Sweet Potato or Squash Bake

I never liked sweet potatoes, until I tried this recipe! Even my kids all eat this and love it! If you like pumpkin pie, you will like this. Also, it is much healthier than the traditional marshmallow topped potatoes.

3 cups hot, mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash
1/2 cup milk or cream (I use coconut milk)
3 Tbsp butter or margarine (I use olive oil or coconut oil)
1/4 cup brown sugar or 3 Tbsp honey
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp of each of the following: allspice, salt & nutmeg
(marshmallows for top, but optional)

-Combine the squash or potatoes and beat in milk, egg, sugar and spices until smooth. Pour into a greased casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min or until set. If using marshmallows, add to the top and brown for 5-10 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Gluten Free Stuffing (Dressing)

No Christmas or Thanksgiving meal would be complete at our home without this side dish! I make this for the family get together on my Husband's side of the family. I times this recipe by three to serve forty people. One batch serves 10-12 people.

1 gallon bucket of gluten free bread cubes (about 1.5 loaves of bread, cubed). I usually collect

leftover toast, cornbread, bread heels, etc in the freezer to use for stuffing. I do not use

dry breadcrumbs to make this stuffing as the rice bread is so hard when dry. If you do

use dry bread, adjust the amount of liquid accordingly.

1/2 cup fat - turkey or bacon fat is best, but oil, butter, margarine, or lard are also good.

1 cup turkey or chicken broth or bouillon

2 cups celery, chopped (about 5 stalks)

2 cups onion, chopped (about 2 medium onions)
1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

4 tsp poultry seasoning

-Put the fat, broth, salt, pepper and seasoning into a sauce pan.

-Add cut vegetables and bring to a boil.

-Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes

-Place the breadcrumbs into a large roaster, casserole or slow cooker.

-Pour the seasoning/vegetable mixture over the bread cubes and stir to coat. If the bread still seems dry, add more broth.

-Bake in covered casserole for 45 - 60 minutes at 325 degrees. In the slow cooker, place on low for 2-3 hours.

-Serve with turkey or chicken.

Melting Moments

*These cookies are egg free* I will be posting some pictures as soon as I have mine baked. :)

Christmas would not seem like Christmas without these pretty pink and white shortbread cookies as dessert. They are a family tradition from my Grandma Olive. These were always on the table at her house at Christmas. I remember one Christmas when I was about 14: I stayed with my Grandparents for a few days before Christmas to help Grandma prepare. We baked these little cookies together and sat at their oak dining table visiting while we iced them. It was a treat to be the only grandchild there while we worked together, baking, cleaning and decorating: pinning up the felt gingerbread man valance on top of her blue gingham dining room curtains. Oh what blessed things memories are!

Melting Moments

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup butter (I will say no substitutes because that is what Grandma said... but we can not eat butter, so I do substitute with Imperial Margarine - maybe coconut oil would work?)

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup corn starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

Cream butter and sugar. Add the sifted dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl and mix ingredients until very smooth and light.... about 5 min.. Chill for 20 min. Roll dough into SMALL balls (1/4 of a Tablespoon). Press down with a wet fork to make a flatish-round cookie. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 min or until set but not brown. Cool. Sandwich two cookies together with a very light pink vanilla icing (flat sides together).

Chocolate Melting Moments

I know you can't improve upon perfection, but perfection can come in more than one variety: vanilla and chocolate. :)

Make the above recipe, adding 1 square of melted unsweetened chocolate to the batter and increasing the icing sugar to 3/4 cup. Bake a couple of cookies. If they are kind of runny or do not hold their shape, add a Tablespoon or two of potato starch. (I'm sorry this isn't very definite, but this is the way I bake and it has been a year since I made these... when I bake this time, I will take notes and write this out better:-) Bake as above.

To ice, melt some semi-sweet chocolate (can be baker's chocolate or any chocolate bar, etc) adding 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine. Stir while melting and add a little milk or milk substitute if it seems too thick. Put cookies together with the chocolate, propping them so they do not slide apart before they set up.

Christmas Baking Is Coming Up!!!

I will be posting some Christmas baking shortly (probably as I do my own) :)
If any of you want to send me your Christmas recipes, I would love to post them here. Or you could just post a comment with a link to a recipe that works for you. I would love to try some new things! I will also try to include a few more recipes that are egg free.

Egg Free Apple Sauce Muffins

These muffins were adapted from the recipe on Daily Pleasures. I was hesitant to try a recipe without eggs as I have felt that gluten free baking really needs eggs to turn out well. These muffins were a very pleasant surprise - they turned out moist, soft and surprisingly light. On the second day, they were a little bit dry, but a few seconds in the microwave restored them to a fresh state. I was so pleased to post a recipe that my "egg-free" friends can use.
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup honey or sugar
1 1/2 cup thick apple sauce
1/2 cup water

METHOD: Just as a note, if your apple sauce is runny, you will not need to add as much water. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add all wet ingredients and mix well. Spoon into greased muffin tins or paper muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon if desired. Bake at 385 F for 20 min. This makes 12 muffins. These smell wonderful while baking. Raisins would be a lovely addition.

Devilish Dessert

My husband named this "Devilish Dessert" because he said the wicked stuff always overpowers his better judgement to have a second piece. :)
My Dad suggested "Heavenly Dessert", for pretty much the same reason.
This recipe makes a 9x13 pan.
BASE:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups gluten free graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
Combine the crumbs, margarine and sugar together thoroughly. Place in a 9x13" pan and press down firmly and evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. Cool.

PUDDING LAYER:
4 cups warm milk or milk substitute (I use coconut milk - it gives a wonderful flavor - I take
one can of rich coconut milk and dilute with pure water to make the 4 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (or equivalent in unsweetened chocolate)
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp rice flour
2 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 tsp butter or margarine, optional
Place flour, cocoa, sugar and salt in a sauce pan, whisking to mix. Slowly add the warm milk, whisking to prevent lumps. Stir over medium heat until thickened. Whisk in the beaten eggs and cook for about 1 min, stirring to prevent burning. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter (if using). Pour over crust and place in fridge to cool.

TOPPING:
Beat 1 cup of cream or whip topping and apply to cooled pudding. Cut into squares and serve.

VARIATIONS:
Make vanilla pudding by removing the cocoa and decreasing the sugar if desired. Instead of whipping cream on top, you could add meringue - and you have a traditional "Flapper Pie".

You could make Banana Cream by making the vanilla pudding: first slice 2 or 3 bananas on the crust and pour the pudding over. Top with whipping cream.

Note: The chocolate recipe makes a semi-sweet chocolate - if you prefer a sweeter chocolate, increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. If you own a Vita-Mix blender, this recipe was developed from the one on page 108 of the recipe book that comes with the mixer. You can follow their directions for using the mixer to make the pudding.

Waffles

My family enjoys when I make a special brunch on Sundays. Waffles are the kid's favorite choice. These turn out light and crisp and are nice to store in the freezer to heat in the toaster as needed. (Yes, this is my husband's breakfast - I interrupted him to take a picture of his meal) :)

GLUTEN FREE WAFFLES

2 cups rice flour

1 cup tapioca starch

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

4 eggs

3 cups water

1/2 cup oil or melted butter

METHOD:
Sift dry ingredients together. Whisk eggs, water and oil or butter together and then stir it into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

Pour 1/2 cup of batter into a hot waffle iron and cook until the waffle stops steaming and is lightly brown and crisp.

Serve hot or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. If you are freezing them, let them cool on racks. Freeze on cookie sheets and when hard, place in bags.

I Finally Tried This Recipe... "Spring Rolls"

I have been wanting to try this for quite some time and I finally pulled the time and ingredients together. I had originally posted this recipe back in August. I also baked instead of frying as this recipe suggested. I didn't use her filling recipe though. Instead, this is the recipe that I used for the filling.

I used rice paper for my spring rolls. METHOD:

-I dipped one piece of rice paper in warm water, holding under for about 5 seconds.

-I laid the softened piece of rice paper flat on a damp tea towel.

-I scooped about 3 tbsp. of filling onto the edge of the rice paper.

-Then I rolled it once, folded up the edges, and finished rolling in a log shape.

-Repeating until all the filling was gone, I then laid the finished rolls on a baking sheet, leaving a space between each one.

-I then brushed each roll liberally with olive oil.

-Bake at 450 degrees for about 30 min, or until browned and crisp. You may want to finish with the broiler for a few minutes to brown. I served them with a red sauce.

Everyone enjoyed them... even Wafe who is not usually veggie fan.

Cinnamon Roll Bread

I mentioned in the last post how I had been working with breads this last week. I used the Potato Bread from the last post to make a Cinnamon Roll Loaf that has received rave reviews by the family. It turned out soft and moist on the inside with a crusty outer crust. We always have a special brunch on Christmas morning and this year, I plan on serving this bread. :) It is, like most gluten free baking, best eaten fresh. Once it is a day old, warm in microwave.

First of all, I made a single loaf of potato bread, following the directions in this post. If you make the whole recipe, you will have two loaves: you can half the recipe to make one loaf...or you can make the whole recipe and have one plain loaf and one cinnamon roll loaf.

Next, I mixed the filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 cup rice flour
Use a fork to mix well and cut in the margarine.

Grease a pan to bake the bread in. I used a small oval roaster as it had a nice shape. If you use a loaf pan, use a large one - not the regular size as it will be too small.

Then lay out a tea towel that has a smooth grain (not waffled) and dust it liberally with tapioca starch.

Scrape the bread dough into a pile in the center of the tea towel. This is a very soft dough and it would be impossible to work with any other way.

With a spatula, spread the dough into a rectangle shape - about as wide as the length of your pan. I spread it about 3/4" thick. It may make it easier to keep dipping your spatula in water as you spread the dough to keep it from sticking.

Spread the cinnamon-sugar-raisin mixture over the dough, leaving about 2" at the end uncovered so it will seal after rolling the dough.

Now gently pick up the end of the towel opposite the end that you left the 2" plain. As you lift the towel, the dough will start rolling.

Keep lifting and rolling the dough until it is almost at the end. Then with one hand, pick up the bottom end of the towel, hold it over your greased pan and let the dough roll into the pan.

It should look something like this. I have made this bread three times and it rolled different every time - once tearing the dough a little... but in the end, it turned out fine and looked nice.

Let rise and bake according to the potato bread recipe instructions and ENJOY! The bread below was delicious, but the swirl was a little lopsided... my subsequent efforts turned out more even. ;) The last time I baked this, I iced the loaf which was nice.

Be sure to shake the tea towel outside to remove most of the starch before laundering. :)

Potato Bread

I did some experimenting over the past couple weeks with my basic bread recipe and this is what I came up with...

The step I added to the recipe was I first peeled, cubed &boiled a med-small potato in about 2 cups of water. When it was very tender, I dumped the potato and water into my blender and pured until smooth. I then added enough extra liquid to have the amount needed in the recipe, adjusting the temperature to have it right for the yeast.
I then mixed the bread according to the recipe, adding my potato water as the liquid. The result was light buns and lovely bread. It rose so high, had a fine texture, and a pleasant potato bread taste.

I found that I had to add a little more liquid with this method than I normally do. You will have to adjust the liquids in this recipe according to your altitude and air humidity (I live in a dry climate, at about 3,000 ft above sea level).

I'll Be Back...

I have been slow posting recipes this last couple weeks because of some family needs. Starting teaching school again, has of course taken extra energy but that is settling out.

The main challenge has been some problems with my pregnancy - it just has not been normal. Finally, on Monday last (at 22 weeks), the Dr. confirmed that our little one had died.

I had a D&C on Wednesday so I am still recovering from all this... both physically and emotionally.

Thank you for patience... I look forward to posting more recipes soon.

I had hoped to get up my Turkey dressing recipe as well as some other holiday recipes up in time for Canadian Thanksgiving, but they should be up in time for US Thanksgiving... or for sure by Christmas. :)

Jenny

The Quintessential Gingersnap Cookie

When I tried this recipe (converted from a gluten recipe), I had one goal: to bake a cookie that my husband could not resist.

And that was no easy task... as Steven is not no cookie lover.

He doesn't like chocolate chip (too rich).

He will rarely eat a gingerbread cookie (too "gingery").

Sugar cookies are too sweet.

Snickerdoodles are too bland.

And then there is texture: it should not be hard and crunchy, nor should it be doughy.

That was my challenge... and these Ginger Cookies were my triumph.

They are 100% Hubby approved!

And he is not the only one who has enjoyed them...

Emily from "In His Hands"

THE QUINTESSENTIAL GINGERSNAP COOKIE

3/4 cup butter, shortening or lard

1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses (I use unsulferated blackstrap molasses - THE BEST FLAVOR!)

1 1/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup cinnamon sugar for dipping cookies in

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 F.
-Sift the flour, starch, xanthan gum, soda, salt and spices together to blend evenly.
-Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and molasses and beat until smooth.
-Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly, until a soft dough forms.
-Use a spoon to scoop a ball of dough, about 1" in diameter. drop the ball into the cinnamon sugar to coat one side. Place the balls, sugar side up on a baking sheet.
-Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the tops are slightly cracked and the edges look firm and slightly browned.

The Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie

These are crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle.

These cookies receive rave reviews by all who try them... gluten intolerant or not!

THE DECADENT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

1 cup butter (can substitute margarine or lard)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar - packed lightly

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups rice flour

1 1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp hot water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

-Cream the butter and sugars until smooth.

-Beat in the eggs one at a time and them stir in the vanilla.

-Dissolve the baking soda in hot water and add to the batter along with the salt.

-Sift the flour, starch, xanthan gum and cream of tartar together and stir into the batter along with the chocolate chips and nuts (we can not eat nuts so I substitute 1 cup of coconut which tastes great).

-Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

-Bake for 9-10 min in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned.

-Try not to eat them ALL in one day - I can not be held responsible for your ruined diets or gained pounds. ;)

Iced Lemon Cake

ICED LEMON CAKE

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 Tbsp grated lemon rind (I grated off the zest from 1 small lemon)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup rice flour

1/3 cup tapioca starch

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" round cake pan.

-In a mixing bowl, cream the butter or margarine and the sugar.

-Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the lemon zest. Beat on high

for about 3 minutes - or until light and fluffy.

-In a separate bowl, thoroughly sift the flour, starch, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.

-Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture along with the lemon juice and stir until just

blended.

-Scrape batter into the greased pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a

tooth pick comes out clean.

-Let cool in pan for 15 minutes and then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

-Ice when cool.

GLAZE:

-1 cup icing sugar with enough fresh lemon juice to make a glaze. Spoon over top of cake.

NOTE: If this cake is doubled, it can be baked in 9" spring form pan for 45 min or until a

toothpick comes out clean. Most gluten free baking goes dry and stale

very quickly, but this cake keeps very well - staying moist and tasty for several days if

tightly covered..

Cinnamon Buns

I tried this recipe from the I Am Gluten Free blog site. She also included a link to another site that had great pictures showing a step by step method to make these cinnamon buns.

I made the buns for our Sunday brunch and I followed the recipe exactly. We found them much too sweet (this could be helped by cutting back on the filling) and rather "pasty". My Hubby can not tolerated baked goods that are doughy or pasty or dry or crumbly or.... you get the idea. These buns were "OK" in his opinion but he gave no rave reviews. He really likes the bought Kinnikinnick cinnamon buns. They are soft and slightly chewy with just the right amount of sweetness.

I have included this recipe because it was very easy to follow, had great pictures and the product was tasty. Will I make it again?? "No." But not because does not have value but because it just does not suit our family's tastes.

It did give me a place to start from and I will be experimenting to find a cinnamon bun recipe my family loves. I think I will go back to a secret cinnamon bun recipe I was once given (wheat of course) and borrow some ideas for my gluten free ones. I'll keep you posted... :)

Artisan Herb Bread

I baked this today because I had an craving for BREAD!

We had it for supper along with baked salmon (done on the BBQ because it was so hot out), fresh sliced tomatoes and stir fried vegetables.

When fresh, this bread is so soft and tasty that you could serve it "gluten people" without apology. :)

Remember with yeast bread recipes: This bread turns out beautifully for me, but I live at a high altitude and in a dry climate. You may have to adjust the amount of liquids used to suit where you live.

ARTISAN HERB BREAD

1 cup tapioca starch

3/4 cup potato starch

1 1/2 cup rice flour

1 Tbsp yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp psylliam husks

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

3 Tbsp fresh chives, diced (or 3 tsp dried)

1 egg

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/4 cup olive oil

olive oil

sesame seeds or poppy seeds

METHOD:

-Sift all dry ingredients together (including yeast and seasoning) in a mixing bowl. Add egg, oil and warm water all together and mix on medium for 3 min.

-Cover bowl and let rise for 10 min.

-Turn oven on to 425 degrees and grease a 9" round cake pan.

-Stir batter down and scrape into greased round pan. Smooth the top and drizzle with olive oil. Spread oil around with your fingers, smoothing the top as you do so. Sprinkle with your choice of topping: sesame or poppy seeds.

-Let rise another 10 min or until slightly above the level of the cake pan.

-Bake for 30 min or until golden brown on top and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

-Let cool before slicing.

Betty's Corn Bread or Muffins

My first efforts at gluten free corn bread were very dry and crumbly. Consequently I was delighted when a friend passed on her recipe which turned out beautifully moist and tasty. I have altered the recipe slightly, but it is very close to Betty's original.

CORN BREAD

2/3 cups butter or margarine (I use light olive oil)

1/2 cup sugar or honey

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups milk or milks substitute (I use coconut milk)

1 1/2 cups rice flour

1 cup tapioca starch (or a mix of tapioca and potato starch)

1 cup corn meal

2 tsp guar gum (I use 1 tsp xanthan gum)

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

METHOD:

-Cream butter (or substitute) with sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs and milk.

-Sift dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

-Add the four mixture to the creamed mixture and mix till smooth.

-Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan or 16 greased or papered muffin cups.

-Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

We use corn bread as a side with stews and soups as well as well as for breakfast.

New Gluten Free Site

I discovered a great looking gluten free blog this morning and I wanted to pass it on. I will be adding this to the label on the sidebar of great gluten free sites. I am also trying a cinnamon bun recipe from her site this morning... I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Chicken Pot Pie

This is the epitome of comfort food! Pot pie is usually on the fall menu at our house... just the time of year when a dish like this is most appreciated. Maybe we have been out cutting fire wood or raking up leaves or digging the last of the potatoes... then we'll come in to hot pot pie, fresh salad and sourdough bread, it simply tastes wonderful!

There are some other reasons to serve pot pie: First, it is economical - we were not able to raise chickens this year so we are being stingy with our bought chicken. This recipe feeds our family on about 4 cups of chicken.

Secondly, it gives the cook a chance to be creative. In the top crust, I will sometimes carve a scene of a hen with chicks, sometimes a proud cock, sometimes just swirls and curls like in the picture. When I used this recipe for venison, I carved a buck jumping a fence. Maybe it's silly, but I find it fun. Pie dough is a rather interesting medium. :-)

CHICKEN POT PIE

3 large potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes

3 large carrots, diced into 1/2" chunks

1/3 cup butter or olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 stalks of celery, sliced

1/2 cup rice flour

3 tbsp chicken soup base (gluten free)

salt and pepper to taste

1 small clove of garlic, minced

4 1/2 cups hot water

1 cup frozen peas

4 cups diced, cooked chicken

1 Tbsp dried parsley

gluten free pie crust

METHOD:

-Put potatoes and carrots together in a pot. Add water and cook untill just tender. Drain and reserve to add later.

-Heat the butter or olive oil in a heavy sauce pan or fry pan. Add the onion and celery and cook until tender.

-Add the flour and stir into the vegetables so that it absorbs the extra fat and moisture. Add the soup base, salt and pepper and garlic to the pan and cook on low heat for 5 min.

-Turn up heat to med-high. Add the hot water (can use water from cooking potatoes and carrots) while stirring the vegetables. Bring to a boil and decrease heat to low and cook until thickened. -Add the cooked potatoes and carrots, along with the frozen peas, chicken and parsley. Heat until bubbly. Pour into casserole or baking dish.

-Top with pie crust, following direction is pie crust recipe. Cut slits for steam to escape - or carve a scene :-). Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and gravey is bubbling.

Quick Rice Wraps

Wraps cooling for our lunch.

These wraps are so basic and easy. If I am out of bread, I make these for the family at lunch with a hot or cold filling. I avoid yeast bread myself so I often make up a small batch at breakfast or lunch. One of my favorite fillings is stir fried veggies with a little mayo. We have even used these to wrap a hot dog with. It works pretty nifty.

1 cup rice flour (brown or white - corn flour is also good)

1 cup tapioca starch

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

2 cups water (I start with 1 1/2 and add the last 1/2 cup if I need it - batter will be quite runny)

Method:

-Put a heavy, round fry pan on med-high heat.

-Combine ingredients and whisk until smooth.

-When a drop of water "dances" around on the pan, it is hot enough. Pour about1/3 cup of batter onto the pan and immediately turn the pan to spread it out to a 6" round (as you would do for crepes).

-Let cook until the top looks dry and the very edges curl up a little. Flip and cook until slightly brown.

-If your pan is hot enough, these do not stick and cook very fast. Sometimes I grease the pan lightly for the first one, but usually it doesn't need it. For faster cooking, I get two or three pans going at once.

-If you add 1-2 Tbsps of ground flax seed to the batter, it is very tasty and adds extra fiber.

Affordable Rice Pasta

I have been meaning to post this for a while... and then when Becky emailed me and asked about it... I finally got it done. :)

This great rice pasta is available at "Real Canadian Superstore". The top is ripped off the bag, but it is their "Presidents Choice" brand. I believe that it was in the pasta isle, near middle where the pasta ends and the sauces begin... and since every Superstore is set up nearly the same, it should be easy to find. I have been to the stores in Red Deer and Airdrie and found it in the same place.

The stores are reorganizing... so everything has been moved around (ahhhhh!) - but they are making a "health section" where they have gluten free, organic, low sugar, misc. You have to watch as they will have gluten free pasta right beside organic durum pasta... just read labels.

The real bonus with this pasta is that it is a whole lot less expensive than other leading rice pasta brands. We have bought Celi-Mix, Tinkyada and others. They are all pretty good, but they run from $5-$7 per package. This rice pasta is about $2.50 per package.

That is a pretty good deal as one package feeds our family of 9.

It comes in the curly pasta (shown) and spaghetti.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

This was reprinted from my other blog, "At The Rose Cottage" - it was posted last May.

We did some applied math today.... at least Millie did. The result was multiplication.

You see, we were able to get 20lbs of ripe bananas for $1. Thus we were going to bake banana bread to put in the freezer. We started with a recipe for 1 loaf. We multiplied it to make 6 loaves. Then we realized that our mixer bowl would not hold that much batter, so Millie was going to divide the recipe to make two batches of 3 loaves.... we didn't write it out, she was just doing it in her head.

All went well, she mixed the two batches, started putting them in pans.... when she realized that she had put the whole salt amount in both half batches! OOPS!

We tasted the batter and it did taste salty. Solution: add a two loaf batch to each 3 loaf batch (our mixer would JUST hold that much). Bake one batch while we eat supper and the second while we clean up. Fine. All is well that ends well (minus a few tears).

It is an ill wind that blows no good.... three good things came. First, Millie realized she had missed the baking powder in both batches and was able to fix that :)

Secondly, we got LOTS of banana bread in the freezer.

Thirdly, I promised her that I would type out the recipe on the blog and then print it for us. Thus we will have a much neater recipe to work from... so our multiplying will not get out of hand again!



GLUTEN FREE BANANA BREAD

This makes just 1 loaf - multiply with caution :)

1/3 cup cooking oil or butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/2 cups rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or other nut/seed - optional

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - optional

METHOD:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Cream the oil or butter and sugar together.

-Add the eggs & mashed bananas and mix well.

-Add all dry ingredients at one time. Mix until smooth.

-Scrape batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Let sit for about 5 minutes before removing form the pan and place on a cooling rack until cool.

-If I am freezing this, I wait until the next day and then slice the loaf and then wrap for the freezer. Multiply and enjoy!

Baked Rice Paper Spring Rolls

A friend sent me a link to this site and it looks GREAT! (A Gluten Free Day) One recipe of interest is the Baked Rice Paper Spring Rolls . They look wonderfully delicious!

I have bought the rice papers at Canadian Wholesale Club before, but I did not know how to use them. Now I do! :)

Hope you enjoy!

Oreo-Type Cookies

This is a recipe that I do not make very often. Not because it is not good, but because it requires more than one step :) My daughter, Millie is more ambitious than I and made up a batch with mint icing... Grasshopper Cookies.

They were very tasty, and I wondered again why I don't make them more often... oh ya, I don't like icing cookies...

If you store them in a loosely covered container, they stay crunchy. If you cover them tightly, they get moist (my favorite). Try with mint or vanilla icing... I bet these would make good ice cream cookies, too!

OREO TYPE COOKIES

3/4 cups butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup rice flour

2/3 cups tapioca starch

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/1 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup milk or milk substitute (I use coconut milk)

METHOD:

-Cream butter or margarine and sugar together. Scrape the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.

-Combine all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and lightly mix together. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Mix well - I use the cookie paddle on my upright mixer.

-Chill the dough so is easier to work with.

-Roll out on a tapioca starched board - if dough is still too sticky to work with , kneed in a little tapioca starch. Cut out with a glass or round cookie cutter - Emilie cut out rounds that were almost 2" in diameter. These were plenty big, and you may want to cut smaller ones for daintier cookies.

-Place cookies on baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10minutes. Cool on racks.

-Cool cookies before icing and then sandwich two cookies together with the bottoms sides together with mint or vanilla filling.

Mint Filling:

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1+ Tbsp milk or milk substitute

green food coloring

1 or 2 drops peppermint extract.

Cream the icing sugar and butter or margarine together. Add milk a little at a time until it is a cream, spreadable consistency. Add the peppermint extract and a few drops of green food coloring to get a mild green color. Spread between cookies.

Perfect Pie Crust (Well... Almost Perfect!)

This recipe was a bit of a challenge, but since my hubby loves pie,

I was highly motivated to come up with something workable.

PIE PASTRY

2 1/2 cups rice flour

1 1/2 cups tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

4 Tbsp sugar1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups lard - cut into cubes

2 eggs

1 Tbsp vinegar

1/2 cup water

METHOD:

-Combine dry ingredients together.

-Cut in lard until the size of small peas.

-Whisk eggs, vinegar and water together and stir into flour mixture until just blended. Do not over blend. Because rice flour does not absorb liquid the same way as wheat (it does not absorb as much or as fast), the dough may be a little wet looking at first, but in a minute it absorbs the extra.

-Now the handling of the dough... typically gluten free pastry is very hard to handle, however, I find this dough fairly workable. You can simply press the dough into a pie plate or you can roll it out. The following instructions are how I roll out this dough. This is not a tidy process, and it really helps if you hold your tongue in the corner of your mouth while you work. :-)

1. Start with a round piece of dough on a well floured cutting board - I use tapioca starch on the board.

2. Roll out the dough on the board, keeping the general round shape. Of course, if your dish is a different shape than a pie plate, roll out your dough accordingly.

3. Take a pancake flipper and slide it under the dough on the board. Do this all around your piece of dough to loosen it completely from the board.

4. Hold the board over the pie plate and start the dough sliding off the board onto the pie plate. Go slow because if you get it in the wrong place, it will probably fall apart while you attempt to straiten it.

5. Finish letting the dough slide off the board.

6. Straiten the dough - fitting it to the dish. Trim the edges.

7. You now have pie shells ready to fill. Use the same method for the top crust of the pie, wetting the edge of the bottom crust so that they will stick together. Crimp edges and cut slits in the top. The same method works for pot pie or deep dish pie.

Rhubarb Pie With a Twist

My birthday was on August 1st. I turned the lovely age of 34!

We also had to go to a wedding that day so birthday stuff kind of got put on hold for a couple of days. That was just fine!

On Monday, my husband kindly ordered Chinese food for supper to give me a break from cooking (from a restaurant in our town that will coat their ginger beef with only corn starch on request :).

In the afternoon, I got to thinking that I would really like a rhubarb pie for desert. I haven't made one yet this year and it is one of my favorites! So, because it was my birthday, I thought I would splurge and make some pies. They were delicious (!!!) served with my daughter's homemade dairy free ice cream (I've got to post that recipe soon while it is still hot out). I vacillated over making a custard pie or a regular one... but I finally decided to try out an idea that I had (using an extra ingredient) with the regular rhubarb pie recipe...

RHUBARB JELLO PIE

Pastry for a 2 crust pie (either for a mix or using the recipe that I will be posting separately so it is easy to find :)

4-5 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups sugar

pinch salt

4 Tbsp corn starch

1/2 small package of jello (I used strawberry, but cherry or raspberry would be good )

METHOD:

-Prepare GF pastry according to directions.

-Put all other ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss to mix and coat the rhubarb.

-Turn fruit mix into the pie shell.

-Roll out top crust according to directions, flute edges and cut slits in the top.

-Sprinkle the top crust with sugar. Bake on bottom shelf at 350 degrees for 45-55 min.

-Serve with whip cream or ice cream - it is heavenly warm!

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings... or Meatballs!

This recipe was on Tereza's cooking blog and it looked so good (she has a great picture up) that I had to try it tonight. I didn't have any chicken wings so I thought I would try it with meatballs instead. They were a hit with the family (especially the boys :). I served them with a Rainbow Pasta Salad (will post that recipe later), which isn't such a hit with the boys... but they do not really like salads of any kind, so their vote doesn't count :)

Tereza has been dairy free for a while (for herself only, her husband and nine kids eat "normal"). She has recently gone gluten free as well because of various health concerns. She is very creative and has a great attitude, but I think it gets hard to always have separate food prepared for herself. You will want to check out her blog and to get ideas from her journey.

I have copied the recipe just as she had it... I did include the sesame seeds and they were very nice. The only changes I made was to add about 2 Tbsp of vinegar and I used about half as much garlic powder. I also made them in an electric fry pan so not to overheat the house when it is hot.

SWEET AND SPICY CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

~ 1 bulk pack of chicken wings

~1 cup ketchup

~2tbsp honey

~1tbsp mustard (I used dried)

~1 tsp salt

~1 tsp pepper

~1tbsp garlic powder

~1/2 cup water

~sprinkle of sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Arrange the chicken wings the wrong side down in a baking pan.

Mix together the above ingredients and pour on top of wings.

Cover with tin foil and bake in oven at 375F for about 40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Then remove the foil and broil for an additional -15 minutes or so (on low). Watch you don't burn the chicken at this point~ only "golden" them up a bit.

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, pasta salad or chow mien. When you place the ready wings on a platter (if that's what you do~I just dish them straight to the plates..plastic ones to boot...yes we're simlifyiers:) make sure you now place your chicken the right side up. It will be nicely covered with the sauce. Enjoy!

Hamberger "Bun" Solution

Anyone who has is forced to eat gluten free, has also been forced to be creative. One area that we have had to be creative in is sandwiches. In particular: hamburgers.

Now my husband really misses having a good old hamburger... you know, light bun, grilled paddy, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mushroom, onion, relish, mustard, ketchup... the works.

We have tried baking different kinds of buns, but none have really turned out how he likes them: light. We just have to face the fact that GF breads are denser and heavier than wheat breads. So we came up with another solution...

"The Pancake Burger"

OK, don't turn me off, I am serious! My husband says this tastes almost like a McDonald's burger - and that the pancakes are about as thick as a McDonald's hamburger bun, anyways. :)

So, now when we have a BBQ, we make up a batch of these little pancakes that just fit the hamburger paddies perfectly. They are tidy and easy to hold onto and make us feel like we are eating a real hamburger again.

By the way, this recipe makes fine breakfast pancakes, too. Since I avoid yeast, I keep some of these in the freezer to toast for lunch to eat with my chicken salad or whatever. They really are a solution for a lot of problems at our house! :)

BASIC PANCAKES

1 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2 Tbsp glutenous rice flour* or instant mashed potato flakes*, optional

pinch of xanthan gum (less than 1/8 tsp)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

2 eggs

1 cup water or milk

METHOD:

-Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

- Add the oil, eggs and water all together and whisk until smooth.

-Pour onto a hot, greased griddle in small rounds. Turn when the edges appear dry and they are browned.

*The glutenous rice flour does NOT have gluten in it... it is just ground from a sticky rice. I get it in the oriental section in my grocery store.

*Make sure that the mashed potato flakes are gluten free.

The purpose of the glutenous rice flour or the potato flakes is it makes the pancakes more moist and gives them a nicer texture.

Psyllium Husk Information

Several people have asked me about the psyllium husks that are included in by bread recipe so I want to add some information about it. First of all, I realized that I was spelling it wrong (it has a "y" not an "i").

My family doctor first told me about psyllium when I first had allergies in answer to my question of how to get enough fiber. Psyllium husks are the outer seed covering of the psyllium plant seeds. They are very high in fiber and contain a compound that when mixed with water, makes a mucilage. This mucilage is very healing to the bowel, provides a soft fiber to ease constipation (or avoid it), absorb toxins, help lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and stop diarrhea.

The natural product, Metamucil which is used for relieving constipation and promoting regularity is simply Psyllium. Interestingly, Psyllium is not habit forming: meaning, your colon does not come to depend on you ingesting Psylium in order to eliminate.

You can buy Psyllium at health food stores. I get it a store called "Nutter's" in a bulk bin for a fairly reasonable price. Actually the price on the bin does not look reasonable, but Psyllium husks are so light that they do not add up fast. You can also buy it in capsules which are "easier to swallow" if taking it for your bowel health - as opposed to drinking the slimy mucilage. If you take the husks dry in capsules, you just have to drink a full glass of water and the the slimy stuff forms inside :)

Of course for baking purposes, you will want to get it bulk. If you just can not find it, you can buy the Metamucil at any drug store and just use a couple Tbsp of that in the bread - just make sure that you do not get a flavored kind... "pink lemonade rice bread" just does not sound appealing! However, if you can find it bulk, it will be less expensive.

Just google "Metamucil" or "Psyllium Husks" to get more information.

Our Favorite Rice Bread Recipe

After becoming dissatisfied with the bread recipe that we were using, my daughter, Millie, and I started experimenting with a new recipe. Millie really does most of the baking around here and her bread is consistently delicious. She has perfected recognizing the right consistency (neither too stiff or too runny). You will develop a knack for it as well. If the batter is too thick, the bread will not rise well and will be very heavy when baked (brick-like :). If the batter is too runny, it will overflow and fall in the oven and the bread will be very course and crumbly. Be patient with the bread and yourself! Once you get onto things, you will be taking delicious smelling, looking and tasting loaves from your oven... and you will hardly believe that piece of fresh bread is gluten free!

One of the keys to good texture is the psyllium husks. They are available at most health food stores. If you mix them with water, they make kind of a slimy liquid that you can drink to get great fiber that is very gentle on your bowel.

To mix this batter, I use my large Kitchen Aid mixer with the cookie paddle. Probably a hand mixer could do it, but any upright mixer would be best. Of course, you could use a wooden spoon, and I have done it like this... it is great exercise!

I find that this bread keeps good for about 3 days. It can be toasted, or warmed in the microwave after the first day to freshen it. I have adjusted the recipe to make 2 loaves. Here at home, with 9 people eating gluten free, we make a four loaf batch every other day.

RICE BREAD

2 cups tapioca starch

1 1/2 cups potato starch

3 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast (instant or not)

1/4 cup sugar or honey

2 Tbsp psyllium husks

4 eggs

3 cups hot water

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:

-Combine the starches and flour, yeast, sugar and psyllium husks in the bowl of your mixer and mix until well blended.

-Add the eggs and hot water and blend. Beat on medium speed for about 5 min.

-Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 10 min.

-Beat down and add the oil and salt. Beat on medium for about another 2-3 min. The dough should be a bit thicker than muffin batter.

-Grease 2 loaf pans and divide the dough between them. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a little warm water and smooth the dough with a spatula.

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set the loaves on top of the stove to rise - about another 10 min. The dough should be just above the tops of the pans. If you let is rise too much, it will run over the edge of the pans in the oven and make a BIG, smokey mess! To avoid this, place the pans on a cookie sheet to bake.

-Put the loaves in the oven and bake for 30 min. Remove from pans and place loaves on their sides on cooling racks. Do not try to slice until the loaves are cool to the touch. This fresh bread is a favorite for our lunches! Enjoy!

VARIATIONS: Substitute 1 cups of rice flour for 1 cup of sorghum flour, or buckwheat, or teff, or millet... maybe a combo of some of these. The sorghum flour is a bit expensive, but it really gives a nice texture.

Mocha Naniamo Bars

These squares are truly an indulgence. They are also my husband's favorite. :) If the Graham Cracker crumbs are already on hand, they are actually quite easy and quick to make.

MOCHA NANIAMO BARS

Crust: Melt 2 squares of semi sweet chocolate and set aside. Cream 1/2 cup of softened butter or margarine, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 egg. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Now stir in 2 cups GF graham cracker crumbs, and 1 cup unsweetened coconut and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Press into a 9" square pan. Chill. (Since we like these bitter-sweet, I use 1 square unsweetened chocolate and 1 square semi-sweet. I also omit the sugar. The walnuts are optional - just increase the coconut by the same measurement.)

Filling: Whisk 1-2 Tbsp of instant coffee with 1/4 cup milk or milk substitute. When dissolved, add 2 Tbsp of custard powder. Cream 1/4 cup butter or margarine and add the coffee mixture to it. Beat in 2 cups of icing sugar until smooth. This should be like a thick, creamy icing. Spread over base and chill about 15 min.

Glaze: Melt 4 squares or semi-sweet chocolate with 1 tbsp of butter or margarine. Add a little warm milk or milk substitute if it seems too thick to spread. Spread over the filling layer and chill until just firm. Cut into squares (makes 25) and finish chilling. (Again, to make this less sweet, I use 1/2 unsweetened chocolate for the glaze.)

You can change the flavor of these squares by adding whatever flavor you like to the filling instead of the coffee. Mint is nice. You can also leave out the coffee and just add a little vanilla.