Feast!!!

It's been a crazy summer with lots of traveling.  But we made it through it all and I'm ready to share some delicious recipes with you again.  Last night we had a family from our church over.  Their little girl was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I wanted to make sure she knew what "gluten free" could taste like.  It took me years to find what was yummy!  Here I'm sharing what I made last night.

Simply Seasoned Chicken (from Simple & Delicious magazine)

serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
2 Tbsp. gluten free Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. Honey
1/3 cup Panko gluten free bread crumbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp gluten free seasoned salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. butter

Instructions:

1. Flatten chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.  In a shallow bowl, combine mustard and honey.  In another shallow bowl combine the bread crumbs and seasonings.  Dip chicken in mustard mixture, then coat with crumb mixture.

2. In a large skillet (I used an 8" cast iron skillet YUM! which wasn't quite big enough) over medium heat cook chicken in oil and butter for 5-6 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees F.

***My chicken got a nice dark crust.  I ended up breaking it up into smaller pieces so that it would cook faster.  Big HIT!

Farmers Market Squash Saute (also from Simple & Delicious magazine)

serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow summer squash, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup grape tomatoes
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp. minced fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
dash salt
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

In a large skillet, saute squash and zucchini in oil until crisp-tender. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat. Stir in mozzarella, basil and salt. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Easy Dinner Rolls (12 rolls)

-One of my favorite recipes.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3 Tbsp. milk, warm
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. yeast

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin cups.
2. Mix wet ingredients.
3. Place dry ingredients in stand mixer. Beat on low speed and add wet ingredients.
4. Place dough in muffin cups and immediately bake for 25-30 minutes.  (If you are using a larger cupcake size then it may make only 6-8 and take 35-45 minutes.) Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Mashed Potatoes

I don't ever follow a recipe for these.  But I mostly peel, chop, boil my potatoes until they are soft and I can pierce them with a fork.  Then I drain and mash them.  While mashing I add in butter, a little bit of milk, and sour cream or cream cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper.   Yum!

Carrot-Pineapple Cake

This is a Nuzman family recipe.  I have converted it to be gluten free because it's too yummy to go without!

***This recipe makes a large 10x17 cake or two round cake pans full.  I used 9x13

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice flour

3/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

4 eggs

2 cups finely shredded carrot

1 cup crushed pineapple with syrup (total amount of pineapple and syrup should be 1 cup)

2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 10x17 cake pan.  (I don't have a pan that big so I used 9x13 which is barely big enough and it took another 5-8 minutes baking time.)

2.  First add flours, starches, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, xanthan gum, and salt to a stand mixer.  (The recipe says to sift...which I'm sure would be beneficial...but I don't sift)

3. Add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix until all ingredients are moistened.  Scrape down sides.  

4. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed.  

5.  Bake 35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

6-8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

dash salt

3-5 cups confectioners sugar

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.

2. Beat in vanilla and salt.

3. Gradually add in confectioners' sugar.  (The original recipe calls for 5...I think 3 is enough.  I think I went for 4 because there were kids coming over and I wanted them to like the frosting.)  

4. Stir in chopped pecans (which I left out, unfortunately)

*EVERYTHING WAS SO YUMMY...but especially this CAKE!  MMmmmmm

Fruit Pizza....so so so so yummy

This has always been one of my all time favorite desserts.  I always look forward to summertime when I can make it.  And, you can snack while you eat because there is always leftover fruit!

The original recipe for this fruit  pizza comes from an old ward cookbook I have.  From Denise Schwab.  So thank you Denise because I was able to adapt it to make it gluten free.

Here is the original recipe:

Sugar Cookie Crust:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Orange Sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. orange peel, finely shredded
1/4 tsp. lemon peel finely shredded
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tsp. cornstarch

Filling:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla
7 cups fresh fruit pieces (peaches, nectarines, kiwi, bananas, mandarin oranges, grapes, apples, and/or berries)


****Changes that I made:
-instead of 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour I used:  1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1 tablespoon potato flour, and 2 tsp. xanthan gum

-in the orange sauce I used more like 1 tablespoon of orange peel and 1 tablespoon of lemon peel.  Because I felt like it. :)  It was still yummy.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease 2 (12 inch) pizza pans.  Or one 12" pizza pan and one cookie sheet.  Just make sure you make it about 1/2" or less thick.
2. To prepare crust, cream butter, the first 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract, beating well.  Combine flours, starches, xanthan gum, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Add to butter mixture, beating thoroughly.
3. Divide dough in half.  Pat dough into prepared pans with lightly floured hands (this worked well).  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crusts are golden.  Let cool (really important).
4. To prepare orange sauce, combine the sugar, orange and lemon peel, orange and lemon juices, and the cornstarch in a saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thick.  Cook and stir for two minutes more.  Cover and cool the sauce without stirring.
5. Meanwhile, to prepare filling, beat cream cheese, the remaining powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
6. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crusts.  Top with fruit.  Glaze the fruit with the cooked sauce.  Chill the pizzas until serving time.  I ended up doing one pizza on my pizza stone and another bar type  on a cookie sheet.  It yielded 24 servings.  12 of those in pizza (triangular) slices and 12 as bars.

As you can see I had fun arranging my fruit.  But I was RUNNING out the door to deliver half of them to a friend that babysat my kids for FREE!  And preparing the other half to go to one of my hubby's work parties.  So all you get is a crappy cell phone picture.  But, everyone loved it.  LOVED IT!

So enjoy.

Bagels...What you've been missing (or paying out the nose for)

I've been trying several bagel recipes lately.  And the best one I've found is here.  I've been super impressed with No Gluten No Problem.  Everything I've tried so far is delicious.

I found the bagel instructions incredibly easy to follow.  The only changes I made were to make my bagels half the size of what they say to do.  I find that if I have huge bagels then I will eat huge bagels. :)  And I tried some different additions to mine such as: cheese (I rolled it in with the balls) which was SO YUMMY, cinnamon craisin...also SO YUMMY, chocolate chip--which I liked and was a hit with the kids (I was thinking of John's Bagel Deli---awesome place, sadly full of gluten), and plain.  I just bought some dried blueberries so that the next batch I make can be blueberry bagels.  All of these additions I rolled in with the balls.

I hope that you are able to enjoy some fresh delicious bagels.  I've used this recipe several times now, and it has worked great!

Simple is Better

Lately, I've been feeling a bit inadequate.  Especially in the blogging world.  I've never been much of a blogger.  I'm not a photographer.  I just wanted to do this because I had people asking me for recipes all of the time, and it was an easy way to share them.  Lately, in my search for new and wonderful gluten free things I have been finding impressive blogs! Blogs that have beautiful pictures and delicious looking food.  Food that they have perfected after trying again and again; after adjusting this or that.  Expensive ingredients that would make me feel so decadent!

So I decided to share with you, again, my philosophy.  Simple is better.  I eat gluten free because if I don't I end up very sick and I cannot function.  I am on a limited grocery budget, and always have been.  I look for meals that are easy and cheap to prepare.  But I hope they are also fun to prepare.  But what I do put on this blog, I have tried myself, and I'm pretty picky.  And, what I really want is for someone that might not know where to start, to be able to have a place to start.

That said, I really do wish that I had the money and time to prepare those really amazing dishes that I see on other blogs and in some recipe books.  The ones that call for... watermelon radishes and vanilla pods.  :)  And maybe someday I can try it out. But for now, I'm happy where I am.

Since I feel like such a newbie myself still, I hope that in my searches through these really awesome blogs, I'll be able to grow too!

On that note, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies.
***originally from The Wheat Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca (One of my very first GF cookbooks. It has several treasured recipes in it)

Makes about 40

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup brown rice flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using a stand mixer, paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.  Beat in the peanut butter, then the egg.  Add the brown sugar, rice flour, salt, and baking powder, and stir to blend.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.  The dough will be soft and sticky.  (I stuck  half of mine into the freezer for later.) Drop by rounded tablespoon on the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (I used a cookie dough scoop) Bake until golden and just set, 12 to 15 minutes (mine took 12).  Let stand on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

A New Place and New Challenges

I am so sorry that I have not written in so long.  In the last 7 months we've moved twice, had a new baby, and Aaron started his first real job. :)  It has been very exciting.

And now I am excited to start blogging again.  That doesn't mean I've stopped baking.  I have lots of fun new recipes to show you all.  And today I'm trying a new bagel recipe so we'll see if it's good enough to make it up here.

The real thing that applies here is that my little girl, at almost 3 years old has been getting so sick!  It's been months of stomach problems, skin problems, and tummy aches.  Sound familiar?  We've been in between pediatricians so I didn't get her tested for Celiac Disease.  But I cut the gluten out of her diet (which wasn't a large amount) and she has started to feel better.  She has an appetite! Which she never before had.  But now that I am cooking for her...she has different demands.  I now want to learn how to make gluten free snacks of all sorts.  Including gluten free goldfish and pretzels.  And I need to make sure I travel with gluten free snacks for her.  Otherwise we end up at someone's house and there is nothing she can eat!  And with her being so young, I need to tell anyone she is around that she can't have gluten.  And on Sunday she was so fast and grabbed some sacrament bread with gluten and was sick for the rest of Sunday and Monday.  My poor little girl.  I am going to learn everything I can about gluten free cooking and baking and try to be the best I can.

So...it's nice to be back.  Wish me luck!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I just have to say that this recipe is a WINNER!!!!!  I love these muffins.  They never last more than a few days because everyone eats them up so quickly.  They are perfect for anytime of year, but especially the fall. Because I absolutely love stuffing myself with pumpkin in the fall.  By Christmas my husband is begging me not to put any more pumpkin dishes on the table (I just can't help it).  But, he can't resist these.  I have to hide them from him, just so that I can have some too.

Recently we moved down to Alabama to be with my family.  My dad (who is skeptical of anything gluten free) said "wow, these are good, you can eat these?"  See...this recipe is a winner.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

16 ounces pumpkin

1 1/2 cups oil (or 3/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup applesauce)

2 1/4 cups rice flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. xanthan gum

2 tsps. baking soda

2 tsps. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon (I always add more)

1 1/2 to 2 cups chocolate chips

***maybe try adding nuts, chocolate covered raisins, Craisins, etc.

Instructions: 

(super simple)

1. Mix wet ingredients.

2. Mix dry ingredients. Stir into wet ingredients until incorporated.

3. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Bake in greased muffin cups at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Can you tell it's a pumpkin???

5. Eat them up, but don't give yourself a tummy ache. 

Peach Orange Spice Cake

Well it's official!  We're moving away from Maryland and down to Alabama.  At least that's the plan right now.  I'm sure our lives are full of upcoming twists and turns.  It would be nice to say that my husband has found an awesome job, but for now we're still searching.  The real challenge that's on my mind right now is that when we move to Alabama I'll be 7 months pregnant and have no insurance or doctor/midwife to deliver the baby that is coming!  So that's a little stressful.  So to relieve stress...I bake!

This is a new recipe that I just found, it comes from Living Without (a super awesome magazine that has recipes and articles on living with allergies and they cater mainly to people who cannot have gluten!).  I made this for a few friends of ours when they came over to play music and games with us.  They LOVED it!  So of course I needed to share it with you!  And, it looks so pretty. :)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup gluten free flour blend of your choice (I used 3/4 of a cup of this blend: 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch)

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. xanthan or guar gum

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons sugar, divided

8 Tablespoons butter, room temp

1 1/2 tsp. orange zest

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon orange juice

4 ripe peaches, sliced (about 8 slices each...my peaches were HUGE so I used less)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

whipped cream, for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly oil a 9" springform pan. 

2. Combine flour blend, sorghum flour, baking powder, xanthan/guar gum, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

3. Beat 3/4 cup sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and orange zest and beat until crumbly.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add orange juice and beat to incorporate.  

4.  Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.  Arrange peach slices on top, form concentric circles that cover the batter.  Press lightly.

5. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon.  Sprinkle over top.

6.  Bake 55-60 minutes until golden and tester comes out clean.

7. Serve with whipped cream.