Blueberry Streusel Scones

Looking for something different for breakfast or maybe for afternoon tea? How about some Blueberry Streusel Scones? From urologyhealth.org.

Blueberry Streusel Scones


Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon-size pieces of cold, unsalted butter
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if tolerated)
2 tablespoons cold butter


Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

• Lightly butter the baking sheet and place it in the center rack of the oven.

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

• Cut butter into pieces, and blend it into the flour mixture with your fingertips.

• Add blueberries.

• In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the vanilla extract and whole milk.

• Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir into a dough (careful, don’t over-mix the dough!).

• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times.

• Mold the dough into a 7-inch round. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into four pie-shaped wedges and place the scones on the baking sheet. Lightly brush the scone tops with whole milk.


Streusel Topping

• Whisk together the sugar, flour and cinnamon until a crumbly mixture results.

• Gently apply 1 ½ teaspoons of the mixture on each scone top.

• Bake scones for 20 minutes; cool scones briefly. Makes 8 scones. Enjoy!

DIY Natural Food Coloring

Every so often a recipe calls for food coloring, but conventional food coloring is a no-no for IC. chickennugget therefore scoured the internet and found DIY natural food coloring and has graciously shared the information with us. Thank you chickennugget!! ((hugs))

Making your own all natural food dyes ---keep extra refrigerated for up to 4 weeks


Blue- red cabbage, 1/2 head cook covered with water. Use only the purple liquid. Add to a small cup of liquid, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and BAM! blue!

Orange- carrots, cooked/steamed until tender put with a bit of liquid in a food processor make mush. Strain mush to remove pulp and keep liquid.

Green- Spinach. Blanch this with a bit of water. Put in food processor and make mush. Strain mush and use liquid for coloring. You can try mint leaves too.

Purple- blueberries that are frozen with a bit of water (thawed out I assume?), make mush in processor, strain mush to remove pulp.

Yellow– Turmeric. A bit of water and a bit of turmeric, simmer and walla, yellow! Watch youtube video's on how to do this.

Red- Beets. You can use canned beets or cooked beets in liquid. Put in food processor make mush and strain out pulp, use liquid.

Pink- use beets as above but add less of the coloring.

You can use fresh, canned, or frozen veggies and fruits to make all kinds of natural food colorings. These are some idea's I found online and there are many youtube video's you can also watch. You may choose other natural foods and other methods. Just knowing you can make colorful foods with all natural food coloring can brighten up your life!

They say the food taste will NOT be effected by these natural food colors. I saw many more but NOT all were IC friendly to me.

Some of you that can use raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, You can go online and search how to make natural food coloring and you will find all kinds of great ways to use food to brighten up your food! :)

Let us know if any of you start using natural food colors in your baking! It can be used in rainbow cakes and many, many other recipes that call for food coloring.

Quick Peppermint Ice Cream

Need something cool to eat or a treat for the Christmas holidays? Try some peppermint ice cream! You can even make this into a pie! This recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Living) is scrumptious fun for kids and adults. From icdietproject.com.

Quick Peppermint Ice Cream


Ingredients:

1 pint Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream (or any vanilla ice cream without problem ingredients)
2/3 cup of crushed peppermint candies or candy canes (without problem ingredients)
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (without problem ingredients)


Directions:

Crush peppermint candies by placing between clean kitchen towels (or paper towels) and hitting with a meat hammer, or other heavy object. (About 7 or 8 6-inch candy canes will make 2/3 cup crushed). Sprinkle the extract over the crushed candy. With a large spoon, quickly stir the crushed candy into the ice cream. Ice cream will begin to soften and turn pink, so work quickly. No need to have it completely blended. Return to freezer for an hour or two to re-set and let flavors blend. Serve in fancy bowls, placing an oatmeal or decorated sugar cookie in the ice cream.

The key to IC-safeness with this is to use ice cream you know your bladder tolerates, and peppermint candies and extract that contain no artificial sweeteners or stabilizers.

*Pie variation: Have a chilled, baked 8-inch pie crust (without problem ingredients) ready. Fill with peppermint ice cream (you’ll need a quart). Return to freezer to harden for 3 or 4 hours. You can top it with decorated cookies, carob chips, or cake decors. Or just before serving, place a dollop of whipped cream on each slice.

Toasted Coconut & Macadamia Smoothie

Although there are a few minor extra steps involved in making this toasted coconut and macadamia smoothie recipe from the Superfood Smoothies Cookbook, the results are absolutely delicious. Toasting the coconut enhances the flavor, and the coconut ice gives the smoothie a gentle sweetness without adding any refined sugars.

A power blender, such as a Blendtec or Vitamix, will quickly pulverize the nuts and then whip the ice into a frosty texture! This recipe has been adapted to be IC friendly. From blenderbabes.com.

Toasted Coconut & Macadamia Smoothie
Serves: 2 - 12 ozs


Ingredients:

2-3 cups coconut water, frozen into ice cubes*
1 1/2 cups coconut water (without problem ingredients)
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened, shredded coconut (without problem ingredients)
1/4 cup unsalted macadamia nuts (if tolerated)


Directions:

1. The night before, pour two cups of coconut water into an ice cube tray and freeze. (This is your coconut ice).

2. In a small skillet, toast the coconut over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning, until golden (about 2 minutes). Transfer immediately to a bowl and let cool.

3. Blend the toasted coconut, macadamia nuts, maca, and coconut water together into a creamy milk base.

4. Once smooth, add the coconut ice and blend until frosty - first low then high (about 15-30 seconds).


Notes:

1. Depending on how frosty you like it, add more coconut ice!
2. Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract for varied flavor.

Peanut Butter Smoothie

Not into smoothies? Well, a Peanut Butter Smoothie will change your mind for sure! From food.com.

Peanut Butter Smoothie


Ingredients:

1 cup cold skim milk
1 cut up frozen ripe banana
2 tablespoons peanut butter


Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend till smooth.

Salted Caramel Milkshake

Oh, gosh! My mouth is already watering just thinking about this delicious treat! I adapted this recipe from mybakingaddiction.com to make it IC friendly. Try it, and tell me what you think! chickennugget tried it and loved it! She gives it: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Salted Caramel Milkshake


Ingredients:

2 cups (about 4 scoops) packed vanilla bean ice cream (without problem ingredients)
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons Smucker’s Simple Delight Salted Caramel Topping (or any caramel topping without problem ingredients)


Directions:

Place ice cream, milk and caramel syrup into and blender and blend on medium-high speed until thoroughly combined. If desired, top with whipped cream and drizzle with caramel sauce. Serve immediately.

Banana Almond Smoothie

This sounds delicious and it’s nutritious to boot! From urologyhealth.org.

Banana Almond Smoothie


Ingredients:

1 frozen peeled banana, broken into 3 - 4 chunks
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon almond butter


Directions:

Combine all ingredients into your blender and puree until smooth. Enjoy!