Tag Archives: recipe

Easy Homemade Cold Brew Coffee Recipe

02/27/2015 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Remember my post from yesterday where I mentioned I was in the process of making cold brew coffee? Well, if not, I did. I tried some the next day and love it, and even have more brewing as ~~we speak~~ you read this. Since I like to share (sometimes) good things, I’ll tell you this super easy cold brew coffee recipe to try for yourself.

Traditionally, to make cold/iced coffee, it’s brewed hot and served over ice or refrigerated to cool it down. But cold brew coffee, as the name implies, is never heated and brewed entirely with cold or lukewarm water over several hours. With this method, you lose most of the acidity/bitterness that results from brewing with hot water, which gives you a smooth, highly enjoyable, and bitter-free coffee that is wonderful on its own or with a bit of milk.

Using a French Press makes this simple recipe even easier. If you don’t have one, don’t fret, it’s still easy as ever and wayyyyy worth it. Unless you don’t like coffee, which is weird and unheard of in the parenting community. What, do you have natural energy? Well, coffee is natural, so there!

Sorry, now where was I? Oh yes, coffee, cold brew, homemade…recipe. Okay, I’m good, here you go.

Easy Homemade Cold Brew Coffee

Ingredients: (Yields 4 Cups of Concentrated Coffee)

1 Cup Coarsely Ground Coffee

4 Cups Good Quality Filtered Water

Directions:

Add coarsely ground coffee to a large bowl or French Press.
Pour in your cold water and stir to mix everything together.
Cover and refrigerate 12 – 24 hours.
After sitting/brewing for 12 – 24 hours, strain your coffee.
1. If you used a French press, just press the lid down to strain the coffee and pour it into a separate, sealable container. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
2. If you used a bowl, get a separate bowl and place a strainer lined with a coffee filter or cheesecloth on top of it . Pour the coffee and grounds into the cheesecloth and let sit until the liquid has passed through. Remove the strainer with filter or cheesecloth and serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Once strained, you now have coffee concentrate. Make sure to dilute it based on how strong or light you want it. I like it fairly strong and find 2:1 coffee/water ratio works best.
Add milk and/or sweetener (I like stevia) if you want, but please try it alone before adding anything. The cold brew method makes it a lot smoother and even sweeter.

For the best results, use high quality coffee beans. Probably obvious, but Folgers or Maxwell House just won’t cut it……ever. Also, if you’re able, buy your beans whole and don’t grind them until you are ready to start. Make sure the grind is coarse and not fine. Using finely ground coffee will not give you good results with the cold brewing method!

For those of you that aren’t a fan of coffee, you might end up loving the cold brew method since it’s not as bitter as the traditional method of brewing. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Have you ever tried cold brew coffee?

Have you made it at home or plan on making it now?

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo

Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Recipe

01/30/2015 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

The other day I posted a picture of my Sugar Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and promised a recipe was coming soon.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

Since I like to deliver on my promises, I’m sharing it with you today. Consider yourself lucky, or maybe it should be forewarned…..hmmmm. Here’s the thing…..

I do about 90% of my cooking via the microwave. My main cooking method is steaming, mostly veggies, and microwave steaming is quick, efficient, and retains the most nutrients compared to roasting, sauteing, boiling, etc. I still cook with these other methods, just not often.

Now, many people avoid microwaves at all costs for fear that they’ll turn radioactive or some other harm will be done. This was a concern for me at one time, so I looked into it and was convinced it was a safe, if not safer cooking method. Think about the carcinogens resulting from grilling, roasting, or toasting, that’s not safe either.

Anyway, I wrote a post on my old healthy food blog, Just Add Cayenne, titled Is Microwave Cooking Safe that you can check out for my reasoning if you’d like. But that’s my preferred method, and that’s how I make most of my breads.

I’ll let you in on my little microwave bread cooking tool that I absolutely love; it’s a microwave omelet cooker! Yep, it’s the Nordic Ware Microwave Omelet Pan and you can get it off of Amazon for less than $7. The link is my affiliate link and I’d be ever so happy if you went through it to make your purchase. Check out my other favorites on the Amazon sidebar to the right.

I’ll save my microwave cooking details for a later post, but for now, how about that bread recipe? I adapted it to be cooked in the oven, so you’ll have to wait for my microwave version. It’s a lot faster, using less ingredients, and still delicious and healthy!

Sugar-Free Green Coconut Carrot Bread Sweetened with PyureSweet Stevia

Get These Ingredients….

1 egg + 4 egg whites
1 cup steamed carrots
1/2 cup steamed spinach, only drain a little of the excess water and leave the rest*
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups oat flour; could probably use whole wheat, spelt, kamut, or high quality protein powder too
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut; I used the kind from Let’s Do Organic
1/2 cup PyureSweet Stevia; if using pure or liquid stevia extract, use the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar which can be between 1 to 2 tsp depending on brand.
1 Tbs Cinnamon; you can use less, but I’m obsessed
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of sea salt

Now Do This….

Add wet (first 4) ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and puree until mostly smooth.
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add your puree to the dry ingredients and mix with a large spoon or spatula making sure everything is incorporated.
Pour into a loaf pan and bake 50 – 60 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees.
The bread is ready when a fork or knife comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cover the top with foil for the last 20 minutes to avoid burning.

*The water from the spinach helps retain volume and moisture since baking with stevia requires less bulk than if using sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.

Give this to your kids and call it “Green Monster Bread” or something fun like that and feel good knowing they’re getting healthy food for their constantly growing body. Avery knows what’s up….

And of course, this bread’s deliciousness is only compounded when you put a think layer of NuttZo on top. Remember, save yourself 15% on the best organic nut & seed butter in existence and used code liley15 when purchasing from their product page. It’s good for you, good for me, and everyone loves it! Winning all around! If only I can get Avery to give me back the jar…

What are your thoughts on microwave cooking?

Have you made bread in the microwave before?

Since we never go out to eat and I take on cooking mostly all meals in our house, it’s a must and I swear by the microwave. Never mind that odd glowing I get around 3am……

Contest, Food, Going Healthy

A Healthy Turkey-Mushroom Pumpkin Casserole and Chance to Win $500 for #ShroomTember

09/15/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

I never understood why so many people are averse to the mushroom. I mean, c’mon, he’s a “fun-gi”!

Sorry, had to get that in there. But I feel that if more people gave the fungus a chance, it would grow on them.

Okay, seriously, I’m done now.

I’ve been a mushroom lover for as long as I can remember, and never cared for anything fancy, just plain and raw. Sometimes, when I’m feeling really crazy, I might add a touch of spicy brown mustard or use them to dip in hummus, but I mostly enjoy them sans toppings.

My love for mushrooms is no secret, and I think that’s obvious when you see the birthday “cake” I was given by my co-workers one year.

Going Mom, on the other hand, has never allowed “mushroom” in her diet for the mycelium which leaves me as the only “con-shroomer” (wow, I can’t stop). Not a problem, though, since I’m not good at sharing food I treasure.

Even now that we’re feeding Avery a mixture of veggies, I’m apprehensive to give her mushrooms at the fear she’ll just throw them on the floor. It would hurt too much to see.

Although I prefer the simplicity of plain, uncooked mushrooms, I couldn’t resist when the great guys at Life of Dad invited me to partner with them and The Mushroom Council as an official ambassador to help celebrate and promote #ShroomTember!

I am honored to be amongst several other awesome dad bloggers acting as ambassador by creating and sharing an original recipe containing mushrooms and telling you, our wonderful readers, about how you can have a chance to win a $500 Visa Gift Card by sharing your own mushroom-infused recipe!

There are two contests remaining for #ShroomTember and this week it’s all about Blendability. Here are several bullet points provided by The Mushroom Council to help explain Mushroom Blendability:

On average, mushrooms have 90 percent fewer calories than a ground meat alternative.
Finely chopped mushrooms look similar and blend seamlessly with meat, so classics can be made healthier without losing taste or satisfying texture. Simply substitute flavorful mushrooms for some of the meat in a traditional dish to reduce calories and fat.
Mushroom Blendability helps you lighten up family favorites by replacing a portion of the ground meat with mushrooms – creating healthier versions of the recipes you love.
With the mushroom and meat blend, you don’t necessarily have to consume large quantities of meat to feel full and satiated.
Research shows that increasing the intake of lower calorie foods, specifically mushrooms, in place of those higher in calories, like ground beef, can be an effective method for reducing calories and fat while still feeling full and satisfied after a meal.
Mushrooms bring important nutrients like vitamin D, potassium, B vitamins and antioxidants to the plate without adding significant calories, fat and cholesterol.

Healthy Turkey-Mushroom Pumpkin Casserole

Ingredients

1 15oz can pumpkin puree
3 egg whites
1/2
1 medium onion, chopped
2 – 4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (I used 4 because we love garlic!!)
1 lb ground turkey breast, cooked (sub chicken, beef, or pork if needed)
3 cups steamed mixed veggies with peas, corn, and carrots
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used white button and cremini, but any kind will work)
2 tbsp. brown mustard
2 tsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (soy sauce works too)
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp paprika, parsley, and thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine steamed veggies and cooked turkey with pumpkin puree and egg whites in a large bowl
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Sauté for 2 – 3 minutes until softened and add to mixture in the bowl.
Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour mixture into greased or parchment lined 9-inch casserole dish (individual ramekins or even a pie pan will work too) and bake for 40 minutes. There should be a golden crust forming on top; watch carefully so it doesn’t turn black!
Remove from oven and place on wire cooling rack. Allow to sit 5 – 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

This dish freezes well and is perfect for leftovers!

I used glass ramekins as the individual sizes made it easier to store some for me and some for Kelley to bring to work. Serve with your favorite hearty bread and a hefty side of greens.

Now, as much as it fills me with pride to have you sit and stare with a grumbling tummy, I urge you to get in the kitchen and put your ‘shroom skills to work for a chance at winning $500. That could buy a lot of mushrooms!!

Make sure to check out The Mushroom Council’s social media pages listed below for great tips and recipes to get you motivated.

Enjoy and good luck!

Disclosure: I have partnered with Life of Dad, LLC for the #ShroomTember promotion. Sponsored by The Mushroom Council, the #ShroomTember promotion gives anybody the chance to win a $500 Visa gift card.