Grain-Free Pressed Herb Biscuits (from the Free People blog)

Again, I am loving the Free People blog! Such fun, healthy, wacky recipes to try, and they have all been a hit thus far. I'll send you to their blog for the recipe on this one! http://blog.freepeople.com/2014/09/grainfree-pressed-herb-biscuits/

The only tweak I make is that instead of coconut flour I used almond flour, which I had to triple (to 1 1/2 cups, or more) to get the doughy texture.

Also, like the Fig, Apple, Pear Cake (another post on Doughremisha!), the coconut oil gives this bread-like recipe a very coconutty flavor. It's delicious, but there is a distinct flavor in these two recipes that I have never tasted before.

I used Thyme, Sage, and Rosemary as my herbs in this as well. I think Rosemary was my fave. :)

We (being me and the other people that tasted this recipe with me) tried it sweet and savory, and it's good both ways! I tried toasting it a little bit with cinnamon, dipping it in hummus, and- my personal favorite- dipping it and crumbling it in tomato soup. Mmm.

Food = creativity. It is such a fun outlet for my soul. I totally encourage anybody who loves nutrition/cooking/baking/creativity to lean into it. It really does make your (my) soul sing. I know God gifts us all differently, and gives us all different passions, but how energy-giving is it to find things that make you come alive inside?

If you're a food/nutrition/health person like I am (or trying to be), I found an awesome blog called Nutritionist in the Kitch that I'm sure I will be mentioning on here plenty! -I'm actually trying one of her recipes in the morning! Sleep tight, world.

Nutritionist in the Kitch: http://www.nutritionistinthekitch.com/

Fig, Pear & Apple Cake (Sugar Free, Grain Free, and Dairy Free)

This recipe was delish! It is based off of the recipe for Blueberry Apple Muffins off the Free People blog (which is awesome!) http://blog.freepeople.com/2014/09/fall-mornings-blueberry-apple-muffins-free-sugar-grains-dairy/ .

I baked this for a group of ladies at a friends house, and neither I nor my friend had a muffin tin (woops! - time to invest?). Thus, the "muffin" recipe became a "cake" recipe - although it could very easily be called a delectable bread.

Baking (slash cooking) for people is one of the joys of life (I know, I say this way to often, but....). Gathering your people to eat is a spiritual experience that makes your insides (and your belly) warm and fuzzy- just a place to commune and rest. Where ever two or more gather in His name, He is there. :) And He IS! I'm feeling gushy right now- God is our very present help in times of trouble, but even in not-trouble, he is there to talk to about even the little things. PTL for the L.

SO, on to the recipe!

What you'll need:

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 6 eggs
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup*
• 2 tablespoons raw honey*
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup chopped apples
• 1/3 cup chopped figs
• 1/3 cup chopped pears

*Agave nectar may be subbed for either or both maple syrup and honey.

How to:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine coconut flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl, mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut oil, eggs, maple syrup, honey, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

Combine your wet ingredients and your dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Then mix in the apples, figs, and pears.

Put into an 8 in round baking tin, or whatever you happen to have on hand (like we did!). This will also make about 8 muffins if you have a muffin tin. :)

Bake for about 50 minutes if in a cake baking dish, or for 20-25 if in a muffin tin.

Enjoy the cooler weather, and let it warm your heart! 

Overnight Breakfast Puddin'

This is such a simple-but-great, make-ahead breakfast. First of all, it's in a Mason Jar. Second of all, it's STILL good even if it's not in a Mason Jar. Side-note: Mason Jars come with measuring lines on the side- how handy! To make the puddin', all you do is:

Mix 3/4 cup coconut milk with 3-4 tablespoons of chia seeds. Stir it, seal it, and stick it in the fridge while you sleep. Wake up and... BREAKFAST!

I have put 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of rolled oats in the same over night recipe, and it was tasty that was as well.

I mixed Trader Joe's coconut and dried cranberries into the "puddin'" in the morning, and it was fabulous. Although it's made with coconut milk, there is not an overwhelming coconut flavor. The texture of the pieces of coconut and the puddin' go very well together.

I have also tried it with honey, dried fruit, and pecans or almonds.

As you can see in the picture above, this makes for a perfect early morning breakfast to look forward to when you have to wake up extra early- it's still dark outside!

Homemade Honey Fig Granola

There is something so versatile about granola! A snack, breakfast cereal, yogurt topping, chia pudding topping, fruit crumble topping, the list goes on. AND there are so many different add-ins you can use to make it your personal fave.

It's been a wonderful college-girl food for me, because it's an easy fix-ahead breakfast for mornings that come super early.

This one is a great basic granola recipe that I based off of Anthropologie's blog-  http://blog.anthropologie.com/post/96713945259

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups almonds
• 1/4 cup pecans (because that was all I had left in my kitchen, but feel free to sub some of the almonds for pecans!)
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup + 1 tsp of honey
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 cup dried, chopped figs (or any combination of dried fruits- I used figs, prunes, cranberries, and raisins)
• 3 Tbsp chia seeds (or flax seeds)

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients but dried fruit and chia seeds in a bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring half way through. Take it out and let it cool 10-15 minutes. Stir in dried fruit and chia seeds, and enjoy!!

Happy Thursday, all.    :)

Baked and Stuffed Acorn Squash

This was a dinner experiment. Turns out, it's one of my favorite experiments thus far!

My mom has a garden that she diligently tends, and frequently my sister and I inherit some of the pickin's. We had been talking about making little squash-bowl bakes somehow, so when my mom offered me the acorn squash, I was tickled. I was so excited to try it. It seems like the perfect introduction to Fall (officially, as of yesterday!!!).

What I used:

• 1 Acorn squash 
• Tiny Tomatoes (literally, the size of a penny) from the farmer's market, probably around 10
• Pesto- I got mine from 3 Rivers Market, a local co-op
• Trader Joe's medium salsa
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

First, cut off the top of the acorn squash, and hollow out the middle. I shaved a little bit of the meat on the sides out just to make room for the stuffing.

Cut the tiny tomatoes in half. Put about a third of them in the bottom of the squash "bowl."



Next layer about 3 spoon-fulls of salsa on top of those tomatoes.

Then crack your egg on top of that.

Fill the rest of the bowl up almost to the top- but not quite- with about 3 spoon-fulls (heaping ones in my case) of pesto. Then top with the rest of the Tiny Tomatoes.



Put your bowl on a cookie sheet or in an oven safe dish, because as the egg cooks it will expand a little, causing the stuffing to rise. Just in case you have any spillage- better safe than sorry!

Baked for 45 minutes total, checking on the progress every 15. For the last 15 I turned the oven up to 500. It was close to being done, but needed a little longer to penetrate the squash bowl into the center.

When I checked on it at 15 minute intervals, I poked a utensil into the stuffing to see how the egg was cooking. It ended up mixing it with some of the other ingredients, which was completely fine, and may have helped it cook.

Then, you are ready to dig in!! Add salt and pepper to taste.

The skin of the acorn squash will be crispy, serving as a good way to scoop the tender insides if you need it. :)

Happy Fall, ya'll!

Honey Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas

This recipe is so wonderful! It's a healthy, sweet, tasty snack, topping, or cereal. I found it on: http://www.fitsugar.com/Roasted-Honey-Cinnamon-Chickpeas-27908653, via Pinterest. Goodness knows that Pinterest and I have much unfinished business; there are so many fun, inspirational recipes and crafts to record and try!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Garbanzo beans (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat you oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a cookie sheet with a non-stick spray. Rinse the can of Garbanzo beans and dry them with a paper towel. Spread the Garbanzo beans in a single layer across the cookie sheet, and put them in the oven to bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are crispy.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl.

While the garbanzo beans are still hot, mix them together with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl. The Garbanzo beans should be completely coated.

Spread the Garbanzo beans back out on the pan in a single layer, and put them in to back for 10 more minutes.

Take them out and let them cool, and they are ready to eat! These tasty treats make a perfect addition to yogurt in the morning, a crunch to your oatmeal (or try them with Overnight Oats- a recipe to come!), a salad topping (perhaps cranberry chicken), a simple snack, or they can be used as cereal.

Squash Caprese Bake

I just got back from studying abroad in Italy, and what great motivation to create good food! One of my favorite events we had planned was a cooking class in Florence. Oh, my. Benissimo!

I decided to use the fresh produce that my mom has newly harvested from her exploding garden to replicate the appetizer that we made.

It's a very simple "How To:"

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

You will need: 4 oven-safe ramekins, 2 medium sized yellow squash (zucchini or eggplant work very well for this also), 2 medium tomatoes, a block of Asiago cheese (or a cheese of your preference), salt, Panko breadcrumbs, basil, and olive oil.

Coat the inside of the ramekins thoroughly with olive oil.

Put a generous helping of Panko in each ramekin and, pouring the extra back into the Panko container, coat the inside of the ramekins with Panko. It will stick to the sides because of the olive oil.

Thinly slice the yellow squash, tomatoes, and cheese.

Put thin slices of yellow squash down first, enough to cover the bottom of the ramekin (it's OK if they overlap). On top of that put a slice of tomato. Then take a pinch of salt and sprinkle it on the tomato (because tomatoes looove salt). Next put a slice of cheese on top of that. You may have to break the cheese and arrange it to cover the top of the tomato.

Repeat that process one more time in that same ramekin. Then put thin slices of yellow squash on top of the last cheese layer. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over it, and top with the Panko breadcrumbs.

You do this for all four ramekins, and put them in the oven for 15 minutes. The Panko should be a golden brown.

While you are waiting, cut the basil into thin ribbons. Top of your ramekins with basil, and enjoy!

*I also put a little bit of herbs de Provence on the tomatoes in one of my ramekins to add a little extra flavor.

Almond Butter

Today, I am so excited about my new food processor. I have just invested in a 12-cup Cuisinart! I couldn't wait to try it out, so this afternoon I set it in motion.

Almond butter is one of the best ingredients AND snacks. I have found it used in so many recipes, and love it on a banana or with some honey to snack on. Being able to make it myself will definitely save some money!

I used one bag of Raw Trader Joe's Almonds, and put it in the 12-cup bowl on my food processor. I pulsed the almonds for about 10 seconds until they were chopped up a bit. Then, I just turned on the food processor and waited. The almonds (or any nut butter) will go through 3 phases: grainy, clumpy (doughy), and creamy. It takes 15-20 minutes with mine for the almond butter to come to a creamy consistency, but of course it depends on your food processor and the amount of almonds you are using. I stopped it as-needed to scrape down the sides. Here's what it looks like when it is done!

Let the almond butter cool down a bit, as it will be warm from the blending. Then you are ready to eat! You can store it in your pantry or in the refrigerator.

Blueberry Peach Crisp

I've just started to read this book called Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist. I am only through the first chapter and I already love it! It's about how food is one of the main "gatherers" that brings us all around the table in community- to relax, to share, to love, to listen, to laugh.

It's been that way for centuries, from the beginning people have been gathering together around meals. It's amazing to me to connect to the past, to realize that you are doing the exact same thing that they did; Jesus broke bread with his disciples and many others, David gathered people for feasts, they sat and talked and told stories. When we do something that they did, it makes that time period feel more real and not so long ago.

Bread & Wine is about bread, and cooking, wine, and drinking; but it's also about THE bread and wine, the body and the blood.

I am learning so much about how gathering in community is so sweet, and important to our spiritual lives. It feeds us! It can be so encouraging to just share in the lives of others close to you. To pray with them, to laugh with them, to cry with them, to do life with them! Jesus really speaks through community- and He says: where two or more gather in His name, He is there!!

A little tangent.

At the end of the first chapter is the Blueberry Crisp (or any fruit) recipe, and it is scrumptious! So make this and gather friends around to chat and nibble! But also read the book. :)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 cups blueberries (or any other fruit)

Crisp Topping:
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup raw, unsalted pecans, halved or chopped
- 1/2 cup almond meal (available at Trader Joe's or health food stores, or made easily by putting almonds in food processor until fine, but before they turn into almond butter)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teasoon salt

Instructions:
- Mix together the crisp ingredients.
- Pout the berries into an 8x8 pan, and then layer the crisp topping over it.
- Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 mins., or up to 10 mins. longer if topping and fruit are frozen, until fruit is bubbling and topping is crisp and golden.

Serves: 4-6

For the fruit I used frozen blueberries and canned peaches from Trader Joe's. I doubled the recipe, and used a tiny bit less olive oil than it calls for because I am a sweets person, and I wanted to taste the maple syrup a little more than the olive oil.

I had it as a breakfast bowl: some blueberry crisp, with some Trader Joe's honey greek yogurt. What a treat! And healthy, too.

I have no doubt that a hot blueberry crisp with a cold scoop or two.. or three.. of vanilla ice cream would be delicious as well.

A Simple Breakfast

Good Morning!

This was a simple what-do-I-have-at-home breakfast. I put sun-dried tomatoes, swiss chard, and pine nuts in some olive oil to heat up in a skillet. Then I applied all of my favorite spices from Trader Joe's: cayenne pepper powder, cracked pepper, pepper flakes, (I may like pepper?) and oregano.

After I let all that stew for a couple minutes, I cracked a fresh hen egg over the whole thing! Let the egg cook all the way through and you have your own scramble! Or omelet if you prefer :)

It's more fun when your food is colorful.
:)

Southwest Breakfast

On this slow morning, I woke up thinking- I can't wait to make breakfast. That's not terribly unusual for me; I love mornings, and wake up hungry- for all you other early birds out there. :)

I'm starting to realize that my hunger is for spiritual food and physical food. Every one is so different in their walk with Jesus, but the first thing I want to do in the morning is spend some time with Him, and hear what He has to say about today! I think that's the hungriest part of me, and all of our hearts, in the new day. My friend sent us her devotional one morning recently, and it has been a sweet one: "Christ of the cross and of the empty tomb, strengthen us to bear the burdens of the day, to seek you amid the hurts and questions, and to trust You enough for this day." How beautiful!

And then there's the physical :) This morning was a bit of a clean-out-the-fridge breakfast morning. So as I'm looking through my fridge, I see that I still have my Corn and Chick Pea Salad (another post on DoughReMisha!), I have some black bean and corn salsa, and I have some farm fresh hen eggs from my grandparent's chickens. 

I decided to try and make a southwest breakfast bowl for my roommate and I! (She's a brave one!)

First, I took about 4 good spoon-fulls of the Corn and Chick Pea Salad and put it in a skillet with some olive oil. Then I put in some black bean and corn salsa (Simple Truth from Kroger)- a smaller amount than the Corn and Chick Pea Salad, but a nice compliment. I mixed them together in the skillet on medium high heat and let them heat up. 

I LOVE flavor, I am coming to realize. So I pulled out some cayenne pepper powder, pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper. I put a few shakes of each of those into the salsa/salad mixture.

Once that was at a quick simmer, I made space in the middle and cracked an egg. I let it cook until the egg white was cooked almost all the way, but the top was still a little jiggly. Then I took a spatula and flipped it. It doesn't take long for it to cook on the other side, and Presto! You're ready!

I put ours in a bowl, and added a little bit of Ahi Amarillo chili sauce to mine from Tennessee Jim's Rushy Springs Farm. If you are a fan of the Farmer's Market, stop by his table! This man was SO nice to us, and I love his hot sauces! I first had them at the Plaid Apron when I worked there- which is another fabulous place to visit. :)

Happy Monday! 

"When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' Your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." Psalm 94:18.

Stuffed & Baked Apples

Ladies and gentlemen, this was a winner. I made this for my family one night after dinner, and they all liked it! Unfortunately I can't find the recipe that I used, but I think I can get pretty close! Here's how (I think) it happened:

Preheat your oven to 350.

I took 6 apples, cut the hats off of them (the tops), and cored them.

Then in a bowl I mixed Earthfare's natural almond butter (YUM!), honey, chopped dates, slivered almonds, and golden raisins. This mixture is supposed to be rather thick. This is the part that I cant remember the exact measurements, but it also depends on your preference! What ever you would like most to taste in the stuffing of your baked apples! :)

Then you put the mixture in the core of the apples!

Put the 6 apples in a baking dish very snuggly so they don't tip over. Then you put 1/4 cup of apple cider in the bottom of the pan, and put them in to cook!

It should take them 45 mins- 1 hour. Every 15 minutes, poor another 1/4 cup of the apple cider over the apples so they soak in the juiceiness.

Voila!

These can also be serves with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream. :)

Corn and Chick Pea Summer Salad

Summer is upon us! It seemed only appropriate to do a light corn salad with it being so beautiful and, well... summer-y outside!

Every Wednesday- for small group- I seem to get inspired to try my hand at cooking something fun. I think it's because it's a gathering of wonderful friends, and you can't help but get excited about that.

This recipe was delicious and quite simple. I got it from http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/corn-chickpea-salad-recipe. 

I modified the recipe a little bit, based on what was available at Trader Joe's :) Here it is!

- 3 cans of corn
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 cup of diced cucumbers (or a little more)
- 1 can of Garbanzo Beans
- 1 1/2 cups of toasted walnuts (or close to it)
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Oregano
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 1 cup crumbled feta (I believe my package was 9 oz.)

First I put the 3 cans of corn into a skillet with some olive oil, salt, and pepper to brown it. Then I took about a cup and a half of walnuts and spread them over a cookie sheet. I put them in the oven at 350 to toast them while the corn cooked. 

The corn took 15-20 mins to brown, so in the mean time I mixed all the other ingredients in a large bowl. 

Once the corn was slightly browned, I took it off the eye and let it cool for a while. I took the walnuts out of the oven and mixed them into the large bowl. Once the corn was cool enough (if you're in a pinch- it's actually not bad warm either!), I mixed everything together. 

Ta-da! Corn salad.

I loved this recipe; it's delicious and healthy, and serves a group of people easily!

**Also, Trader Joe's has frozen garlic cloves in a pop-out plastic container. You just pop out the square of frozen, minced garlic and put it in your skillet! Works like a charm. Happy summer break!

Banana Pancakes

These guys were an experiment from a Pinterest recipe: http://weheartit.com/entry/96550464. I wanted to find a breakfast goodie that was healthy, and that I could make with ingredients in my kitchen already. Turns out, you can make banana pancake batter with just 2 eggs and a banana! It sounded simple enough, so I gave it a go.

I put on "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson and started my morning off slow. :) I'd like to picture it like a meandering river versus a bumbling stream or the waves crashing in the ocean. Still in your pajamas and slippers, not touching the cold hardwood yet. Swaying to the music while you flip your pancakes. The smell of something delicious cooking starting to wake up your senses.

Take the two eggs (my grandparents have chickens, so we usually have a plethora of farm fresh eggs) and the banana, and put them in a blender until they are blended smooth and a little frothy (you can also mash the banana with a fork and wisk it with the eggs if you don't have access to a blender).

Put some coconut oil in a pan on low-medium heat and start pouring in your batter. I poured in a little at a time to make around 7 small-normal sized pancakes. However you can also make one or two big pancakes, and that works well, too! They cook quickly, so be ready with your spatula to flip them. The larger sized pancakes are harder to flip, but if you are a flip-master you will have no problems!

They are relatively thin, more crepe-like, when the batter is whipped in the blender. They are a little bit more fluffy and thick when whisked by hand.

After cooking the blender-batch, my mind immediately turned to what to put in them/on them (like a crepe). I had some almond butter, some honey, and some dried cranberries in the pantry, so I went for it. I drizzled honey on top of my pancakes. Then put some almond butter and cranberries on one, rolled it up and ate it. It was like dessert!

I am sure it they would be delicious with a whipped topping of some sort, fruit, maple syrup, nutella.. Let your mind run wild.

When I whisked them by hand, I just drizzled honey over them and they were delicious and sweet and well!

Here they are!:

I have a friend that prefers savory over sweet, and adapted this recipe to his tastes. He made the pancake batter by whisking in salt, pepper, and paprika "for a little sweet heat." Don't be afraid to put your own twist on it, and let me know what you think!

Have a wonderful day, enjoy the outdoors, bask in the sunshine (but don't get burnt), and take it slow in the morning.

Intro & Trail Mix Cookies

I'm Misha, and welcome to my kitchen tales! God has given me a very strong like for cooking lately, and subsequently a desire to write about it. I can't wait to explore and record trials, errors, and explosions of flavor. :)

I thought I'd lay out my thought process for doing this blog. I want this to be a joyful thing- that helps me, and hopefully others, come alive, de-stress, create, and enjoy. Most of all, I hope this is something that brings people together. One of the best ways to get community together is around food! No surprises. :) I love being healthy, and creating things that are good for our bodies- which is one of my objectives in writing Dough Re Misha. I am trying to create and re-create recipes that are out there on other blogs, Pinterest, recipes of friends, and maybe even some originals! 

These most recent yummy Trail Mix Cookies were delicious! So, if you're like me, then you may love the dough even more than you love the cookie... And this dough is GREAT. This recipe actually is vegan and gluten free, and doesn't even need to be refrigerated. I got it from a great blog: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/08/20/irresistible-chewy-trail-mix-cookies-vegan-gluten-free/.

I added 2x the cinnamon and maybe a little more almond butter than the recipe calls for when I made them. I am a sucker for both. I have recently discovered almond butter from EarthFare is a splurge I am totally O.K. with. 

One other thing that I need to get better at: food photography. :) I know there is an art... bare with me! Hopefully I can inch my way there over time. For now, iphone photos are the pick of the litter.