Feb. 27, 11

Mint Bars - Page 90

It has been way to long since I put my baking apron on and attempted a new gluten-free recipe.  Well yesterday I decided to make more of "Elenor's Banana Bread" found on page 51 to take to our Sunday morning bible class.  I must say it was even better than the first time I made it.  I did the variation offered of adding 1 cup fresh blueberries and I made it with walnuts this time.  Sorry no pictures because it was gobbled up!  


As for the mint bars, as my banana bread was baking I flipped to this page and decided I would make them too.  Wow, are they good!  The only change I made to the recipe was again with the sugar.  The bar part called for 2/3 cup sugar.  I didn't use stevia - I used organic pure cane sugar.  But knew the icing part called for quite a bit of powdered sugar, so only added 1/3 cup sugar.  I am so glad I did this change because they were still way to sweet due to the icing.  It is a one bar at a time treat with a glass of yummy rice or almond milk.  My handy taste tester gave them a 9. He said they were moist and good, but very rich!  I love the very rich part because I know I won't eat more than one at a time.

I will deviate a little from my dessert blog to recommend an amazing cookbook for anyone suffering from allergies.  The Whole Food Allergy Cookbook by Cybele Pascal.  I cook 80-85% of my meals from this cookbook.  It eliminates the major allergy foods:  wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, dairy, eggs, soy.  Of course if you are not allergic to all these items, suggestions are provided to put them into various recipes.  I made for lunch today the Corn Chowder soup.  So good and filling!  I purchased this cookbook at Barnes and Noble for $18.95 and I must say it was money well spent.  So if you are suffering from food allergies, or just want recipes for a healthier diet, I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook.  I will get a picture of the cover for you on my next post. 
I also purchased a new book this week Crazy Sexy Diet.  There wasn't any super new information in there for me, but I found it a very inspirational book based on the author's lifestyle changes due to a diagnosis of untreatable cancer.  At the end there is a 21 day cleanse, which is exactly like the one I did last  year.  It was a quick easy read, I did have to look past some of her language (she would have made a good sailor).  But I do like the explainations given for why diet changes need to be made in our world.   Her major urge is to make your kitchen your medicine cabinet and one statistic she gave in the book that I highlighted and marked was found on page 16.  "In 1960, 18% of our national income was spent on food while 5 % was spent on health care.  Today 9% of our income is spent on food and 17% on health care".  Wow, what a flip flop!  Personally I would prefer to make our hard working farmers richer than shoveling money into the pockets of drug manufacturers.  Ok, that is all for my rambling today. 
Happy baking!

Feb. 12, 11

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

I did get a little baking adventure in today.  I mentioned in my post earlier that I wanted to try cinnamon rolls, so Sadie came over today and we made them.  It was actually very easy and the outcome was amazing!  We both ate two immediately from the oven and could have devoured the entire pan!  Sadie gave them a 10 as do I.  I wanted to share the blog site I got the recipe from with you, but of course can't find it now.  I'll continue looking and will share as soon as I find it so you can have the recipe too! 
After we devoured our 2 cinnamon rolls each, we headed off to Cafe 7 on May Ave.  My friend Tessa told me they were now serving gluten free pizza.  So of course I must give the pizza a try.  Well, it was very very good!  I ordered the Greek Pizza Gluten Free crust.  If you are a fan of BJ's GF pizza, well this is 100 times better in my opinion.  In fact, I told Sadie I thought they had messed up my order and made me a regular crust pizza.  She tried it and thought it was great too.  It wasn't until the manager came over and asked my thoughts on the new Gluten free crust that I realized it really was not a mistake.  Thanks Tessa for letting me know! 

Feb. 12, 11

Well yesterday was another snow day, but by early afternoon the sun was out and the roads were manageable, so off I went to get some errands done.  As I was starting this adventure, my daughter sends a text asking to come over with some friends.  Then she asked if I would make dinner, so no baking got done.  I did want to share my menu from last night.  I started with an herb baked chicken - tarragon, oregano, crushed red peppers with grape seed oil and white wine.  This was poured over boneless chicken breasts and baked covered for 45 min. then uncovered for an additional 10.  I also made the holiday classic potato bake casserole.  Of course, condensed soups do contain wheat/gluten, but here in Edmond, OK at the Target on 2nd street you can find Pacific Brand GF condensed soups.  So I used GF cream of chicken in the recipe and it was yummy!  I steamed up some wonderful organic broccoli from my organic co-op share bag.  If you live in Oklahoma City area, I highly recommend joining OKC organics.  It is easy and affordable and the produce you get each week is wonderful!  The meal was topped off with an apple bake.  I sliced my organic apples and coated them with a little flour mix (the flour mix I use in all my gluten free baking), cinnamon, organic cane sugar.  Then I placed this in a pan greased with coconut oil.  I then mixed more flour, organic GF oatmeal, more sugar and sprinkled over top - poured in some water and baked for 40 minutes.  So delicious. 
I did find a recipe for cinnamon rolls and hope to try them today possibly.  I have signed up to take treats to our bible class for two Sundays, so I want to get some good recipes made to determine what I will take.  I am hoping the cinnamon rolls are easy and good, so I can make them again when it is time to take in treats.  The cinnamon roll recipe is not from my cookbook.  I actually found it off another GF baker's blog.  So I'll give all the information on how to access it after I have made them. 
I hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday and enjoys the beautiful sunsine.  Happy Baking!

Feb. 10, 2011

Lemon Squares
This recipe is found on page 93.  I did not deviate from the provided recipe at all.  I even used granulated sugar for this one.  My reasons for using this sugar, which is absolutely terrible for you, is I had tried lemon squares over the holidays.  I used the organic raw cane sugar, which is naturally brown in color.  Well the lemon squares looked gross - like brown throw up.  No one ate them.  They tasted fine, but our eyes often keep us from eating things and it was a waste of time to even bake them.  So, for this batch, I used the white processed sugar as the recipe called for and as you can tell from the picture they are beautiful!  Since I don't like eating sugar, I only took a sample bite and it took pure strength and endurance to not continue eating.  They were amazing.  The lemon taste was perfect and the crust was superb.  I made mine in a smaller 8x8 pan for thicker squares.  I think next time I will make them in the 9x13 pan to get thinner lemon squares. 
I would recommend to all of you reading this blog who are gluten free and want to get into baking, I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook.  The title again is Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly.  I have not been disappointed yet by any recipe.  Even the scones were not bad.  My daughter dunked her scones in her hot chocolate and loved them.  I really thought gluten-free baking would be difficult, but with great recipes, it is easy and the outcome is delicious.  Happy Baking!

Feb. 8, 2011

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies
Let me just say DELICIOUS!  These cookies were amazing.  The recipe is found on page 77.  I seriously think I could eat them all - the entire 5 dozen by myself in one setting.  But I will restrain myself from this temptation.
Let me share with you the few variations I made.  Of course, the 1 cup of sugar was replaced with 1/2 cup whole cane sugar and 1/2 cup stevia.  I wasn't sure what "pumpkin puree" was, so I just used 1 cup of pure pumpkin from a can (like you use for a pumpkin pie).  Maybe that is what puree is, but I don't know and it worked, the cookies were great.
I must admit a CRAZY mistake I made.  I put my first batch in the oven and thought to myself "I can't believe these cookies didn't call for zanthum gum".  Zanthum gum is very important when cooking with non-wheat flours as it holds the product together.  So went back to the recipe, just to be sure it didn't need the zanthum gum.  Oh my word - right there 3/4 t. of zanthum gum - smacked me in the face like a semi-truck.  I couldn't believe it.  I had the first batch in the oven and just knew they would crumble when I picked them up.  So I went ahead and added zanthum gum to the remaining dough and just hoped for the best.  Well I ate my sample taste from the first "non zanthum gum" batch and although I can't go and dunk into a nice big glass of rice milk, it didn't crumble either.  Whew!  But I won't make that mistake again.
I took a picture of the cookies, but also of some of the product packages that I use:  stevia, organic whole cane sugar, and the salt that I use.  If you live in Oklahoma, the stevia I buy at Crest in the sugar aisle.  the organic cane sugar can be found at several places:  Akins, Edmond Health food store, and if I am near my friends office - Energetic Wellness - I buy it there too.  The salt  is fantastic and I purchase this at Energetic Wellness (located in Edmond off of 15th and Rankin).  I believe Akins also sells it and you can probably get it at Edmond Health food store too, I just have never looked for it there.  I do not use table salt at all!
Well this has been a wonderfully productive snow day.  This afternoon I may try to make some Lemon Bars or maybe get them made tomorrow, but they are next on the list.  So I am off to eat another cookie over a napkin as it falls apart gently.  Happy Baking!

Stevia bag

Rapunzel Brand Organic Whole Cane Sugar

Redmond brand
All Natural Sea Salt

  

White Chocolae Pumpkin Cookies

Feb. 4, 2011

Another snow day has given me the opportunity to bake another recipe.  Today I made Eleanor's Banana Bread on page 51.  The only change to the recipe was the 1 cup of sugar.  I used 1 cup stevia.  I also did not put this recipe in the freezer prior to baking.  Well I have to say this is my favorite item I have made in the past four days!  It was moist and so delicious with a small pat of butter on the warm bread.  I would give this bread a 10.  My official taste tester is back to work, so his rank will be posted later.  I can't wait to make this again and I want to try the variation of adding a cup of blueberries next time.  Gluten-free and very delicious!

Feb. 3, 2011

Well snow day #3 has provided me with another opportunity to try a new recipe.  Today I made the SCONES - I used the recipe variation of orange cherry scones.  I had to make a few variation to the recipe.  First, it called for 1/2cup of sweet rice flour.  I did not have this, I had sweet sorghum flour.  So I used this instead.  The second change I made to the recipe was the 1Tablespoon of honey it called for.  I could not find my honey, so I replaced it with 1Tablespoon of Agave.  They baked up nice, but the true test of course is in the taste, and sadly these received a 3 from my official taster.  My husband felt they were to dry.  I tend to agree, they were dry, but I felt they left a flour after-taste in my mouth that I couldn't quite get rid of.  I even served them with a lemon curd, not homemade though.  I feel Stonewall Kitchen makes the yummiest lemon curd around.  I have to overlook all the sugar in the curd though and use it truely has a rare treat.  So they may have received a 3, I will not give up on this recipe.  I will use the sweet white rice flour and true honey next time.  This may be the difference.  I want to try the chocolate chip variation too.  So when the snow crazy roads allow me, I will head off to purchase the correct flour and honey and try again. 

Now an update on those molasses cookies that received a 9 yesterday.  I didn't have cream cheese to make a cream cheese icing like I had hoped, but came across a spice glaze icing in the gluten-free baking cookbook.  So I made the glaze and put it on some of the cookies.  It added a nice texture while eating, but for me they became to sweet.  My husband liked it, but he agrees a cream cheese icing would be better. 

So my precious Sadie recommeded I post a picture of the cookbook, so it is included with this post along with a picture of yesterday's cookies and today's scones.  Happy baking!


Molasses Cookies with spice glaze




Orange Cherry Scones with Lemon Curd




The cookbook providing me with the foundation recipes.



Feb. 2, 2011

Old-Fashioned Molasses Cookies

Another snow day, so it was time to make another recipe.  Today I chose to make some cookies.  I selected the molasses cookies on page 70.  I almost didn't make them when I realized they called for brown sugar and I didn't know what to substitute this sugar for.  I did some research and many say "date sugar", but of course who has that hanging out in the cupboard.  So I decided to go ahead and use the brown sugar, but I cut the 1/2 cup the recipe calls for to only 1/4 cup brown sugar.  My plan is to make this recipe again and use either date sugar or I believe there may be a brown sugar stevia (fingers crossed).
After following the recipe to put in fridge for 1 hour prior to baking, I added an additional 30 minutes in freezer (see yesterday's post as to my reasoning here).
I made them into small balls and pressed down prior to baking.  I made smaller cookies than the recipe called for because I ended up with over 4 dozen cookies, yet the recipe called for 2 doz. cookies.  Of course the real test came when my husband tried them.  He gave them an AMAZING 9!  We both felt these cookies would have received a 10 by adding a light cream cheese icing.  I may make an icing later and see if that is the finishing touch they need.  They were very delicious and plenty sweet enough even with half the amount of brown sugar the recipe called for.  So day 2 of gluten-free baking has been another success!  Happy baking. 

Feb. 1, 2011

It has been almost one year now that I have been wheat/gluten free.  What an adventure the past year has been as I have had to change all my previous thoughts about food, cooking, shopping, and eating.  Although I still have moments where the thought of eating a good pizza is about to devour me, I have overall adjusted to this new life style.  My goal this year, is to convert my family.  Of course my husband is at my mercy since I am the cook in the house.  At the start, I was cooking two meals, but that just added to the extreme stress, so around September I stopped.  It is eat what I make or run out and get yourself something.  He has done great overall.  One thing I have not even attempted this past year is baking.  I didn't really bake to much before, and gluten-free baking seemed crazy to even attempt.  Just trying to get all the flours and then figure out where to store them, well it was just to much for me.  But as my gluten-free lifestyle has become more normal, and the fact my daughter bought me a gluten free baking cookbook back in September (Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly), I have decided to start giving it a try.  My biggest challenge is I do not  eat white processed sugar either, so I have to adjust recipes to accomodate either STEVIA or Organic Whole Cane Sugar.  The second challenge is I don't use cow milk.
So my challenge of trying out some baking started today, due to the beautiful day off work due to the "blizzard".  I bought all the required flours over the weekend and made the basic flour mix suggested in the cookbook yesterday. 
Today my first recipe was "Blueberry Cake".  I decided to make muffins instead of a cake.  The recipe called for 1 cup of sugar, so I used 1/2 cup of stevia and 1/2 cup of the Whole Cane Sugar.  I found it took me much longer than the 5 minutes the recipe said to mix the sugar with butter until fluffy.  But it did eventually get creamy.  I mixed about 10 minutes.  I feel this is due to the cane sugar texture.  The next change I made in the recipe was using 1/2Cup warm RICE Milk instead of regular cow milk.  Other than that I followed the recipe as written.  The only other change I made, was putting the muffins in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to cooking them.  This tip came from a gluten-free friend who went to a GF restaurant in North Carolina.  She said the desserts were amazing and she asked the chef his secret.  He said putting all desserts in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to baking.  It forms light ice crystals that help keep the desserts moist.  So I gave it a shot.
The result = delicious.  Of course I am used to the GF taste of foods, so the real test was when I gave one to my husband.  He liked it.  He said it had a different taste than any other blueberry muffin he had eaten before, but it was good.  So I had him put it on a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 of course being the best thing ever.  He gave them an 8.  Not bad I thought! 
So I dedicate this first Gluten-free baking experience to my daughter who bought me the cookbook.  It was a success!  Can't wait to bake more later.