DIY: Coconut Flour Bread

I share a love-hate relationship with gluten. Some days I can stomach it and some I can't. 

About a year I was tested for gluten intolerance but just never followed up with any of the results due to it being during a very difficult time in my life. On my own I gave up gluten products for a couple months and felt much better. However after a while I simply got tired of the inconvenience of reading ingredients and spending extra money on specialty items.  

Unfortunately lately I've been having a lot of those low tolerance days. For hours after meals I feel  nauseous with an upset stomach and headache. I've decided to give the gluten free thing a try again and see if my body stops trying to attack me. 

With the stores around me mainly only offering two brands of gluten free bread that I'm not the biggest fan of I decided to put some coconut flour I had laying around to good use. I found a recipe online for Coconut Flour Bread and decided to give it a go. As I began making it I noticed that the ingredients are all extremely sweet. Sweet bread has never been a favorite of mine so I altered the measurements. 

COCONUT FLOUR BREAD 

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat eggs on medium with mixer for 1 minute

Add coconut oil, coconut milk, and agave

Mix until coconut oil is evenly distributed. Some chunks may remain

 

Sift in coconut flour

Use dough hook and mix on low for 2 minute and then medium for 30 seconds

Dough will be moist and somewhat crumbly

 Coat whatever size pan you choose to use

I used leftover coconut oil to coat the pan but anything you prefer will do

I also split the dough in half as I had intended to give the second loaf to someone else

*Keep in mind the dough won't rise significantly (or much at all)

Bake on medium to low rack

The original recipe called to bake for 45 minutes

As I split my dough I only cooked it for 35-40 minutes

The finished product:

Impressions: 

The bread is dense, extremely dense. It reminded me of a scone, but more moist. I

Even with reducing the amount of agave by almost 2/3 of the original recipe it is way too sweet for my taste. I think it would have been better leaving the agave out entirely. 

It didn't rise at all, at least from what I can tell. I probably shouldn't have split the batter but I think leaving it in portion would have just made a giant brick of sweetness overload.

I would never use it for a sandwich, which is what I was hoping for. I did 't like it as a snack on it's own either.  The only time I see myself consuming it is with a cup of unsweetened tea or coffee - and even then I'd prefer a scone. 

Overall I wouldn't make this again. 

I thought I'd do a review of it in case anyone was thinking of playing around with coconut flour or looking for gluten free recipes. I might consider a different recipe in the future but this one is going out the window. It was too sweet, too dense, and wasn't even coast efficient due to the high price of coconut-anything. For now I think I'll stick to the store bought loaves.

If you have any suggestions for gluten free bread or coconut flour recipes  give me a shout out in the comments. I'd also like to hear about what gluten free store bought bread people prefer. 

 

 

 

Mad World

The beginning of May I told myself after a pretty hectic April I would get my act together and get back on track with life. Ya, that didn't happen. May has turned out to be just as crazy as April. 

I thought with graduating from college I would have all this free time to catch up on things I put aside for my studies... wrong. I find it kind of funny that college was the thing taking up most my time and giving me an unbelievable amount of anxiety and now that I am without it I feel completely loss. I just don't know what to do with myself. 

Despite being in a mess of extra work hours and trying to put everything into place, I still have time to procrastinate with YouTube (doesn't everyone?).

One of my favorite artists from YouTube just posted an AMAZING cover. If you haven't discovered her yet then definitely give Poppy a listen. She has such a strong voice for such a little body. By strong I mean developed, she sounds pretty soft spoken but everything just flows together. Plus she has an intriguing accent - she's from the states but it's nothing I've ever heard. 

Mad World - Tears for Fears Cover by Poppy

Where have I been?!

Happy May, everyone!!

I was so surprised to get a message from a reader where I have been. I honestly didn't think anyone would notice I was gone. I write for my own enjoyment and haven't really expected "followers". So, thank you!

April was a busy month for me. It flew by! 

It started with wrapping up some final paper work from graduating. Having to physically go back to school when you're not enrolled anymore was such an odd feeling. I think I'll pass on future visits. 

Early April I took a short trip to Seattle, WA with some friends to surprise my best friend for his birthday. It was only overnight but it felt nice to get out of Portland for two days. 

Coming back from Seattle I started to feel as if a cold was coming on. And what do you know, I spent the next two weeks horribly ill with what I like to refer to as, "The Death Cold".  For two weeks I coughed, couldn't breath, sleep or eat, had a stuffy nose and fever, and completely lost my voice. I was miserable!! I couldn't go to work and going out with friends was out of the question. Thanks to this lovely cold my entire life was put on hold. 

The last week of May I had to take yet another week off of work for a previous commitment. So May will be some frugal living. 

I anticipate the first half of May will be spent catching up on everything I missed out on April. I have lots of paperwork to go through and projects I'd like to start. During April I started quite a few blog posts but never finished any due to feeling like I was losing my mind. I plan to do an update about the Peace Corps, the Mayday exchange, and a few DIY projects I've had going on. Keep your eyes out!

So here's to catching up! May is starting out nice and warm and sunny in Portland. I've been able to ride my bike on a daily basis, giving me some vitamin D and keeping my spirits up. I hope everyone is off to a good start this month. Don't forget Cinco de Mayo is this weekend (nothing's better than a margarita!) and Mother's Day is coming is May 12.

Hearts out to Boston today.

Deadly Attack at Boston Marathon

It saddens me that such tragedies are capable of taking place.

Everyone wins with beer and ice cream!

I recently had a friend visit Portland. A week after returning home she called me up and begged me to find a way to get Salt & Straw ice cream sent to her. Portland is ahead of the game in a number of culinary creations but we have really outdone ourselves with ice cream.

Portland's Salt & Straw was an instant hit! The first time I drove past one of their two shops there was a line half way around the block... and it was raining! I knew I had to try this place. The next weekend I grabbed a friend and waited in line for 40 minutes. And every single minute was worth it. I found flavors you won't find anywhere else in town, made with local ingredients.

Unique Sweets does a pretty good job of summing up what Salt& Straw is about,

"Adding flavors you would not expect in your ice cream but once you taste it you want it there."

Adding to their already eclectic flavors Salt & Straw has announced their sixpack of beer flavored ice cream. A few posts back I mentioned Portland's love of beer, so of course beer flavored ice cream comes as no surprise to me. 
Six ice creams will each feature a Portland local brewery - 
Breakside Brewery

Gigantic Brewing Company

Hair of the Dog Brewing Company

Logsdon Organic Farmhouse Ales

The Commons Brewery

Widmer Brothers Brewing (A little disappointed to see Widmer on the list as they don't have that local feel anymore. There are plenty of other breweries deserving of this spot.)

The article goes more in-depth behind the flavors. I'm excited for this to hit the shelves this June. And for those of you not from Portland, they will be available for shipping nationwide. What a great Father's Day gift!

Best City For Your Skin!

I live in the US city that is best for your skin. How lucky am I?!

I also live in one of the wettest cities... not so lucky.

Either way I am happy to call Portland home.

I've never really given much thought to how the environment affects my skin, besides seasons changing. I can imagine that air pollution would eventually take a toll on your skin. I can definitely tell a difference on how my respiratory system feels when I leave Portland and head down to LA. I mean, you can straight up see the smog. Just imagine what that's doing to your body.

I'm curious if anyone has noticed how the environment affects their skin.

DIY: Decoupage Easter Eggs

Ukrainian Easter Eggs, known as Psyanky, as so beautiful.They are created by melting beeswax and using a stylus to draw multiple layers of designs onto eggs. The eggs are then dipped into dyes to create different hues. This process typically takes 3 to 11 hours to perfect an egg.

Considering I don't have the skills to come anywhere close to recreating one of these beauties I went with more of a decoupage route.

Materials needed:

Eggs

Napkins/thin paper

Pastry/paint brush

Olive oil

I decided to take this route last minute and had to make due with what I had. If I had more time I would have liked to of hunt down the perfect napkin prints and create a theme, but luckily the ones I had on hand fit well with Easter.

Boil your eggs and let sit till room temperature. You could also choose to go a more decorative route and hallow out egg shells.

You can choose to cut shapes or wrap the entire egg with a napkin. With either option you will want to separate the layers of napkins. Simple peel apart the top layer with print from the bottom layers. 

Wrapping the entire egg would mean cutting the napkin down to size and dealing with at least some overlap on the egg. I chose to cut shapes from various napkins. Although this route took much longer, it allowed for a lot more creative leeway. I wasn't sure how small or large the shapes should be so I cut a variety. I found cutting smaller, more delicate patterns a bit tedious but appreciated them as fillers when larger pieces were left with bald spots. 

Once your napkins are cut and eggs are cool you'll take a trip back to that grade school art project. Pasting the napkins reminded me of doing papier-mâché when I was young. I supposed you could use Modge Podge but I used egg whites as a paste. Gently whisk the egg whites (you can add a little water if you feel this is too thick) and use this as a paste to glue on your napkins. You can use a brush or your finger to spread the egg whites, both work fine. Position your napkin on the egg and start brushing the whites from the center and then out to the edges. If you use too much whites your napkin could rip, so don't overdo it.

 

If you're using the egg carton to hold your eggs make sure you let them dry a little before placing them back  otherwise your napkins will dry and stick to the carton. Once eggs are dry put a little olive oil on a napkin and brush the eggs to give them a glossy look. And then you're done!

These eggs are really that simple - cut, paste, and dry. I had way more fun doing these eggs than actually dying eggs. I also found the clean up to be virtually nonexistent. Really the only clean up I had to do was wash and dry the egg whites bowl.