Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Scones

This delicious recipe comes from "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook" by Elana Amsterdam, who also has a wonderful blog.  My husband loves pastries and could eat one every single morning for breakfast.  However, they aren't the best thing for you, so I found these tasty little gems that offer a great alternative.  Plus, if you eat a paleo lifestyle, this is a great treat! 

This is a basic recipe, but could be dressed up with some dried cherries, orange zest, raspberries, etc.  If you do not use agave, honey would be a great substitute!

Chocolate Chip Scones

.5 cups almond flour
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/3 C grapeseed oil
1/4 C agave nectar
2 large eggs
1 C chocolate Chips (I usually add more and I use Enjoy Life chips)

Preheat your oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine almond flour, baking soda, & salt in small bowl. In another medium bowl, beat together grapeseed oil, agave nectar, & eggs. Stir dry ingredients into wet and combine. Fold in chocolate chips.

Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes before you drop them on the baking sheet. It allows them to thicken up, so they do not spread as much when baking them. They will puff up more then.  Drop by 1/4 C onto lined baking sheets & bake for 15 minutes or so, depending on your oven.  You can also roll into a ball then shape into a scone! Enjoy!

I have to stop taking pictures w/my cell phone!! This picture does not do the scones justice.  They were much more scrumptious looking!

Sausage and Peppers

It has been some time since I posted and a lot has happened, but life is back on the upswing now.  My mom got unexpectedly ill and passed away 31 days after she went to the hospital the first time, from cancer.  Days are and will continue to be hard, but I have faith God will pull us all through this.  It's just my dad and me now.  Of course, the rest of our family, friends, and my husband too, but you all know what I mean.  :)  Words cannot explain the loss of a parent that you were very close too, but I feel blessed that we were so close.  Thankfully I'm just as close to my dad and we are able to share stories and memories.  He's doing pretty good, but I know it has to be more painful to go home to the house they shared without her there.

So, on to happiness! I had some ingredients around the house and threw a delicious dinner together.  I didn't time myself or measure very closely, so feel free to adjust as you see fit.

Sausage & Peppers
1 lb. pork sausage
1 each red, green, & yellow pepper
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
black pepper
splash red wine
olive oil

Clean your peppers and slice into fairly large pieces and quarter your onion seperating the layers. Chop your garlic cloves into small pieces.  When cutting your peppers, slice the top off and pull out the stem.  Save the pepper around the stem b/c it's still good!!

Heat 1T olive oil in a pan and brown your sausage on all sides.  Remove the browned sausage from the pan and set aside.  Deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine (a dry white would work too). Add the peppers, onions, and garlic to the pan and drizzle 2T olive oil over the veggie mixture, add more if needed.  Cook down until soft and starting to become translucent around the edges, which should be about 20 minutes or so, depending on how thick your pepper slices are.  While your peppers are cooking, slice your sausages on a diagonal or regular...the diagonal slice makes me feel like I'm eating at a restaurant.

After the pepper mix is cooked, add one can of fire roasted tomatoes and the sliced sausage.  Simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens and the sausage finishes cooking.  This was a tasty and easy weeknight meal!  Enjoy!

Note:  You will probably notice that I did not add any salt.  I felt like the tomatoes and sausage contained enough salt that the cooking process didn't require anymore.

Here's a pic of the tomatoes:

My thought for the day is for my momma and anyone who has lost someone they love.

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“You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

David Harkins quotes