g Fresh basil, finely chopped
1.25 lb. Ground turkey
120 ml Pino Grigio (or water, if you prefer)
30 ml Unrefined apple cider vinegar
1 White onion, finely diced
1 Carrot, finely diced
1 Celery rib, finely diced
4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Ginger chunk (about the size of a garlic clove), finely chopped
113 g Canned fire roasted green chiles
1 tsp. Sea salt   

Prepare the quinoa with the 750 ml water and cook as you normally would prepare it, either in a rice cooker, pressure cooker, or a large pot.
Fold in the parsley and basil with the cooked quinoa and then set aside.
In a large skillet pan on medium heat, generously grease the bottom with your cooking oil of choice (I used coconut oil), and cook the ground turkey until it is browned.
Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet until softened and remove from the heat.
Fold in the turkey mixture in with the quinoa thoroughly.
Serve warm as part of a salad with lettuce, tomato, feta cheese, avocado, hot pepper, cracked pepper, and your choice of an acidic vinaigrette.

Serves 6 – 8.

Calling All Bagels!

When I first became gluten free, I essentially focused on eating “whole grain” foods such as rice, potatoes, corn, and quinoa. I bought a block of brown rice bread to make toast, both the toaster and French kind, and swore by rice crackers to anyone who would listen. As far as I was concerned, that was all I needed.

Transitioning to the gluten free lifestyle in 2008 was the perfect time to be gluten free. Cookbooks and baking mixes and labeling were showing up everywhere and in abundance. I started to do research, buying mixes and cookbooks, and became interested in food like I never was in my BGF days. While I was rather obsessed in a less than healthy way about what I considered to be healthy food and eating, I never thought how much I would change simply because I took wheat/gluten out of my diet.

When I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism in April of last year, I felt it was the perfect opportunity to unveil my idea for Meals with Morri. The blog itself had been sitting dormant for almost a year, and I still had no idea what my focus what going to be (aside from the gluten free lifestyle, of course). After the diagnosis, however, I became enthralled with how to live a happier and healthier life, and for some reason it was extremely food-oriented. It took another year before I started really looking into understanding how diet and other lifestyle choices affected a person with hypothyroidism, and how I could help the world by providing recipes, storytelling, and current events (the third being a relatively new concept on this blog). Meals with Morri has been viewed by people from all over the world, and I am so humbled to see how far it has come in a year. And although I consider myself still a novice with big dreams, I will never forget where it all started.

It all started with bagels.

Bagels were the epitome of my childhood. There were nights where Mama Dazz and I couldn’t sleep and we’d have late-night bagel parties in the kitchen. When I attended Catholic school and sang in the choir, we went to Einstein’s Bagels after the one Sunday a month I was required to sing for a sermon. (I always got lox on an "everything" bagel. Best. Combination. EVER.) Whenever we went on vacation and had to drive somewhere, like Virginia Beach, New York, or North Carolina, I ordered a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich as, you guessed it, a bagel.

Bagels were my favorite baked good, and I loved it with cream cheese, jam, peanut butter, honey, butter, etc. When I became gluten free, I was not impressed with the options I had, so I did the most logical thing I could think of: I made them myself.

My 2010 Bagel success.

My “I have no idea on the fundamentals of gluten free baking so I’m going to wing it” experience with bagels were simple enough: gf baking mix + gf bagel recipe = gf bagels. But then I started playing around with flours and gums, mainly rice flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum, and I liked the results much better. For some reason, though, I stopped trying to perfect bagels even before Meals with Morri was a sparkle in my eye.

Soon after, the Gluten Free Ratio Rally rekindled my desire for a delicious bagel.

What I love the most about this movement is the joint effort of showing the world that, if you have a ratio for a recipe, you can use just about anything to make it. Whatever the types of flours, liquids, sweeteners, or binders you use, having a ratio makes it possible. Measuring ingredients by weight is fundamental for this process, even for those not living the gluten free lifestyle. Cake flour does not have the same properties as whole-wheat flour, so we should not assume garbanzo bean flour is the same as buckwheat flour. True, many flours can be and are interchangeable, but having a scale makes it significantly easier to experiment with different ingredients and flour combinations. What the GFRR has done is bring a lot of passionate people from all over cyber space, many with additional dietary restrictions to consider, and turn a ratio into a recipe that can be enjoyed by many who have to work around the same allergies, intolerances, and health issues. It is a movement to show how empowering it is to embrace your so-called dietary/health “restrictions”.

If you have a ratio, i.e. a foundation for a recipe, you can make/do anything.

When the spaces for the 2012 months needed to be filled, I enthusiastically exclaimed that April would be all about bagels and that I’d love to host the process. Despite my getting sick for the majority of the month, I made many batches of bagels. After all, I was hosting. With Udi’s making a bagel that looked and acted like one (never ate one personally, but I’ve heard positive reviews), I felt there was this expectation to making The Perfect Bagel, especially since I was hosting. And despite my learning that I should keep it simple before dressing up the recipe, I went ahead and dressed it up anyway.

I had in mind to create a sweet potato bagel, but I started getting frustrated with the trials. That, and we were running out of sweet potatoes.

The first thing you must realize when making bagels is: do not use the entire yeast packet. Bruce Ezzell’s bagels called for 3 g of yeast to his 1.9:1 flour:water ratio (or 2.25:1 sponge:flour ratio if you prefer), and for some reason I was surprised how yeasty and “spongey” the dough was when I put seven times the amount of yeast in it. It tasted sour and I had to add over 100 g of additional flour to compensate.

The second trial, in addition to correcting the yeast amount, focused on changing how I used the sweet potato. For the first trial, I used it as part of the flour ratio, which probably made the dough wetter than it should have been. So I used it as the “liquid”, making it dry and having to balance that issue with additional liquid, going from too dry to too wet in seconds. Instead of putting in flour, however, I put in whole CGF rolled oats. I still wasn’t content with the bagels, but the oats did something to the flavor and the texture that reminded me of a hearty bagel.

To be honest, the sweet potato bagel was not my first bagel idea. My original idea was to make a blueberry bagel, but not in the traditional sense. With my CGF oats, both whole and powdered, my mad scientist tendencies were flaring up and I was inspired to try out my blueberry idea. So what did I do? I bought freeze-dried blueberries, powdered the dickens out of them, and incorporated that blueberry flavor (and purplish color) throughout the entire bagel.

As hostess, I stuck with Ezzell’s ratio as best as I could, though I think I would have liked the recipe better made with other binders like egg. But I followed the directions and used the ratio that was given to me, even making it vegan-friendly. I halved the recipe due to the overabundance of bagels on the kitchen counter, and it will make a week’s worth of bagels you can eat for breakfast each morning with a smear of nut butter or cream cheese.

Will I try again? Definitely. Will I compare the difference between the “traditional” bagel versus the ones made with eggs and oil? Oh, yes.

For now, I give you my recipe for this month’s GFRR, and it was such an honor to host it.

Blueberry Oat Bagels

For the sponge: to be made 4 to 12 hours before baking, but any longer will result in a very yeasty (and admittedly sour) bagel.

100 g Quinoa flour
100 g Garbanzo bean flour
50 g Flaxseed meal
250 ml Warm water
3 g Dry active yeast

Combine the ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix with a spoon till the ingredients are combined.
Set aside at room temperature for at least 4 hours. (To get the blooming process going, I put the bowl on the stovetop in the back while the oven was preheated on the warm setting for an hour or so.)

To make the bagels:

100 g CGF oat flour
93 g CGF rolled oats
1 1/2 – 2 tsp. Sea salt
18 g Maple syrup
30 g Freeze-dried blueberries, powdered

Baking soda (1/2 tbsp. for every 2 liters or 1/2 gallon of water)

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Add the salt, maple syrup, blueberry powder, oat flour, and oats to the sponger, and attach dough hooks to your mixer and mix at low speed for a few minutes until thoroughly combined. (This can also be done by hand.)
Once the dough is mixed, remove it to your counter and cover with a cloth to let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
While the dough is resting, place a wide, fairly deep pot filled with water on the stove to heat (measure the water so you know how much baking soda to use).
Once the water comes to a simmer add the baking soda.
Divide the dough into 6 - 7 pieces, and round each piece and set aside to rest for a few more minutes, covered.
To shape take each ball of dough, flatten out slightly using the palm of the hand, making a disc approximately 3.5 inches wide.
Make a hole in each using your thumb and place back on the counter, covered, to rise.
After 10 minutes flip each bagel over so the bottom is now facing up. (When this side begins to get slightly puffy and rounded it is time to boil.)
While the bagels are in their final rise bring your water to a simmer, then add the baking soda.
Drop the bagels 3 – 4 at a time into the simmering water (depending on how large your pot is).
They bagels will drop to the bottom and slowly begin to rise. (When this happens, flip the bagels, either with a spatula or flattened spoon, and let them simmer for another minute.)
Remove from the water using a skimmer or large spoon, and place them on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6 – 7 bagels.

So, who else participated in this month’s GFRR? Continue on to find out!

Brooke | B & the boy    Peanut Butter & Jelly Bagels
Jenn | Jenn Cuisine     Sun-dried Tomato Parmesan Bagels
Mary Fran | FrannyCakes     Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette     Garlic Egg Bagels
Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary     Gluten-Free Bagels, with variations
gretchen | kumquat     Cinnamon Raisin Teff Bagels
Jean Layton | GF Doctor Recipes Gluten-Free     Sourdough Bagels
Meaghan | The Wicked Good Vegan     Vegan Gluten-Free Bagels
Meg | Gluten-Free Boulangerie     Classic Poppyseed Bagels (Vegan/Food Allergy-Safe)
*Morri (Me!) | Meals with Morri     Blueberry Oat Bagels
TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies     Classic Gluten-Free Bagels
Angela | Angela's Kitchen     Gluten Free Bagels with variations
Caleigh | Gluten Free[k]     Orange and Caraway Bagels
Caneel | Mama Me Gluten Free     Just Plain Bagels
Pete and Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem     Faux Pumpernickel Bagels