White Bean Lemon Cupcakes

Yes, I said bean cupcakes.  One of the tricky things about eating grain free, and nut free, is baking.  There are lots of baked goods recipes that use nut flours, but those have been off limits to me for awhile now (I did try a couple before I figured out that the nuts were most certainly causing Peanut some tummy pain.)  There are also recipes for coconut flour goodies, and I have found a brownie recipe that I like, but coconut flour is pretty dry and crumbly, which doesn't make it great for a cake.

And I really wanted to be able to do cake for Peanut's birthday, so I decided I should start looking around so I'd have lots of time to play with recipes if needed. 

This recipe originally came from the Modern Alternative Mama blog and was just for White Bean Vanilla cupcakes.  I made them according to the recipe and they were pretty good, although I couldn't really get them to cook up to the point that they weren't gooey in the middle.  And the honey flavor was pretty overwhelming.

So I made them a few more times, experimenting with levels of honey and adding a little coconut flour, and then adding lemon zest because the lemon/honey combination sounded like it just might be the perfect way to handle all the honey sweetness.  And this is what I came up with.  A cupcake that is good, but not overly sweet (perfect for frosting or fresh fruit toppings) and will actually cook up. 

Next step--I'll have to try actually making it in a cake pan and see if that works.  I've been too scared about the middle being raw.

White Bean Lemon Cupcakes

3 c. white beans, cooked and plain, drained well

9 tbsp. coconut oil, melted

3/4 c.. raw honey (add 1/4 c. more if you are used to really sweet desserts, esp. if you aren't frosting them)

6 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. lemon juice

zest from 2 small lemons

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp. coconut flour

The first step is to drain your beans REALLY well.  I think this was one of the problem I had the first time.  There was too much bean juice which made the batter too moist to ever completely cook.  For this, I rinse the cooked beans and then left them in a mesh strainer over a bowl for a couple hours while I ran errands.  15-30 minutes or so would probably be enough.

Adjust the honey according to your tastes.  If you are used to eating typical desserts, you probably want to do a cup of honey.  If you tend to not eat a lot of dessert, or if you are using sugary toppings (frosting, sweetened fruit or jam), then you can probably go with the 3/4 cup.  Or try something in the middle if you are unsure.  My kids like these okay, even with the lower amounts of honey, and they eat "regular" desserts as well.

Add all your ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.  Poor into cupcake liners so they are about 2/3 full (this will probably make about 24, maybe a couple more--you dodn't want to fill them too full or the centers might have trouble cooking all the way.)

Bake 25-28 min at 325 degrees.

Sweet Boy

 This little guy is killing me with his sweetness.  I can't believe how fast this first year is flying by, or how much he's changed, and yet how little he is.  He's also killing me with the dietary issues, in a totally different way.  It's looking like yogurt is a no-go, although I'm making a last ditch effort by making some goat's milk yogurt and we'll see if that one is any less disruptive.  He's just been sounding like he's having a reflux flare up the last couple days and we've had a couple really bad nights (although we did have a 6 hour stretch mixed in there which is pretty good for us these days, so I was getting hopeful that he was working through it.)

I'll admit I've been getting pretty frustrated with all the restrictions lately, but then I'll look at that sweet face and know that its all worth it (and I can't really see that I have any other choice right now, anyway).  It's all just a blip in time and someday I'll forget about how long its seemed (we're at a solid 6 months without sugars or grains/starches and another few weeks of other diet restrictions), but I'll never forget that little face.

Now I'm just hoping I can figure out what I'm going to be able to eat on our trip next week--cheese and yogurt would have really opened up the snack possibilities.

2011, In Review

I heard a couple different suggestions to look back at the past year before setting goals for 2012 yesterday, so I thought it might be fun to do a quick summary:

 January--after spending 3 weeks together, with many hours and over 4000 miles logged in the car, we returned home from our big holiday trip.  Only to be met with the largest snow storm we've seen since moving to NC and 3 days of closed schools and roads.  It was almost too much family time. . .  Daddy-o turned another year older and started working way too many hours, which would continue for several months.

February brought lots of changes--Bean switched to a closer school that was a much better fit for our family and I switched to a midwife at a birthing center, which was also a good fit for our family.  Both kids started swimming lessons and we learned that our funny Bug wasn't such a fan of the swim instructor.

 March meant a trip to CA for a family wedding, a cousin's baptism, and a few days in San Diego to visit friends and Sea World.  The kids finished up their swim lessons, and Bug even managed to not cry for a couple of them.

April included probably one of the most lazy spring breaks we've had (although to be fair, this was only our second official spring break) and lots of baby prep, which mostly meant wishing he would hurry up and get here.

 Which he did in May, giving me what I think I can safely say was the best Mother's Day present I'll ever get.  He was our "drive thru" baby--7 hours from door to door, and that included a stop at Sonic on the way home which I will always remember fondly because those french toast sticks were pretty much the first food in 9 months that had tasted good.  Daddy-o started his paternity leave, the kids loved their new brother and Bug finished up school.

June meant the start of summer vacation.  Rara and Uncle D came out just in time for Bean's 7th birthday, the baby blessing, and some of our miserable, muggy NC summer weather.  Peanut started smiling and I started running.

 July was more hot, muggy days spent at the pool (or napping in the air conditioned house for Peanut and I).  We ate peach pie, the big kids went to Vacation Bible School,  Grandma came out to visit, and I hit the mid-decade mark.

August was the end of our dream summer.  Daddy-o went back to work, the kids and I spent 3 weeks figuring out how to do things with three kids, Bean started second grade, and I started working through Peanut's digestive issues, which did have the positive affect that for the first time ever, I actually lost all the baby weight from a pregnancy.

September was full of doctor's appointments where it was confirmed that I'd rather do my own research and find my own support groups to handle our medical questions.  We spent a lot of time cooking and a lot of time playing outside in the slightly cooler weather.  Bug lost his first tooth.

October brought reality--and a cancelled trip to the beach because of a baby who cried too much in the car for anyone to stand and only part of the family going on the church campout in hopes of everyone getting a little better sleep.  We did take a 15 minute drive to The Great Wolf Lodge, went to another family wedding for Daddy-o, Peanut, and I, and these kids dressed up to collect a bunch of candy that their mean mom wouldn't let them eat.

November was more busy-ness with Souper Saturday, Bugaboo's 5th birthday, too many hours working for the bank, and Thanksgiving, which brought its own challenges since I can pretty much only eat meat and veggies.  The beautiful fall weather held and we continued to spend lots of hours outside, knowing it could end any day.

But December brought more amazing weather, all the way up to the end.  It also brought too many treats, which was pure torture for me, but did lead to my first ever holiday season with no weight gain--in fact, I was able to put on my wedding dress the other day, a feat I never imagined possible  We spent the month with Christmas crazy kids, lots of family time, another visit from Rara and Uncle D, crafts and Christmas books galore, and even a few minutes each day focused on our Savior who is the "reason for the season".

That pretty much sums up 2011--full of great times, a few worries and stresses, and lots of growth.  Here's to 2012--a year of good health, no whining, and new-found happiness, whatever our circumstances may be.

There Is No Finer Investment. . .

 Look at that sweet face.  Who wouldn't bend over backwards for this little peanut?  Which is why I am currently eating a diet of lentils, chicken, white potatoes, rice, celery, lettuce, garlic, apples and pears.  Literally.  Eliminating dairy and soy got rid of Peanut's reflux symptoms, but we've still had some unresolved poops issues that have been bothering me. 

My gut (pun intended) is telling me that there is still something I'm eating that isn't good for his system.  I tried cutting out eggs, and thought that was helping, but then things went right back to where they'd been.  And since I'm getting tired of going back and forth, trying to come up with another food to cut out every couple weeks, and then adding it back in because it didn't seem to matter, only to then think maybe it did, I finally decided to just do the strict elimination diet.

Actually, I'm doing a combo of a couple different types of diets because I really want to get to the bottom of this quickly, so I found 3 likely dietary types of issues and am addressing two of them right now, and if things don't clear up in about 2 weeks, I'll switch my focus a little and try the third one, which will be stricter for grains, but open up a lot more possibilities for fruits and veggies.

Who knows--maybe this will turn out to be nothing, but I can't keep wondering if I'm doing damage to his intestines.  Luckily, Peanut is a pretty happy baby, in spite of the food troubles.   And he is growing, even if he's not chunking up, he keeps getting taller and stronger all the time.

Just check out these giggles.  He normally kind of chokes back his laugh so it comes out in short little bursts, but I got him doing a pretty good giggle the other day.