Apple cobbler with hidden veggies

I love Cameo Apples. For everything.
This is a recipe to sneak more veggies into my children's diet.

1 apple, pealed, sliced into16 slices

1 apple, half sliced into 8 slices, Half  dices (peal on)

1/3 C diced yellow Zucchini (seeds scooped out)

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

-Stir and let juice while you prep crust

1/2 C Namaste flour

1/4 C Oats, Bob's red mill

1/4 C Brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

1/2 C Shortening, melted.

-Mix

-Pour fruit into 8X8 pan, spread evenly

-Take handfuls of topping, and pat in you hands, until flat-ish, lay on top of fruit. Repeat, covering entire top of pan.

-324 for 35-45 min, until apples bubble, and crust is firm.

Cake decorations. Do what you know

I have never taken a cake decoration class. I have wanted to, but it was just to frivolous. Plus, I been a big fan of  "cake wrecks" for years, and I thought I could do as good as those people, without any training.
But sadly, I guess I can only do as good as those people, without any training.
So, here is the cake I made of the Doctor Who party we had with friends.


It is a simple white cake in a 9X13 pan. I used my DrWho ice cube mold, to make marshmallow filled chocolate Villains. I made a very small batch of "white chocolate fudge" 'cause I know how to do that, and tinted it gray, then spread it very thin in a pan. Then used my doctor who cookie cutters to make the shapes, and played those on top of  a buttercream frosting, and I put Blue Raspberry cool aid in the frosting to color it and flavor it. It gave it a little bit of a sour taste, and balanced the cake and the sugary shaped on top.
I loved it and the responses from our friends were positive.

Full circle Gluten free cookie mix

I tried a bag of cookie mix from brand: Full Circle

Available at Whole Foods and Haggens

I liked that the mix made 2 dozen, But they were rather small.
I liked that I could choose my own mix-ins, adding chocolate or nuts, or candy pieces.
I was not super pleased with the texture, or flavor. It was alright.

Tea cakes. Gluten free Bananna Bread

For some reason tea cake recipes have been hard to find; And By tea cake I mean; banana bread, zucchini bread, lemon poppy seed loaf or Applesauce cake. I have also heard these called snack cakes, but I think that implies that they are baked in a square pan, not in a loaf pan.

The kind of things that my mother would give us a slice of afterschool. Not as sweet as cookies, but more of a treat than muffins.

But I think I finally have one;

Chocolate banana bread: 

1 cups	Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend
2 Tb 1/2 tsp	coco powder baking soda
pinch	salt
1/4 cup	canola oil
1/4 cup	White sugar
1/4 cup	applesauce
1	large egg
1	banana, mashed
1/4 tsp	gluten-free vanilla

Preheat to 325.
Mix all ingredients in large bowl.
Pour batter into two small loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 30 min. Rotate pans, and bake for 30 more, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Thing is; back in 2001, when I first went Gluten Free, all of the recipes I could find were also dairy, nut and egg free. Now a days, Gluten Free is associated with Paleo, and the nuts are back and  introducing other costly ingredients.

Krusteaz Gluten free Blueberry muffin Mix.



Krusteaz Gluten free Blueberry muffin Mix.

Got a box, on sale, and gave it a try.

Didn't raise very much. Box was close to its "best by" date, so maybe the mix was stale.
Good flavor. Slightly crumble. Light, not too dense.
Best warm, fresh, with butter.

Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix.

Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix.
BEST. PANCAKES. EVER. EVER!

I mentioned these a few weeks ago, but this is the third time I have made these, and I love them!

 

   Light fluffy and tall. Excellent texture or mouth feel, an amazing buttermilk and vanilla flavor. The best gluten free pancakes I have had in 15 years.
I do however want to take note that since this is a mix your result might vary but not if you follow the directions. The box calls for lightly spraying the pan with oil and cooking them at medium heat. my husband attempted to make the pancakes at high heat and use butter; and it turned out disgusting; burnt outside, gelatinous inside and crunchy edges. So I recommend you go with the directions on the box.

 



Rustic peach cake

 

Peach cake. (rustic coffee cake)

1 box Krusteaz Gluten Free Honey cornbread mix
1/3 cup Vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp Four season's gourmet cold pressed Blueberry Vinegar
1 Tb white sugar
1 ripe peach, thin sliced
1 TB brown sugar

Mix vinegar into milk, making blueberry buttermilk. (could use any vinegar)




Wisk oil, egg and milk.
Stir in white sugar and mix, until moistened
Spoon batter into greased 8X8 pan
Top with peach. Press peach down into batter.
Sprinkle Brown sugar on top
-let rest while oven preheats to 375.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Check center for doneness with a toothpick, might need 5-8 more min.

Let cool, and slice.

We love it. And it's not super sweet or heavy. It's a nice snack cake as is, or with some wiped cream, and caramel sauce, makes an easy desert.

Chocolate tropics. Choclate cookies with dried fruit.

A cross between a cookie, and the corner piece of a brownie.

Chocolate Tropics

 

12 oz bag semi sweet-chocolate chips,
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
2 eggs
4 Tb oil Coconut is best, but any oil will work
1/4 cup banana, ripe, mashed

3/4 cups Bob flour
1/2 tsp  baking soda
1/4 guar gum
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup total of: white chocolate chips, coconut, dry tropical fruit, chopped nuts.

 

-Melt chocolate chips, then allow to cool slightly.

-In a large bowl beat in sugars, eggs, oil and banana, until smooth.

-Add chocolate to big bowl and stir to incorporate

-In a small bowl, whisk together flour, soda, gum and salt.

-Add dry to big bowl, stir to incorporate.

-fold in fruit and nuts.

-1 Tb of dough into each cup of a mini muffin pan.
Bake 350 for 12 min.

 

These very chocolaty treats came from an old recipe, that I loved, but when I tried using a GF flour, even with the Gar gum, they would just puddle all over the place, so one day I put them in the mini muffin pan, to keep them from spreading, and the results were delicious.

Pad po tak. Thai noodle seafood and sausage (gluten free)

 I think this would be called Pad Po Tak.
It's a variation and amalgamation on a few recipes

Soak rice noodles in cold water 3 hours. Then drain.

 To make sauce, mix
 1/4 tsp Thai green curry paste (I used red, should be more mild)
 3 Tb Coconut cream
 3 Tb fish sauce
 2 Tb white sugar
- mix together, set aside.
- Heat a large deep sided pan. In 2 Tb of oil sauté
 1/4 lb Shrimp, shelled, deveined
 1/4 lb white Fish, cut into bite sized pieces (snapper, cod, tilapia)
 2 Thai Sausage, Lemmon grass,  sliced

-then add
 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
 1/4 cup fresh basil
 Noodles
 Sauce
 -Stir to coat.
 -cover and simmer for 3 minutes, until noodles are translucent.

Excellent on its own, or with another Thai dish, like curry soup.

Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix, review

Picked up a new product this week; Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix.

 





krusteaz.com

 

They turned out very good.
Excellent texture. The batter was thick, but cooked evenly. The flavor was very nice, no bean or strange aftertaste.

This is my favorite Pancake mix!



BTW: I have NEVER EVER been contacted by krusteaz. This blog generated NO income. My opinion is my opinion. I write these reviews with the hope of helping others navigate the GF product marketplace.

Recipie review: ATK Lemon loaf

I had a craving for pound cake. A nice, cake like loaf with lemon and blueberries. I had not yet tried the Lemon pound cake recipe from "America's Test Kitchen, How can it be gluten free" cookbook.
I decided to use some of my frozen blueberry supply to make a lemon loaf.

The batter was a little thin, so the berries sank to the bottom.
At the designated time, the loaf was a little doughy, so I turned the temp down a little and left it in another 10 min.
The finished loaf was rather dense, and crusty. A little hard to eat. It was dry and doughy at the same time.
Not what I was hoping for, in a lemon loaf.
I ate about a third, and then put the rest in the freezer. Perhaps it will make a nice French toast, or cake pop...

Moon Rabbit Pizza Crust Mix. Dessert Pizza: Apple

I had enough Moon Rabbit Pizza crust Mix to make one pizza, but was in a sweet mood, so I decided to try a dessert pizza.

It turned out rather well.

I followed the instructions on the bag, to prepare the crust.

 

Then topped it with grated apples, and brown sugar and cinnamon.

Up-Cycling pasta #5 Kielbasa Pasta

Kielbasa Pasta

4C cooked pasta
12oz Sliced Kielbasa
1/2 red bell Pepper, diced
1/2 orange Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 C broth

Sauté Peppers and Kielbasa in oil.
Add broth and noodles. Simmer 10min.
Top with Hard cheese shreds. (we like Parmesan, and Mizethra)

Breakfast Bullets

This started out as a crust-less Quiche.

Then, I decided to put it in muffin pan, to make individual servings

Then I decided to make it microwaveable.

 

Breakfast Bullets

1 Cup broccoli florets

1/4 C baked potato, crumbled

3 slices of bacon, crumbled

2 slices Cheese, Colby Jack

4 eggs

1/4 C Parmesan cheese

 

In a silicone Muffin pan, distribute the Brocci, potato, bacon.

Top with cheese slice.

 

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, with the Parmasane and season to your liking.

Pore the egg mix in to the cups.



 

 Microwave for 2 min.

I served these with breakfast, on Pi day. Because it is round.

Califlour crust

This was my second try at making a cauliflower pizza crust.

4 cups grated cauliflower
1 egg
.25 cups Parmesan, Pre grated, from the Tub
.25 cup shredded Colby Jack blend
Pinch salt and a dash of Italian seasonings

*Preheat oven to 400 WITH pizza stone inside.
1. Put cauliflower in a microwavable dish, cover, and cook for 3 min.
2. Put the cauliflower into mesh strainer, and drain off the water. Give it a good press, to get as much water off as possible.
3. Mix the cauliflower with the rest of the ingredients.
4. On a piece of parchment paper, press the mixture out into a crust shape.
5. Slide the parchment and crust on the stone in the oven and Bake 35 min.
6. Pull the Crust out (still on the parchment) onto a cutting board or cookie sheet, and put your toppings on.
7. Bake on the Stone for another 5-10 min to finish the toppings.

Bread? Don't need no bread!

I started eating gluten free in 2001.
It was very difficult to find gluten free sandwich bread, and what I could find was not that good.
So I made other choices.
#1, was Apple.

 

Two, thin slices of apple, a little honey ham, and Colby jack cheese.
Super easy, and tasty.

King Arthur Flour Gluten free Cookies Mix, review

King Arthur Flour Gluten free Cookies Mix, review



 

 

The benefit of this mix is that it does not come with the chocolate chips or any other mix-ins. So you have the opportunity to cream the dough, and to choose what to put in it.

 The texture is good. The flavor is good.

Probably my preferred cookie mix.

Gluten free Tropical Trifle

Now You should know that you can NOT just substitute gluten free cake mix into regular cake mix.

Its important to respect the difference. So it took me a few tries to change my old Jello in the cake recipe. We are not talking poke cake.

We are talking about pouring dry Jell-O powder into a white cake batter, and then baking it into a fabulously colored cake.

In this case: A tropical trifle:

I started with A box of cake mix, in this case Betty Crocker's yellow cake mix

I followed the directions on the box, but with an extra egg, and a Tb more water.

Pored in a small box of Tropical Flavored Jell-O.

Then baked in a 9X13 for a little longer at a little cooler.



Cut the cake into cubes, and layered it in the Trifle dish with Pineapple chunks, strawberry slices, mango, coconut, whipped cream, and banana pudding.

Gluiten free Brownies in the microwave

I'm not new to the idea of making a brownie in the microwave. I tried a store bought version back in 2010.
I like the idea of being able to make a small batch of brownies, quickly. I'm the only one eating gluten free in my family. So when I found a recipie for "1 minute flourless chocolate" no gluten, no dairy, over at ditchthewheat.com I gave it a try.
It was good, but I needed more chocolate.

My version is:
1 egg
2 Tb of cocopowder
2 Tb of white sugar
1/4 tsp baking Soda
1/8 cup mini-chocolate chips

Mix that up with a spatula
Spoon into three silicone cupcake molds, staggered.
Microwave at 75% for 1 min.

Not very attractive, but very tasty.

Thanks giving Loaf, Gluten free

I got ground turkey, in bulk, and I remember my mother making a turkey loaf, years ago, instead of a turkey for thanks giving. And Right now I'm trying to work on simpler meal plans. So after searching the internet, I came up with this fun dish:

Thanksgiving Turkey loaf, with Special cranberry sauce.

The Loaf:
1C Gluten free Bread (Crumbs)
1 Carrot (grated)
1/2 onion (grated)
1/4 apple (grated)
1 egg
2 TB milk
A little Rosemary, sage, salt and pepper
     (I put all this whole in the food processer, and pulsed until combined, but grating would work too)
1.5 lbs Ground turkey.
Mix that up good and press into a 9X5 loaf pan.

The Sauce
1 can Whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 onion (grated)
1/4 apple (grated)
2 TB apple cider vinegar
Salt, pepper,
-Mix up good, and smear half of it over the loaf.

Bake at 375 for 25 min.

Then serve with the other half of the Berry sauce.