Sleeeeeepy and Baking
I'm still very very sleepy all the time. I'm averaging two major crashes a day, and often lots of downtime in between them. This has really cramped my style with regard to getting back onto the exercise wagon, as I'm too tired for most basic functioning and the idea of exercising just makes me laugh. I should try out ten minute walking sessions and see if that helps.
I'm trying going dairy free again, because if I eat dairy I seem to sleep EVEN MORE than the most of the time I'm doing. I have very painful and extended crashes after eating a meal including it on an empty stomach. Okay, I'll try to listen to that and hope I will eventually cycle back to being able to tolerate it. I do seem to tolerate processed dairy far more than the more lightly processed options: kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese, all cultured in various ways, are probably in fact okay, but I'm trying a while without and seeing if my health improves. Straight up milk and ice cream are very much not okay. I haven't experimented with other brands because I've been too tired to deal with it.
I've been experimenting with some cooking strategies that can work around all of the sudden crashes; baking stuff in the oven is pretty good. Today I made a dutch baby (my current obsession is working out permutations on dutch babies) and then lowered the oven temperature and baked sweet potatoes, kale chips, and a kabocha squash. I then lowered the temperature again to 200 and baked the squash seeds with cayenne and lime juice. Luckily 200 wasn't too hot as I crashed during that and they were in for four hours (!). They came out fine. The kale chips are another experiment, and not a bad snack, but I'm trying to find the right balance of seasoning. My first batch was a bit oily and salty (I used olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt on them) and the second batch was plain (baked on a silpat with a spritz of coconut oil spray) and I definitely think I want something in the middle. I also used lacinato kale in the second batch and I think the super-crinkly kale that I used in the first batch is better for making chips. Lacinato kale is still edible but not as nice. Anyhow I think I can make kale chips pretty easily that are cheaper and healthier than I can get in the store, so that's a win. If I use the faster bake method I can also co-bake them with other things. They're super easy.
Gluten-free, dairy-free dutch babies:
These are actually really simple and I have a six inch cast iron skillet that is great for making a big single serving or a reasonable double serving. After reading King Arthur Flour's site on popover strategies, I used that and it seems like the really key thing is letting all of the ingredients come up to room temperature before cooking them. I am still working on the proper balance of ingredients; I have only gotten them to do the wonderful raised edges once, and usually they come out more disclike and a little denser. But this is definitely easy to make and it comes out more nicely than my popover experiments.
Basic methodology for a 6" skillet:
2 eggs (I have experimented by using 1 egg and 1/4 cup egg white and it works fine)
1/2 cup flour (I've gotten my best results with Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour, and I've tried straight garbanzo flour, a mix of 2/3 AP and 1/3 coconut flour, and AP flour with 1Tbsp rice protein subbed in)
1/2 cup milk (I've tried skim cow milk and almond milk; both seem to work equally well)
1/8th tsp xanthan gum (seems necessary to get it to puff properly; I want to see if I can find a flour mix that lets me leave it out)
1/8th tsp salt
1-2 tsp high temp fat (ghee, butter, or coconut oil)
Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 425F. (My oven takes forever to preheat, so I just take everything out and turn it on.)
Put fat into skillet and put into preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. If you are using butter, make sure you keep an eye on it as you want it to get brown but not burn. Browned butter adds an element of deliciousness to this recipe so it's worth doing if you like butter. Ghee or coconut oil can be safely left in unwatched for the full ten minutes. Meanwhile mix the batter with a whisk; it can still have small lumps. Let it sit for the remaining time and then give it another whisk to fully incorporate right before pouring the batter. Take out the hot skillet and swirl it to make sure the sides are fully coated in fat as well as the bottom. Pour in batter and bake for at least 20 minutes; I usually need 25 but I've been experimenting with denser flours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN for the first twenty minutes, or it will collapse. Ideally the sides will climb up so you will get a kind of shallow bowl of baked pancake that is crispy on the outside but still somewhat doughy and soft on the inside.
Traditionally these are eaten with powdered sugar and/or a cinnamon/brown-sugar/apple mix. But there's no sugar in the batter so you can top them with anything you like, sweet or savory. I've had them with sliced banana, walnuts and maple syrup, shredded cheese, kiwifruit, and persimmons. Baking until they're almost done and then adding shredded cheese and baking until that's golden is very nice.
You can scale this recipe up to your skillet size; just use the same proportions. Make sure your skillet is fully oven safe (no teflon, no plastic handles, cast iron is the best) and it ought to be nonstick either by being seasoned anodized aluminum or well-seasoned cast iron.
I'm trying going dairy free again, because if I eat dairy I seem to sleep EVEN MORE than the most of the time I'm doing. I have very painful and extended crashes after eating a meal including it on an empty stomach. Okay, I'll try to listen to that and hope I will eventually cycle back to being able to tolerate it. I do seem to tolerate processed dairy far more than the more lightly processed options: kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese, all cultured in various ways, are probably in fact okay, but I'm trying a while without and seeing if my health improves. Straight up milk and ice cream are very much not okay. I haven't experimented with other brands because I've been too tired to deal with it.
I've been experimenting with some cooking strategies that can work around all of the sudden crashes; baking stuff in the oven is pretty good. Today I made a dutch baby (my current obsession is working out permutations on dutch babies) and then lowered the oven temperature and baked sweet potatoes, kale chips, and a kabocha squash. I then lowered the temperature again to 200 and baked the squash seeds with cayenne and lime juice. Luckily 200 wasn't too hot as I crashed during that and they were in for four hours (!). They came out fine. The kale chips are another experiment, and not a bad snack, but I'm trying to find the right balance of seasoning. My first batch was a bit oily and salty (I used olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt on them) and the second batch was plain (baked on a silpat with a spritz of coconut oil spray) and I definitely think I want something in the middle. I also used lacinato kale in the second batch and I think the super-crinkly kale that I used in the first batch is better for making chips. Lacinato kale is still edible but not as nice. Anyhow I think I can make kale chips pretty easily that are cheaper and healthier than I can get in the store, so that's a win. If I use the faster bake method I can also co-bake them with other things. They're super easy.
Gluten-free, dairy-free dutch babies:
These are actually really simple and I have a six inch cast iron skillet that is great for making a big single serving or a reasonable double serving. After reading King Arthur Flour's site on popover strategies, I used that and it seems like the really key thing is letting all of the ingredients come up to room temperature before cooking them. I am still working on the proper balance of ingredients; I have only gotten them to do the wonderful raised edges once, and usually they come out more disclike and a little denser. But this is definitely easy to make and it comes out more nicely than my popover experiments.
Basic methodology for a 6" skillet:
2 eggs (I have experimented by using 1 egg and 1/4 cup egg white and it works fine)
1/2 cup flour (I've gotten my best results with Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour, and I've tried straight garbanzo flour, a mix of 2/3 AP and 1/3 coconut flour, and AP flour with 1Tbsp rice protein subbed in)
1/2 cup milk (I've tried skim cow milk and almond milk; both seem to work equally well)
1/8th tsp xanthan gum (seems necessary to get it to puff properly; I want to see if I can find a flour mix that lets me leave it out)
1/8th tsp salt
1-2 tsp high temp fat (ghee, butter, or coconut oil)
Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 425F. (My oven takes forever to preheat, so I just take everything out and turn it on.)
Put fat into skillet and put into preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. If you are using butter, make sure you keep an eye on it as you want it to get brown but not burn. Browned butter adds an element of deliciousness to this recipe so it's worth doing if you like butter. Ghee or coconut oil can be safely left in unwatched for the full ten minutes. Meanwhile mix the batter with a whisk; it can still have small lumps. Let it sit for the remaining time and then give it another whisk to fully incorporate right before pouring the batter. Take out the hot skillet and swirl it to make sure the sides are fully coated in fat as well as the bottom. Pour in batter and bake for at least 20 minutes; I usually need 25 but I've been experimenting with denser flours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN for the first twenty minutes, or it will collapse. Ideally the sides will climb up so you will get a kind of shallow bowl of baked pancake that is crispy on the outside but still somewhat doughy and soft on the inside.
Traditionally these are eaten with powdered sugar and/or a cinnamon/brown-sugar/apple mix. But there's no sugar in the batter so you can top them with anything you like, sweet or savory. I've had them with sliced banana, walnuts and maple syrup, shredded cheese, kiwifruit, and persimmons. Baking until they're almost done and then adding shredded cheese and baking until that's golden is very nice.
You can scale this recipe up to your skillet size; just use the same proportions. Make sure your skillet is fully oven safe (no teflon, no plastic handles, cast iron is the best) and it ought to be nonstick either by being seasoned anodized aluminum or well-seasoned cast iron.