GF HAHA: labels look alike

Hubby was trying to be helpful, by making dinner.
because of how disappointing the frozen pizzas have been I suggested he used the Tub of Pillsbury dough in the fridge.
He accidently used the last of the PIE CRUST DOUGH instead of the PIZZA CRUST DOUGH
Not a good idea. It was eatable, but just barely.

Gluten free cafe, Chocolate chip cookie mix, review

Brand: Gluten free cafe
Product: Chocolate chip cookie mix

Very cake like. Sticky.

Loaded, Cake mix cookie recipie

Having ended up with an opened box of cake mix, because of a fudge experiment, I searched down other recipes that use up cake mix.
I found one for pina-colada cookies The original recipe is Not Gluten free, so I fiddled with it. I liked her idea that that cookies needed dried fruit, so I kept that, but added nuts for protein. I am please with the results, and so is our toddler. So it's a win win.

Loaded, Cake mix Cookies

1/4 cup shortening
1 Extra large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Gluten free cake mix. King Arthur Flour brand
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes
1/2 cup nuts, dried berries and minni chocolate chips

 In a large mixing bowl combine the shortening, egg, vanilla and stir by hand
Add the cake mix and stir until batter is smooth.
 Fold in Coconut, nuts berries and Chips.
Freeze for 15 min.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Drop 1-inch domed balls on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. These cookies do not spread much and retain a puffier appearance.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are barely browned on the bottoms.
The tops will stay light but the bottoms will brown. Think Cake done ness, Do not over bake. 

Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets before attempting to move them.

Bon Appetina's Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cake Pop

Bon Appetina's Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cake Pop

Super yummy.

Moist, soft. Good flavor.

 

Sadly, when Hubby looked into the supplier, and found out they are going to stop making GF. Because they are worried about cross contamination.

They don't want to get someone sick.

I admire that. But The cake pop was SUPER good.

And I may have to track down every shop that carries the pops, and buy them out.

Rant: Gluten free by people who are not paying attention

My biggest problem is people who don't bother.

I have a friend who's son has a life threatening allergy to nuts. She was just telling me how on Halloween she made her son stand in the corner of his karate class, while she cleaned up where someone's kid had left Reece's peanut butter cup wrappers and crumbs. She got funny looks, and comments, from other parents thinking she was cleaning for the sake of cleaning. But for my friend that might as well have been broken glass, or a loaded gun. To her son, they are all a real threat. Would any good parent have left broken class on the floor where children play?
Sure, its' not your child so you don't have to think about it. But can we not go about making other people's life HARDER!?!

It just makes me want to scream when I ask "do you have a gluten free menu?"  and I get some dismissive answer, where the person obviously does not know and cannot be bothered to find out. Happens all the time

I try to be understand. Having been gluten free since 2001, I use to tell myself it was lack of knowledge. But gluten is not the vague obscure turn it was over a dozen years ago.

I try to remind myself of all the times I have been surprised to find out something has gluten in it. Imitation bacon bits for example. So of course, someone who has never thought about gluten would not think about it. But once you are asked, you need to THINK!
I asked because I want you to FIND OUT! Don't just GUESS!
Your guess could be WRONG! and Someone could DIE. Happens TOO often WAY too often

What Gets me is that these people ASKED about their food. They were told it was safe. And it was NOT.

I'm lucky, gluten will not kill me. But you don't know that.
I spend so much time, money and energy avoiding it, the least you can do it get me a correct answer to my question.

There. Rant over.

Pumpkin roast

 So, I see all over the internet fun fall foods.
And, after mu first pumpkin turned Cyperman, and then had to be "deleted" I decided the next pumpkin would be for eating.
Hubby and I took Squeaker to the local pumpkin patch, and picked out two nice looking sugar pumpkin.
Our fist recipe is for Pumpkin roast. it's a variation of a recipe I found HERE.
But their version is a little too labor intense. And I thought I could do it quicker, and easier.

Viola!

Pumpkin roast.

 1 sugar pumpkin (rest of recipe makes enough to fill 2)

12 oz. baby white potatoes, quartered

7 carrots, peeled and cut  into chunks

5 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks

5 granny smith apples, cored, cut into chunks.

Bag frozen brussel sprouts,

Bag frozen. green beans

2 cups cooked chicken chunks ( I used left over roast chicken)

1 c. chicken broth

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. garlic salt

Dash pepper

 

Take the cut up carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. Smear olive oil in a 9X13 pan, and then toss the veggies in, with another 1/4 cup of olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 for 40 min

Combine apples and squash in a microwavable pan, and heat for 6 min.

Place Pumpkin in casserole dish, rub inside with oil. Bake at 375 for an hour.

In a large bowl, combine roasted veggies, apples, squash, and frozen veggies. Add the meat, and Pour the broth and butter and garlic over the top, and mix.

As soon as the pumpkin finishes it's first hour, Spoon as much of the veggie/meat filling in, and put it back in the oven for another 15-20 min. (I freeze the other half for another night, and another pumpkin)

It's down to a two hour baking time, with about 45 min of prep. Down from the 5+ hours the original recipe would take. I am sure the flavor would be richer, if you did not use frozen, and you roasted everything, and the apples got sautéed in butter, but I will trail a little flavor for convenience.

 

Pumpkin carving

So, I did my jack-o-lantern, over a week ago. And it already went soft, and had to be tossed.
But here it is.

Hubby said I should do something simple. "Just a face" was his suggestion. I'm suppose to be taking it easy, here at 35 weeks pregnant.
But how could I do "JUST" a face?! can Vincent "JUST" paint a wall white?!? NO.

I love Doctor Who. Everyone talks like Weeping angels are the most scary, but really, It's the Cyberman I think are the most scary. Those guys rip out your brain, wipe it's emotions, and poke it into a robot. That's harsh.
Angels just toss you back a few years. The doctor actually describes the Angels as "nice" at one point. Sure the word psychopath is also in the sentence, but my point is that he never calls the Cybermen nice.

Gluten free, Peanut Butter banana oatmeal cookies, with choclate chips.

SO I have made these cookies before. But I was in the mood for them again, and thought it would be worth finding out what some variations would do.
The changes this time are in BOLD.

Peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies
1 1/2 Cup GF Flour blend (Arrowhead mills GF flour blend)
1 Cup White sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Stick salted  Butter, melted
1 egg
1 Banana, chopped
1/2 C Creamy peanut butter- melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 Cups GF quick cook oats (bob's red mill)
1cup mini chocolate chips.

Mix Flour, sugar, salt, Bk powder, spice, and egg, butter, and peanut butter until well blended. Stir in banana, and oats Chill in Fridge for at least 20 min, then pre heat oven to 375.

Drop a tablespoon sized balls onto parchment paper.
Bake for 10-15 min until puffy and slightly golden. Will not brown much due to the peanut butter.



It make the banana flavor more subtle and the chocolate more prominent. This version was more "chocolate chip cookie", the other version is more "oatmeal cookie".
excellent either way, depending on your mood.

Chripy baked chicken, gluten free

I've been on the internet looking for baked chicken recipes, and I think I understand the basic idea.

Dredge chicken in wet.
cover in dry
bake at 350 for 30 min

Within that, I can make variations in the wet and dry for different outcomes.

Idea one:

Onion, garlic Parmesan.*

Wet Ingredients: Mayo and lemon juice
Dry Ingredients: Dried onion, parmesan cheese, garlic seasoning blend

 

*So, my mother can not eat dairy, onions, garlic, bell peppers and a few other things. But My dad can. So when he cane over, and stayed for dinner, I wanted to feed him something he does not usually get to have. So those ingredients are where I started.

Kitchen space rant

I have been gluten free for over a decade. And back when I was diagnosed the only store with a gluten free loaf of bread, in existence was NOT palatable.
its ingredients were rice and water. it was rice paste pressed into a loaf shape and then dried. It was rice jerky, it was not bread.
So if I wanted bread I would have to bake it myself. Same went for cookies, cake, pasta, and just about EVERYTHING. So I needed ALL the kitchen equipment to make everything from scratch. Any all the equipment my mother already owned was contaminated so I had to get my own. So I did.

I got loaf pans, in 3 sizes. and a bread maker. An industrial grade mixer with all the accessories, including pasta. Food grade scales ( also in 3 sizes) food processors. Blenders, immersion blenders. Induction cooktops. Toaster oven. Waffle makers. And every possible sized pan, dish and bakeware.

And then there are ingredients. I got every kind of flour, starch, and gum. There were not a lot of gluten free cookbooks back then, most were from Europe, so I had to order what they used, which was considered exotic and rate. Usually had to get in bulk. And then store them, in my own containers.

I made a HUGE investment in the gluten free life. 

And If I was diagnosed today, I would have not gone to the trouble.

Now I consed, that to make truly wonderful gluten free baked goods at home you probity need these things. Gluten free baking is just as much art as science. The thing is, I can go out today, to my local chain grocery store and spend like $8 and get a loaf of GF bread that tasted BETTER then ANY loaf of bread that I made in over a decade of trying. So I stopped trying.

I remember in college, I would spend an entire Sunday baking bread, in minni loaf pans. I had to use the mini loaf because the big pans would burn the crust before the middle was done. And I would have to cut the minni loaf of bread length wise into strange rectangle slices. It would make  just enough for a week of sandwich lunches. And you had to wrap the bread in plastic. When time to eat, you would pealing it back just a corner of the plastic, to eat little by little, or you got a lap of crumbs.

Seriously, you new guys have NO idea how hard it was.

Oh, the kitchen disasters I experienced...

But my point is, because I had one.

 Sure i will probably never used the pasta maker again, but should I toss it? I kept my wedding dress, and I have less of a chance of using it again...

My point is I already OWN all this stuff. And it doesn't make scene to throw away all this stuff.

 But the average american home does not have the kitchen capacity that my industrial level of stock requires. Even some of the new construction, with "gourmet kitchens" only have like a dozen cupboards. So we bought an older home. with Tons of charm, And 10 cupboards. Sure the shelves go from the floor up to the 8 foot ceiling, and I need a ladder to reach the top shelves. So it's quite a bit of square footage in the kitchen, but I need more. I have filled the kitchen, and most of the hallway linen closet. Yet a stack remains, in the garage, six feet high and 4 feet wide, of boxes labeled "kitchen" waiting for me to find them room. Looming at me. Like homeless kittens they tug at my heart "can't we come inside?" they beg. "It's dark, and there are spiders in the garage" the say. "You promised" they plead. 

There is a blank corner of the kitchen, where we have put a little table just big enough for 2 adults and a highchair. I suppose we could fill that space with cupboards instead. But then where do we eat?
The kitchen originally had a wood stove, so the current vent is the old stove pipe. We can't put cupboards in that section, perhaps one of the racks, suspended from the ceiling, to hang pots and pans from. That would open up the three shelves filled with pots and pans. I don't think if my pots and pants are attractive enough to be hanging on display.

Searching the internet has yielded images of well organized kitchens, of people who own 1/4 of what I own, so it's not much help.
sigh
I don't know what to do.

gluten free corn dogs, product review

Hubby got me a box of Applegate naturals, Gluten-Free uncured beef corn dogs.
Also non dairy.

They were quite dry. As in you can't breath while you have some in your mouth or it ends up in your lungs.
They tasted alright.
Sadly, they and my pregnancy acid reflux did not get along. So I don't think I can try them again, for psychological reasons.

Birthday Cake Fudge. Unique fudge #1

Our relief society (church women's group) is having a fudge tasting for our Christmas party.
I'm helping plan and organize.
I'm thinking that chocolate and the "standard flavors will be easy to get people to volunteer to bring. It will be the more unique flavors that will be hard to come by, but necessary for variety.
So I began to search for recipes.

The first that I tried is Cake Batter Fudge
 It original uses a regular yellow cake mix, but I thought I would try it with a GF one.

So my adapted recipe is:
1 Cup of yellow cake mix, gluten free by King Arthur flour.
1 Cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
Microwaved on high for 1 minute. And then it needed 2 tsp of milk, I used coconut.
I tossed in a few gluten free sprinkles, and pressed it into a bread pan.
Then it was chilled for a few hours.

When I took it out, it was WAY to hard. Would not cut, even with a butcher knife swung at a reasonable rate of speed.
BUT after reaching room temperature, it softened enough to slice, but not very clean slices.
Admittedly, not the consistence I would associate with Fudge, but I would not know what else to call it.
Next time there might be a higher butte to cake mix ratio. Because I do have the rest of the box of cake mix...

Candy Corn Cookies

I was sent this recipe for cookies that look like candy corns by my mother in law.
They are NOT gluten free, but I figured the method is still good for gluten free cookie dough.
It turned out alright, the cookies puddled a little more then the wheat ones would have, but that would be the case regardless of the shape the cookies were put in.

I think they are cute.

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #2 CheeseburgerNoodle

The best way to use leftover noodles is to give then moisture, and bake them.

One of my favorite ways to do this is a variation of Mac and cheese.
I call it CheeseburgerNodle.

. 4 Cups leftover pasta. Pena, elbow, or any short noodle will work.
. 1 cup ground beef or sausage leftovers. More or less is fine
. 4 cups shredded cheese.
. 1/3 cup Parmesan
. 1/4 cup Milk

In a large bowl mix everything. Pore into a baking pan.
Cover with foil. Bake at 250 for 20 min.

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #1 Noodle Caboodle

I am not a huge fan of having the same meal twice in a row.
I am certainly NOT a fan of mixed leftovers.
When I say mixed leftovers, I mean when you have a few servings from several different meals, and they don't go together.
But In the GF world, when ingredients can be expensive, and hard to come by, it's best to get the most you can out of them.
And for some reason this has come up lately.
So, here is one of my ideas.

Pasta, especially gluten free pasta, does not reheat well. It's best to put some sauce on it, coved with foil and bake it. This restores moisture, without destroying the pasta's shape.
My favorite way I like to call:

Noodle Caboodle. {Chicken noodle casserole}
.4 cups left over pasta. Pena, elbow or fusilli work best.
.1 cup chicken, leftover cooked, torn or cut into bite sized pieces
. 1/2 cup spinach. cooked Leftover. Caned or frozen would work.
. 1 cup Shredded cheese. Italian blend or any kind of hard cheese works
. Parmesan cheese. The dry, shaking canister kind.
.1/2 cup Milk

In a 9X13 pan toss a layer of day old pasta. On top of that toss the chicken and spinach.
Next parmesan and shredded cheese.
Then layer the pasta again. In a cup, I use a fork to whisk together milk, and some parmesan, to make a thin sauce. That goes over the top layer of pasta, and then more shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 259 for about 20-30 min.

It's supper good and you can make variations easily.

Gluten free bread pudding, in a slow cooker

This is inspired by my mother in law, and my Husband:

Bread pudding in a slow cooker

Ingredients
. 6 slices of Gluten free bread {this time I used Essential Baking Co Super seeded multi grain}
.1 cup whole milk
.1 egg
.1 TB sugar
.2 tsp vanilla
.Dash each Cinnamon, nutmeg
..1/4 cup brown sugar
..2 TB butter
..1/2 Cup chopped pecans
...Caramel sauce, whipped cream, banana slices

Directions
1. Cube and toast bread
2. Mix together milk, egg, sugar vanilla and spices
3. Pour bread into cooker. Pour liquid over bread. Press bread down to encourage soaking
4.Cut butter into brown sugar. Mix in nuts
5. Distribute over bread.
6. Cover cooker and set on high for 2 hours.
7. Let cool, 30 min.
8. Serve with Caramel, cream and banana.

Notes:
The top layer of bread was good, the bottom was soggy. I think I will use a larger sized slow cooker, or make a smaller batch next time, so that the finished product is not so tall.

To be honest, I have never had bread pudding made by anyone other then me, as a use for gluten free bread that's not good to eat otherwise. I don't actually know that bread pudding should taste, or look like. I honestly can't image anyone setting out with a goal of bread pudding. Or having a craving for bread pudding. But like I said, it might be my skill. I have probably never had a real, proper, bread pudding.

Essential Baking co, Gluten free bread, super seeded multi-grain

Our local COSTCO has started carrying Essential Baking co, Gluten free bread, super seeded multi-grain. it is also Dairy free, nut free, soy free. unopened it will stay "fresh in your pantry for months"
Fist 5 ingredients are Water, seeds, rice, egg and tapioca. In that order.
It's also got pear and plumb.

its not very good. Dense, porous; like biting into a dry sponge. Tastes like rice, and water.
 I imagen I could reproduce the same flavor if I made a rice and water  paste in  my blender, and then mixed in some nuts and seeds.
If you are into that minimally processed stuff, then I recommend doing it in your blender, rather then spending the money in this bread. Because on the ingredients label, after you get past the pear and plumb, it's still got he additives and preservatives.
Dollar for Dollar and ounce for ounce, there are about 5 brands of GF bread I would choose over this one.
But since Hubby bought me the bread, and it comes it a 2 loaf package. I will see what I can do with it.

Brownies with a cookie layer

I'm not entirely shore what to call them.
I think If I was looking for them in a cook book index I would search under "Cookies, Bar, Layered"
pumpkin-pie-brownie from last year would also fall in this category.
This one is WAY simple.

I made a batch of Betty Crocker gluten free brownies.
While they were in the oven, I got out a half a tub of Pillsbury gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough.
With my hands I mushed out the dough into a 7 inch square.
About 10 minutes BEFORE the brownies should be done, I took the pan fro the oven, placed my cookie pancake on top. And put the whole thing back in the oven.
I cooked it about 15 min.
Then I took it to the church pot luck.
Sadly, it was eaten so fast, I did not get a photo.
But it was good. So I will probably do it again.

Safeway eating right Gluten free Chocolate vanilla flavored creme sandwich cookies

I have seen the "eating right" green brand at Safeway for a while.
Basically I know it's a racket. Safeway has like 4 store brands. And I usually find myself as Fred Myers anyways.
(They did a study, years ago, comparing Safeway, Albertsons, and Fred Myers over the course of like a year. Same groceries each place each month, and Fred Myers came out marginally cheaper. So I shop there the most, marginally.)

So, then is week, I see a new display in the Gluten free section of Safeway.

The eating right label, on gluten free

Don't know if it's new, or just new to me.
So I tried some cookies.
They were edible.
The cookies were good, but the filling tasted like shortening, without any sugar or vanilla in it. And left a film on the top of my mouth.

Gluten free meatloaf peppers

Recipe for Gluten free Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers

2 Bell peppers
1/2 Lb ground meat.
2 "heal" pieces of gluten free bread, crumbled
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Dash of oregano
Salt and pepper
Shake of dried Garlic
Shake of dried Onion
1/4 C ketchup
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Top peppers. Dice up top to use in filling
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. Mix meat with bread, tomato, pepper, cheese, and seasoning.
Stuff into pepper.

4. Mix sauce and ketchup. Top peppers

5. Place in a bread pan, with 1/2 cup water in the pan around peppers
6. Bake for an hour or internal temp of 150-160 F

I'm not sure when it started, but my mother got into portion control. She focused on meals that were casserole like, but that were already segmented. One of which was meatloaf. She would put it inside a bell pepper. NOT stuffed peppers, Stuffed peppers uses Mexican seasonings, and rice. This is still meatloaf, it's just inside a bell pepper.
One night as a newlywed I told my Hubby I was making meatloaf. So when Bell peppers appeared on the table he was surprised. He says I can't call it "meatloaf" if its not in a loaf shape. I say it's not "stuffed peppers" because that is a rice dish. So it remains an enigma. But it tastes good.

Corn truck

So, This is why you should wash your fruit and
vegetables.







I'm just saying...no cover. That corn is blowing in the wind... and it's raining.

The Rock wood Fired Pizza, Gluten free review

The Rock wood fires pizza and spirits, has a gluten free menu.
I have only been to "the Rock" once before, it was April of 2008. It happened to be right after I was proposed to. So I don't really remember if there was any gluten free items on the menu.

So, they now have a good selection: GF Page They have 3 GF pizza's set up for you. But it's just an additional $3 if you want to have any of their other pizza's on a GF crust. You just have to watch the sauces. The red is GF the white is not.
I had the Low rider.
It was good.

Moon Rabbit foods Gluten free Biscut mix

 So, remember that stash of Moon Rabbit Baking Mixes I picked up?
Well I finally got around to trying the Biscuit and Scone mix.
 I made Biscuits, to go with my GF Chili (more on that later this week)

It was drop Biscuits, not cut. Personally I prefer that method.
I could taste where they were heading towards a "buttermilk" but it did not quite reach it. But I thought the resulting flavor was excellent and subtle. Good with anything. Instructions were not complicated.
Overall a good biscuit.

UDI's gluten free Soft baked Maple Choclate chip cookies

I am a big fan of Udi's bread.

Previous post can attest. Not so impressed with their pizza. And not impressed with the cookies.

 When the box says "soft-baked" I think soft, slightly chewy. These were dry, and very crumply. These were shortbread consistence.

Antonina's Bakery Gluten free Blueberry nut mini cupcakes, review

While in Portland I spotted a new label in the gluten free freezer.

 Antonina's bakery

They had two flavors, available in cupcake and Cake. Since the label said it was a dedicated Facility, I trusted it. Perhaps I should not have...

 



 



 

The cakes were yummy. They came frozen but it was over 70f so they did not stay frozen long. Moist, decent amount of nuts and blueberries. Good frosting to cake ratio.

 

Unfortunately, about 12 hours later I noticed the roof of my mouth was raw, and gums swollen. For me that is a sure sign that I have gotten a minor cross contamination.

 

As I brows their webpage, I don't see the product I bought. I doo see other products listed and gluten free. But it appears that the majority of their products are not Gluten free. On the "our history" page the owners focus on their desire to make "all natural and wholesome ingredients" and that "In the future we plan to open a certified Gluten Free bakery."

The copyright is 2011-2012. I'm not sure the current situation at Antonina's right now. But I suspect that since there focus is not primarily the Gluten free community, they might not have the same diligence to cross contamination. Those who are GF because they find it more natural, or wholesome, are not as worried about dedicated facilities as those of us who's health depends on it. Its been three days since the cupcakes, and my mouth is still raw. It might have been an isolated incident, but I'm going to steer clear of this brand, Just in case.

Pillsbury refrigerated Gluten free Pizza crust dough, review #2

I had a half a tub of the Pillsbury refrigerated Gluten free Pizza crust dough left over form the previous testing.
Since it sells it's self as Pizza crust I thought I had better give it a try at pizza crust, before I passed my final judgment.



Chicken Pizza

I followed the instructions, topped it with Alfaro sauce, cooked chicken chunks, and cheese.

It was decent. Better results then the last few frozen pizza's we have tried. But overall not really the Pizza crust that I think it should be. That might be due tot he fact that I'm not that much of a fan of thin crust to begin with. I'm an Italian style crust person.
So, I guess if thin crust is your thing, this is a Better option that the *frozen pizzas out there.

* crust fell tru

Pillsburry Gluten free refrigerated Pizza crust dough, review #1

So, my Hubby took our little squeaker to the Crispy cream doughnut on Saturday morning so that I could sleep in.

Nice of him, right?  Well, not so much.

Crispy cream does not do Gluten free. (krispykreme.com nutritional-information)

AND now Squeaker asks for "do nuts" every morning.

 

So I had heard that you can turn pizza dough into a semblance of a doughnut. It's more a baked ring with frosting. But I though "Hay he is two, frosting is frosting" so I gave it a shot.

Using the Pillsbury refrigerated Gluten free Pizza crust dough.

 

It did not work.

The tub of dough says on it that it's for a "thin crust" that basically translated to "this dough does not rise"

Not really what I was looking for.

I have other recipes form my pre GF days where you use pizza crust to make "dessert pizzas" but I think in all of those recipes you need the dough to rise at least a little.

So this is NOT the dough to use.

Pillsbury refrigerated Gluten Free Pie and Pastry dough, review

So, I was intrigued to find at the local store, Pillsbury ready made GLUTEN FREE pie and Pastry dough.



 I picked some us, and decided it's first experiment should be mini Quiche.

A quarter of the dough was just enough for six muffin crusts.

Sadly, I overfilled the cups with the quiche, so the finished result was not lovely enough to photograph. But it was good flavor and texture. So I look forward to making a few more things with the rest of the dough.

Home grown Carrots

Squeaker and I got some carrots starts at the local plant nursery.

I thought I would be fun and educational to grow our own carrots.

Sadly, this is what we got:

Some kind of Carrot/radish hybrid.

I put them is a slow cooker Roast, with other carrots and potatoes. They taste like carrots.

 

I don't know exactly what went wrong. Week after week, I check them,(well more accurately, Squeaker pulls one out of the pot about every 6 or 7 days) and some were growing UP out of the soil, but none of them grew down.

I researched it, and the only suggestion I could find was that the soil was too hard. But I don't think that was the case here. We had supper fluffy dirt around them. I fluffed it often myself. I never watered directly over them just to keep the soil fluffy.

Moon Rabbit foods. Gluten free baking mix

So, there is this meat market just over the county line from Seattle. It's know for it's excellent cuts of meat, and variety of sauces and marinades. "over 2000 hot sauces, 800 BBQ sauces, 400 marinades and steak sauce."(doubleddmeats.com)
So I was picking up some ribs for a BBQ, when I noticed the moon rabbit foods logo on a bottom shelf.
I had just seen their add in my GF magazine, so I stopped to take a look.

They were clearance, so I got all 5 mixes for about $20. good deal.
It's a little too hot out to be baking right now, but I look forwards to telling you how each of the mixes go.
Only drawback is that if one of these is the BUST EVER, it will be hard to get more...

Bananna cupcakes

Banana Cupcakes,

From my new cookbook.

Michael McCamley's Gluten free Baking.

(Gf chef of the year)

 

 

They were not that flavorful. Super moist, dense, and dark. Not like the photo.

The recipe called for food grade glycerin. The internet said I could use corn syrup, because I did not want to go get glycerin for this one occasion. It did keep them moist, until the went moldy.

Overall, I was not too impressed, and the recipe was more work then a GF cake mix, and not any better.

I think this is strike two, McCamley. One more before this book gets put in a box.

 



To Soup or not to Soup

I'm not a fan of soup.
I prefer to eat my food and drink my beverage.
I don't really like stew either.
I have managed, over the years, to find a place for tomato soup and seafood bisque, but your basic water based soup is not part of my repetware.
All the same, it does come up.
And I was given a Gallon bag of Chicken soup, my a friend, with the instructions to heat in the crockpot, and add noodles.
Well, I put the WHOLE bag Gluten free Penne noodles in.
They absorbed 90% of the liquid, and I had a decent casserole.
I will have to remember that.

Gluten free Chocolate and walnut Bananna Bread

I got a new cookbook.

Michael McCamley's Gluten free Baking.

(Gf chef of the year)

It's a gift from my sister.

Beautiful photographs. I think that's why my sister got it for me.

SO My first recipe to try was the Chocolate and Walnut banana bread

 

 

My results were not s lovely as the picture in the book. Tasted good, but very sticky. It did not slice well, crumbled a lot and left residue on fingertips and plates. Despite the fact that it cooked for almost twice as long as the recipe called for.

AND, as you can see from the presents of my adhesive note, I plan on making more changes should I use the recipe again.

 



 

Not overly impressed with the first recipe, but will give the book a few tries before I decide.

Garlic Jim Gluten free frozen pizza review.

If you order the gluten free crust on your pizza from Garlic Jims, you risk a lot of cross contamination.
It's "safer" to get their pizza frozen, and bake it it at home.
But apparently it's tricky.

I got the Cheese,(added a little Canadian bacon), and baked it per instructions, on a pan. The edges of the crust cracked open, but the center was still doughy.
I left it in the oven, until the edges began to burn, but the center was still to doughy to be edible.

One second try, I used a pizza stone, and that worked better. Still a little soft in the middle, and it stuck to the stone. So still not the desired level of pizza crustiness I would like.

Pamala's Gluten free bread mix, tips for sucess

So, were trying to purchase a house.

That means, watching our pennies, and preparing to move. So I decided to use a bread mix I already had, rather then go get a loaf from the store.

 



It turned out fairly well. I have a hit and mis relationship with bread mix, so it was nice to get a decent loaf.
So here is how I did it:
I proofed the yeast, in the warm water, with a little of the sugar and starch, even though the recipe does not call for it.
I put it in two small loaf pans, instead on one large, avoiding the doughy center.
I smoothed the dough in the pans, with my wet hands, to give it a uniform surface.
I let it raise, in a worm oven, over a pan of water, for an hour.

And that did the trick.

Udi's gluten free frozen pizza: review.

Its handy to have a frozen pizza on standby incase the family decided to order delivery.
Sure, there are delivery places that have GF, but the price and the cross contamination are a deterrent.
So when the frozen Udi pizza went on sale at the local grocery, I picked up two.

And sure enough, a few weeks later the occasion came. I pulled out the pizza, and preheated the oven, and noticed that in TWO places on the instructions it said NOT to use a pan or a pizza stone. "directly on rack" was expressly instructed.
But it turns out that was not a good idea:

The center of the pizza FELL OUT. Splat onto the bottom of the oven.

SO I thought, "was it because I added some olives and extra cheese to the pizza?" did I inadvertently exceed the maximum weight limit of the pizza crust?
So the next day when everyone else was have leftovers, I tried again with the second pizza.
Same problem again. Luckily I put a pan under it and caught the fallout, so I did not have to scrape cheese off the oven again.
Don't know if I got a bad batch, or what. But I don't think I will risk wasting money on this item again.

Chicken Bock Choy

Chicken and Bock Choy
Oil. enough to coat the pan.
Garlic. a clove or two, diced
Ginger. a few generous shakes
Chicken. 3 lbs.
Soy sauce. 3 Tbs
chicken broth. One can.
Bock Choy, one big bunch. Sliced into 1/2inch pieces

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep sided Pan
2. stir in Gallic and ginger
3. When it become translucent, add chicken, and brown.
4. Add Soy sauce, and broth.
5. Add Bock Choy. Cover and stem until leaves are limp.
6. serve with rice

This is a dish I make often.
I don't exactly measure it, I just shake things in.

Choclate mouse pie. Or "Killer death pie"

 

In our family this is known as "killer death pie"

We call it that because it is sooo sweet that one pie is enough for like 10 people. Any more then a small slice can make your teeth hurt.

It's super easy. And it has won pie competitions.

 

Chocolate Pie Recipe:

1 lb of chocolate bars, melted in a warm oven for about 30 min.

1 lb of frozen whipped topping, left on counter while chocolate melts.

1 1/2 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used MiDel)

6 TB butter, melted

 

Use butter and cookies to make crust.

Fold whip and chocolate together, and put in pie crust.

Freeze for 6 to 8 hours.



 

Monkey bread: Buterscotch pull apart, recipie improved.

GLUTEN free Butterscotch pull-apart. (AKA monkey bread)

Recipe:

Phase 1. The Dough.
1 Pkg (16 oz) Bob's red mill GF pizza crust mix
1 cup warm water
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter

1. In warm water, dissolve a table spoon of the sugar, and of the mix. Then sprinkle the packet of yeast that comes with the mix, on top.
2. In am heavy duty stand mixer, Cream together the butter and the sugar. Then add eggs.
3. Add the yeast water to the butter/eggs.
4. Set the mixer to medium, and slowly add the flour mix, scraping down the sides. Mix for a total of two minutes.

Phase two: the good stuff.
1 pkg butterscotch instant pudding.
1/2 cup packed brown sugar.
1/2 cup butter.
-Combine. using fork, to make a course meal.

Assembling:

1. Line a fluted bunt pan with parchment, or coat with shortening.
2. Sprinkle generous amount of the good stuff in the pan.
3. With very wet hands, grab a golf ball sized lump of dough. Roll it slightly to form ball. Drop it into pan. Repeat until you have covered the base of the pan with one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle generously with the good stuff, being sure to get it between and all over the dough balls. Keep going until you are out of dough.
4. Let rise, for about 30 min in a warm place.
5. Then bake at 375 for 20 to 30min.

Carrot Bread

Out sweet little Squeaker has become a picky eater. I know around  his age it's normal for their appetite to slow down, as his growing is also slowing. He is five time the size he was 20 months ago. But he had been sick, and has actually lost some weight. His Pediatrician said to give him cake and ice-cream. So he can put it back on, but I don't want him to eat just junk food.
He knows over 50 words, and cake is one of them.
So his Occupational therapist suggested I make him banana breads, zucchini bread, and stuff like that. He does not have to be GF, but he is observant enough to notice that if I will not eat something, then he will not either. So I cook GF for both of us.
So in the adventure, I found a recipe from Bob's red Mill, for

Carrot Bread 

• 1 cup Freshly Grated Carrots
• 4 Tb Milk
• 1 large Egg
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon,
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/4 Cup Bob's All purpose baking flour 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Lightly grease a 4" x 6" baking pan, set aside.
Sift all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl; add egg and milk and mix well.
Stir in grated carrots.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes.
 Allow to cool before slicing.

I put in in loaf pans, and in my mini bunt pans. We call it "Cakebread."