Almost Grain Free Diet Days 28 and 29: Almond Flour Bread and Grain-Free Pizza

It was all about the grainless baking on Sunday! I finally decided to try a recipe from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. I think my creations were successful, not very pretty, but tasty.

With the help of my mom, our resident baker, we made the Scrumptious Sandwich Bread recipe on pg. 26. We didn’t have a loaf pan in the size that’s recommended, so it came out with different dimensions than intended. We also didn’t have any loaf pan liners, and I really didn’t want to use even more oil or butter, so we improvised and lined it roughly with regular parchment paper. It made the shape odd, but the taste and texture hung in there.

I tried a piece with some whipped butter:

It turned out very good! I’m sorry that I can’t share the recipe with you, but I’d definitely recommend buying the cookbook. If the rest of her recipes are half as great as this one, it’s worth it.

I can tell you that it contains a lot of almond butter, which makes it pretty calorie-dense!! But scrumptious, per its namesake. I modified the recipe; I omitted the salt and added a little Truvia for sweetness. I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to make “rye” sandwich rolls in a muffin top pan out of it later on flavoring the batter with caraway seeds:

These tasted REALLY good! A lot like rye bread! I used a little too much Truvia in these, which gave them an aftertaste, but not to worry, we made one more batch. Love them! The only downside is that each batch uses a large amount of almond butter (3/4 cup) so not only are they calorie-dense, but between the almond flour and the almond butter, they’re pretty pricey to make! I suppose that’s why you don’t see many loaves for sales in stores; the markup to make a profit would make it insanely expensive. Although, worth it. Dustin paid $10 for an apple pie at the farmer’s market yesterday, and I think bread is better than apple pie. There, I said it. I like bread more than pie. LOL

Anyway, while the oven was on, I decided to make an impromptu grain-free pizza crust for lunch. I figured it wouldn’t be that much harder than making bread, so I gave it a go.

Grain-Free Pizza Crust
(Gluten free, vegetarian)

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP flaxseed meal
• 2 TBSP blanched almond flour
• 1 TBSP quinoa flour
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 packet Truvia or other zero calorie sweetener
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese, reserved for top

Method:

Mix all ingredients together except parmesan cheese until dough forms. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or other nonstick agent, such as nonstick foil, cooking spray, or oil of choice. Spread dough as thinly as possible without creating any holes; dough is sticky, hand-rolling is not recommended. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, bake on 350F degrees for about 8-10 minutes before putting any other topping on. After crust is pre-baked, then add toppings and bake on 350F degrees until cheese is melted or desired crispiness is achieved; approx. 12-14 minutes on middle rack.

Makes one individual pizza crust, 285 calories

I’ve been craving Hawaiian pizza since having a sliver of it the other day. So, I topped mine with Franceso Rinaldi no salt added tomato saice, 2 Sargento reduced fat mozzarella string cheese shredded in food processor with dry Italian herbs, 1 thin slice Boar’s Head reduced sodium ham, and about 1/4 cup Dole crushed pineapple.

On the side: a bowl of steamed string beans tossed in Bragg ginger + sesame vinaigrette

The pizza was pretty good, but not great. I went wrong with adding too much dry Italian herbs to the cheese, so it was a bit too oregano-heavy. The texture of the crust was pretty soft and bland, but for being grain-free, it was fairly decent. I suppose if you haven’t had pizza or grains in a long time it would suffice, but I can’t see myself making this in the future when I return to my regular diet that includes a broader selection of grains and legumes.

Sunday’s Almost Grain Free Diet Menu

• Piece of apple wood smoked Swiss cheese
• 2 small pieces almond flour bread, whipped butter
• Grain-free hawaiian pizza (grainless crust, 2 Sargento strong cheeses, pineapple, 1 slice reduced sodium ham)
• About a cup of steamed string beans tossed in Bragg ginger + sesame dressing
• Spoonful of Nutella
• LaraBar – cookie dough
• Half of an almond flour caraway bun with spoonful of Smart Balance peanut butter

I unintentionally skipped dinner on Sunday, I was exhausted after being awake for only 12 hours. I fell asleep while watching Plants on the Discovery Channel around 7:30PM. I don’t know why I am so tired lately, my energy has diminished and I’m not exactly sure why. I’m definitely not starving or overexerting myself, and despite eating significantly less grains and legumes, I still get my fair share of carbs. Maybe I just do better on a very high carb diet and my body doesn’t react well to lowering them?? I guess we’ll see once I go back to my usual menu. I’m hoping it’s diet-related, I definitely don’t want to tack chronic fatigue onto my long list of symptoms. *sigh*

Being I skipped dinner on Sunday, you can imagine how hungry I was by Monday morning!! Ravenous, to say the least, lol. I made a big breakfast, heavy on fats and protein.

Grain-free tuna melts + Siggi’s yogurt with pineapple, almonds, and pumpkin seeds

One side had salsa jack cheese, the other had apple wood smoked Swiss cheese.  BEYOND DELICIOUS!

• 2 slices grain-free almond flour bread topped with very low sodium tuna fish, mixed with Hellmann’s olive oil mayo; fresh avocado slices; one side with salsa jack cheese and the other with apple wood smoked Swiss cheese; melted in the oven
• 1 6oz container Siggi’s vanilla yogurt (120 cal) topped with crushed pineapple in 100% fruit juice, raw slivered almonds, and raw pumpkin seeds

Everything was SOOOO GOOD! I toasted the almond flour bread a little before adding the toppings, it tasted like regular bread after I loaded them up. It was a spectacular, filling breakfast. Kept me satisfied for 5+ hours! YUMMM

Dustin had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, so we spent most of the afternoon doing that. On the way home we stopped at a little farm stand on the outskirts of Bethel. I bought 2 winter squash, red onions, plums, plum tomatoes, 2 eggplants, and Dustin picked up an apple pie. The produce didn’t look that great or else I would have bought more. Also, I asked them if everything was local and they said yes, but when we got home I noticed the stickers on the plums said California. They lied to me! Unless New York and California merged while I was sleeping, there’s no way they were local. *sigh* Try to support a local business and that is the thanks you get.

Dustin picked up pizza + chicken wings @ Pizza the Rock on the way home, so I ordered a burger and put it on one of my grain-free caraway seed almond flour buns at home. It was pretty good, but not picture-worthy.

Monday’s Almost Grain Free Diet Menu

• 2 small slices almond flour bread topped with tuna, avocado, cheese
• One container Siggi’s vanilla skyr-style yogurt with crushed Dole pineapple, raw slivered almonds, and raw pumpkin seeds
• 4oz cheeseburger from Pizza the Rock on a grain-free homemade caraway seed roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mayo, mustard
• 2 chicken wings with Frank’s hot sauce
• Salad with romaine lettuce, EVOO + red wine vinegar
• Half of a caraway seed almond flour roll with Smart Balance peanut butter and seedless raspberry Polaner All Fruit
• 1 cup lactose-free 2% milk
• 1/4 cup trail mix
• 1/2 cup Haagen Dazs Five – coffee flavor

SO many things to do today!! We’ve going to Manhattan on Thursday for my doctor’s appointment, but we’re also spending the day and evening there, so I have lots of things to get in order before we go. Be back later!

Only 2 days left on my almost grain-free diet!!!

Tagged as: almond butter, almond flour, almond flour bread, almost grain free diet, gluten free pizza crust, gluten free recipes, grain free recipes, grainless pizza crust, sandwiches, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam