Gluten-Free Sage & Honey Corn Bread

Our sage plant went CRAZY this summer before suddenly wilting. While the leaves were still in good shape, I picked tons, and brainstormed all the ways to use them while they were still fresh. This is what lead to this discovery: sage corn bread. 

Before, I'd put hatch chilies in corn bread, jalapeños, fresh corn kernels, and even sautéd red onion, but never sage. Sage is one of my favorite herbs that lends such a distinct flavors to roasts and I love the way it smells. Adding in a bit of honey balances it out — sweet and savory, together.

It is the middle of summer, so I baked this in our toaster oven (affiliate link!), in the garage, to keep the house nice and cool. I do this all the time — love keeping the house a bit cooler!

Warm, with a pat butter, this corn bread makes for an absolutely delicious side served with chili, soups, or even barbeque beans! I'll eat it with a fried egg for breakfast, too. You could also bake each loaf in a mini-loaf pan, topped with a single sage leaf, and gift them to friends and neighbors. 

The whole recipe is gluten-free (I find that I never miss the wheat in corn bread, it’s so so good and moist with just corn meal!)

If you grow your own sage, or know someone that does, this recipe is a must-make in late summer or early fall, and it turns out so pretty! 

Gluten-Free Sage & Honey Corn Bread

Published August 30, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 30-40 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 cups yellow corn meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups whole milk yogurt

1/4 cup melted butter, cooled + 1 pat of butter for greasing pan

1 egg

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoon fresh sage, minced plus 6 whole sage leaves for top of bread

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 1 pat of butter in the a 10-inch pan (a pie pan, an oven-safe cast iron skillet, or a baking dish) and place in oven while it preheats.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the corn meal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add yogurt, butter, egg, and honey, and stir using a rubber spatula until a batter forms. Fold in minced sage.
4. Using oven mitts, pull baking pan from oven. Tilt it back and forth to grease the pan evenly. Pour batter into pan, spreading into even layer with a spatula. Arrange the 6 whole sage leaves on top as desired.
5. Place pan in preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes (shorter time is needed for a cast iron pan — more for a glass dish). Test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle. The toothpick should come out clean, and the top of the bread should be golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes and serve with butter and honey.

Swiss Chard Frittata

Once I learned to flip, there was no going back. Life was truly never the same, as gymnastics suddenly became the grounding element in my life. And then one day, sometime in college, it all came to halt. I stopped coaching (I got a different job), and with that I also stopped having a reason to be a gym rat daily (this gave way to me trying many other sports, some of which I still love, but none as much as gymnastics).

Two weeks ago I went to my old gym for an adult gymnastics class, something that never fails to make me feel old and weak and also young and nostalgic at the same time. We did bars (which was always my least favorite event) but sure enough my muscle memory held on: glide, toes to the bar— Kip. Switch kip. Free hip, cut kip. I found myself in the air again, older sure— but the muscle memory was there. In a way nothing had changed and in others everything had. 

About 15 minutes in, I spun around the bar and felt a familiar and unpleasant sensation: a rip. My palm cut open (like a popped blister, but almost and inch across). Damn does that sting! At 15 years old, a rip was nothing: a causality at most. You got back up and kept going. Man I was strong then. And that’s how it goes: a mixture of rediscovering why I loved the sport in the first place — reinforcing what I always have known, which is that I simply love gymnastics, all of it - and learning how I have changed. 

Gymnastics was the first sport that I loved — before that I just wasn’t into most of what we did in gym class - and it taught me to care. To care about results and to try hard, sure, but also to care about my body and what I ate. I love gymnastics so much that anything that might help me be a better gymnast was worth doing.

Somewhere along this road I moved from breakfast-skipper to breakfast lover. More specifically, high protein breakfast lover. Eggs! I love eggs, and they’re a great way to get some protein in your body, which you need in order to rebuild (or just build) between work outs. This swiss chard parmesan frittata is a quick one — sauté the greens in an oven-safe skillet, add the adds, pop it in the oven under the broiler, and boom! High protein breakfast (with veggies) (and cheese!) is ready. Eat up!

Swiss Chard Frittata

Published August 21, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

6 eggs 

1 shallot, sliced thin

4 swiss chard leaves 

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1/4 cup milk of choice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2-3/4 cup parmesan

Directions:

1. In a 10-inch skillet, heat coconut oil over medium-high heat.
2. When oil glistens, sauté shallots until translucent.
3. Cut the swiss chard: cut out the stems, and chop them. Add stems to the pan. Then, roughly chop the leafy green parts. Add the leafy green parts to the skillet once the stems begin to soften. Place lid on skill, and allow greens to cook until dark green.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Once yellow and frothy, pour egg mixture into skillet. You may want to use a fork or spoon to move the swiss chard into an even layer if it is in clumps. Sprinkle parmesan on top.
5. Turn oven to a high broil. Place skillet on top rack in oven, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until eggs are puffed, golden on top, and set through. Remove from oven, and allow to cool 3-5 minutes.
6. Slice and serve.

Coconut Flour Waffles with Peaches & Pecans

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Currently: sitting in the corner of our sectional (best seat in the place), watching Friends, S03 E03. Joey is sitting at Monica’s table, eating currant jam. 

I have been watching the show Friends from the beginning — and while many people would follow that by saying, “for the seventh time,” for me, this is a first. And I’m addicted. Typically when we put on anything after 8pm, be it a show or a movie, I’m guaranteed to be asleep in 15 minutes. While I really enjoyed the first season of West World, for example, the second season put me to sleep every Sunday. But Friends is different. I’m not sure if it’s because the show uses minimal brain power to watch, or because each episode is only 20 minutes long on Netflix, but I can watch until at least 10pm before feeling like I need to go to bed. 

There was a week earlier this summer when both Oliver and our room mate were out of town, and I was left to my own devices when it came to figuring out how to turn the TV on (I’m going to sound old saying this but, Do we really need four remotes?) and choosing what to watch (my preferred decision-making technique is to plop down on the couch and watch what ever is already on). But there I was, with the entire sectional to myself, flipping through Netflix. The rest is history — or it will be, when I finish the series… for now, binge watching friends is a bit like my version of Saturday morning cartoons (remember those?), and that means a plateful of waffles is in order! 

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Coconut Flour Waffles with Peaches & Pecans

Published August 9, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup + 2 tablespoons full-fat canned coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 peaches, sliced thin

A handful of toasted pecans

For serving: butter and maple syrup and/or whipped cream

Directions:

1. Heat a non-stick waffle iron. (If your iron is not non-stick, grease it generously).
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, and vanilla. Add in coconut flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until a runny batter forms.
3. Give the batter one more quick whisk and then pour 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the waffle iron. Close the iron, and cook until golden — about 5-10 minutes.
4. Repeat step 3 until all batter is used; Serve hot topped with fresh peaches, toasted pecans, butter, and maple syrup.