New ETSY Shop

etsy.com/shop/MFromOrdinary

I'm working for an Etsy shop.

I have designed several images we have turned into pendants

 

And I have embroidered some burp cloths and Bibs with geeky decorations.

Mi-Del Premade chocolate Cookie Crust, product review.

Overall, decent texture, a little grainy. Not very chocolaty.

I think its too dry to fill with anything other then a pudding or cream based pie.



Here

 

We got these at the local grocery store, and thought I would gave them a try.
I got two.
The first I made a Turtle pie, chocolate pudding, with caramel and pecans on top. I let my toddler help me prepare the pie. It was a special treat, for after dinner, because Grandpa was visiting. He spent ALL afternoon asking if it was time for the chocolate pie yet, and when I said it was, he rushed to the fridge, thru open the door, and pulled out the pie, one handed. Well, it being a flimsy, foil, pie pan, the whole thing ended up all over him and the floor. We both cried.

But eh second time around, I used the "cheese cake" flavored Jell-O, and toped it with Strawberries.

This one made it to the table.

Blood test: Advances and undermines?

When I was diagnosed, in 2001. They called what I had "gluten-sensitive enteropathy; coeliac disease".
Why the long name? Because the term "Celiac disease" was the name of a category of  "autoimmune digestive disorders"
From the Latin  "koiliakos," which meant "suffering in the bowels."

Under this umbrella were things like "Hirschprung disease" or "Granuloma"  or "Churg-Strauss". Crohn's Disease is part of this group too.
 But somewhere in the last few years it went from being one of the " top 10 most misdiagnosed diseased" (readers digest *2002*) to being "one of the most commonly occurring genetic diseases in the world" (everyday Health Media 2014)
And so since this " immunologically mediated attack of the intestinal lining which occurs in certain people with a genetic predisposition to have their immune systems identify gliadin as a 'foreign' molecule." Is being commonly called "Celiac disease"
Personally I wish we had gone with " Gee's disease" after ; Samuel Gee MD, the first to recognize a change in diet as the main part of treatment.

So some doctors hand out orders for the blood test like candy.
Some doctors refer to the category as a whole as "diseases of the Coeli"
And They might both be right.

But the down side to this readily available blood test is so clear:

"I went to the doctor yesterday to find out why I can't digest a lot of food. He thinks that I might have celiac disease and did the blood work. I can eat gluten without any problems though and told him that. He still thinks that I have it. I think that he is wrong .... "

Or

"My doctor did a blood test and said I have Celiac disease. But I feel fine when I eat gluten so I'm not going to stop"

 

So, back in 2000, I would NEVER have thought it was bread that was making me sick. If anything I thought the sateen crackers, or plain toast helped me feel better. Something like 80% of the people with gluten issues don't see a direct correlations between what they eat, and their gastrointestinal symptoms. It's because of that Immune system getting involved, that it was so imposable to diagnose for like 100 years. But that blood test is super accurate. I would believe what it says, even if you don't want to.
And Just food for thought: People who smoke feel fine most of the time too, that does not mean they are not damaging their lungs with each cigarette...Just saying

UP-cycling leftover Pasta. #4 Penne4 your thoughts

This is a "fancy" sort of "Italian" baked pasta

4 cups left over pasta (this time it was 360 brand)
1/2 LB cooked ground beef
1 cup prepared Tomato based pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan, romaine blend
8oz mozzarella cheese

Oil a 9x13 pan
Mix the meat, sauce and cheese
Pore in a single layer of the noodles. Spoon on half of the mixture. Top with rest of noodles, and rest of mix.
Cover with foil, bake 30 min at 225.

Gluten free Potato Casserole

Potato Casserole (similar to scalloped potatoes)

lb Ground beef, browned

5 Potatoes, medium baking

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cup Monterey jack, shredded

8 oz Velveta cheese

1 packet GF brown gravy

1 c water

1/4 cup milk

 

PREP

- Mix the Gravy packet with the water, and microwave for 30 sec, whisk, then 30 sec, then whisk. Repeating for about 2 minutes, or until gravy begins to thicken. Then add the milk.

-In-between whisking the gravy, use your hand and a knife to brake the brick of velvets into small pieces.

-Potato should be slices about 1/4 of an inch thick.

 

Assemble

-Spoon a few scoops of the gravy. onto the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Then place potato slices in a single layer. Then a few spoons of gravy, then a second layer of potatoes.

-Next layer about half of each kind of cheese.

-Then a layer of potato. Then gravy. Then potato. Then rest of gravy, rest of cheese. 

-Cover with foil.

 

Bake

350 for 45 to 55 minutes. 

 

 

Variations 

I have used a packaged cheddar Jack blend.

I have used sliced Pepper Jack for the middle layer of cheese, giving the potatoes a texMex flair.
I have used leftover Han instead of beef as well.
 

Choclate cake, levels and definitions.

I consider chocolate cake to be an umbrella under which the categories of things like Devil's-food, red-velvet, and German-chocolate cake reside.

So, for a few years now, "Red velvet" cake has been a hip, in, and trendy thing. And I have to say, some people , who should know better, Should know better.

So Let me Ed-U-Cate

I have a few old cookbooks:
Between that, and my knowledgeable grandmothers, I give you the definitions of chocolate cake.

Red Velvet:
Red velvet is set apart ingredient wise with buttermilk and a little bit of Choco powder in the batter. Back in the day, before the recipe called for a TON of red food coloring, the color of the cake was NATURALLY occurring. It was before the chocolate was processed in a our modern "Dutch" processing ways. The chocolate would react with the buttermilk, and the reaction would cause the brown coco to look red. And the cream cheese frosting is a must. I would say this is the least chocolaty of the cakes.

Chocolate spoon cake:
This is the chocolate version of the classic pound cake. Also called Dump cake because you only use one bowl, and then dump it in the baking pan. This is the style most often found in cake mixes. Usually Eggs, milk and butter. It is chocolaty in a shallow way.

Devils food cake:
This cake in identified by the methods of using boiling water and coco powder. Sour cream and baking soda makes the cake a deeper brown and also a slightly different flavor. More "complex" flavor, because of the extra fat and acidity in the sour cream.  It has a more "coffee cake" texture from the cream and soda, which often leads to the appearance of coffee in the recipe. Back in the day, this cake was also red in color, and that is there it got the Devil name. But because of the other flavors, it's not that chocolaty.

German chocolate:
Using BROWN sugar, and the boiling water method with chunks of chocolate instead of coco. This makes the cake darker, and a richer flavor. The German part came form the origin of the chocolate; the original recipes called for a specific kind of sweet chocolate brick, that as imported from Germany, that the baker would then chop up and melt with hot water. The arrival of the coconut pecan frosting was closely after, but is still a good way to identify it.

"Brownies"
This cake is characterized by less flour, more coco and more liquid, as melting the butter is a must. Basically if a Brownie recipe calls for a leavening agent, then its actually a cake. Legend says that brownies were invented when someone left out the baking powder out of a chocolate cake by accident.

Betty crocker Gluten free "Cookies n Cream" frosting

My MIL gave me a cake mix and a tub of frosting. Not sure why... But It was a flavor of frosting I had not tried.

And it's gluten free.
Have to say, it's been a LONG time (almost 15 years) since I had cookies and cream anything.
So, I tried it out.

Betty Crocker Yellow cake mix. (better then any recipe I have)

It was very yummy and a fun change from my normal frosting.