FINALLY !!! EASY YUMMY WHITE BREAD !!!

Ingredients :

Starter :

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 T. white sugar
2 T. instant/bread machine  yeast

~ mix all ingredients in a cereal sized bowl
set aside


Dry ingredients:
3 c. (see the best gluten free flour for baking recipe in this blog)
2 tsp. xanthan gum (in addition to the xanthan gum already in the flour )
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 T. white sugar

~whisk ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and set aside

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 c. olive or canola oil
2 tsp vinegar
~ whisk together in a medium sized bowl
combine with yeast mixture after it bubbles up

Combine:
~wet ingredients into dry ingredients
Mix for three minutes with heavy duty stand mixer or hands
Dough will be sticky
Spray a 5x9x2 or 1.5 L bread pan with Pam
Scrape the dough into the pan
Wet your hands and mold into the shape of a loaf
Allow loaf to rise in a warm spot covered with a clean dishtowel for 30-40 minutes until just over the

edge of the pan.
Place in a preheated 375  F /190 C oven on the middle rack for 20 minutes.
Remove from pan and let cool on a breadboard
ENJOY!!!

GF bread is really not very good past day 2.. it never lasts that long here...
For storage , when cool,  cut bread into slices and flash freeze on a cookie sheet for 15 mins.
Store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container and use slice by slice.

Gluten free Pumpkin muffins stuffed with cream cheese :)

Pumpkin muffins stuffed with cream cheese:

Preheat  oven to 325 F , 163 C.
Spray muffin tins with Pam cooking spray 
and then line with muffin cups.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 c. pumpkin
2 cups Bob's Red Mill gf flour
1 tsp gf cinnamon 
1/4 tsp gf ground cloves 
1/2 tsp gf nutmeg 
1 teaspoon gf baking soda
1/2 teaspoon  salt 
Philadelphia light cream cheese 
gf pumpkin seeds

Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla and pumpkin.
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, spices and salt.
Gradually add dry to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Fill muffin cups 1/2 full of pumpkin muffin mixture. 
Add a tsp of cream cheese.
Press cream cheese down into pumpkin muffin mixture.
Fill muffin cups to the top with remaining pumpkin mixture.
Press a few pumpkin seeds down into the muffins top.
Bake for 20-23 minutes. 
...Makes 12 muffins

Banana chocolate chip muffins

Banana chocolate chip muffins:

preheat oven to 350 F /176 C

Combine in a large bowl:

3 large mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup e.v. olive oil

1 cup tight packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons gf vanilla extract

2 eggs 

1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

Whisk together in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup sweet white sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch (not potato flour!)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and beat or stir until smooth.

add 1 c. chocolate chips or raisins
fill muffin tins 3/4 full
spray a 12 tin muffin pan with Pam and put in baking cups
bake muffins for 15-20 mins or until tops are firm.  Less time for mini muffins.

just like kfc...well close enough ;)

1 c. Bob's Red Mill all purpose baking flour, gluten free
1 T  baking powder
1/2 T. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 T. paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 T. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. sugar


Mix  ingredients in a ziploc bag. Dip your chicken pieces in milk, place 1 piece at a time in the bag and shake to coat.  You can bake this at 350 OR deep fry it as a real treat !!Yum !!  I fry until almost cooked and the transfer to the oven for the last bit. Cook it how you like it :)

The BEST fluffy chocolate chip cookie/muffin bars :)

As you can see from the picture, I barely had time to go and get my camera before these fluffy, muffin-like cookie bars were devoured!  I adapted this recipe fro the gluten free goddess (I love her) and it is SO easy and gluten free...

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit /177degrees Celsius

In a large mixing bowl, combine:

3 large  eggs

1/2 cup sunflower oil

2 tsp real vanilla extract

1 cup firmly packed  light brown sugar

2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten free biscuit and baking mix

1 c. Chipits brand semi-sweet chocolate chips (add to batter)

1/2 c. Chipits brand semi-sweet chocolate chips (sprinkle on and press into top before baking)

Mix all ingredients, in this order and spoon into a 10x13 baking pan sprayed with Pam cooking spray...it is thick and sticky.  Be sure to spread it evenly.  Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes...or until it is brown on top and firm but springy when you touch it.  

Cool and DEVOUR!!!   I secretly froze half of the cookie bars that remained for lunches the next little while :)

Adaptation, spoon bits of dough into mini muffin tins for bite sized muffin/cookies :)

Daddy's fajitas or tacos seasoning mix

My hubby had a turn to cook gluten free and decided to make fajitas...with chicken...a family favourite...the dilemma ???  Which taco seasoning mixes had  gluten in them ???   We knew the brown rice wraps  were amazing...WAY better than whole wheat  and they thawed on the counter in less than 10 minutes...we knew the chicken was safe..thighs were the most juicy...remove the skin and chop off the meat...red peppers and onions were good too...this is now our family's FAVOURITE seasoning (works for tacos too) and  is made by combining these ingredients..

Daddy's fajitas seasoning  mix:
3 T. all purpose Gluten Free Flour
2 T. chili powder
1 T. salt
1 T. paprika
1 T. sugar
1/2  tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed/whole red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cumin
mix all ingredients together and save in a resealable bag or container.
makes three servings of fajitas or tacos


To use:
Add 4T of mix (equivalent to the amount that would be in a store bought packet) and a cup of water to browned meat and cook at a simmer until it thickens :)
If stored in a cool dry place, mix will last for about 1 year

The difficult lunch

My ten year old daughter is very thin and has always been a picky eater  I found myself struggling to make her lunches in the first place and NOW???!!!  She used to at last try to eat a peanut butter sandwich...she wont eat Thermos food or anything WEIRD  or UNCOOL  (eggs, tuna...)...sigh.  She has been great with the breakfast...even eats breakfast now...and with dinner most times... but LUNCH!!  I have her make her own lunches now so I know she will at least eat SOMETHING  ..here are some ideas we came up with together....
The puffed rice bars...like a granola bar without the granola..rice crackers, pretzels, oranges, apples and some veggies and other fruits...I sent her cereal once but she refused to take the milk...even with an ice pack she said it gets too warm...she has to have SOME protein ??!!!  I finally came upon the wonderful substance PEANUT BUTTER!!!  (or almond butter etc...even peanut-less nut butter   if you school is peanut free) She takes a container with a big glob of the yummy stuff in it with things that she LIKES to dip in..celery, a banana...crackers...I feel like she is being fed and she is happy to eat it...it is only healthy if they EAT it right ??  I am so grateful that our house is GLUTEN FREE!!!  Now any food choice my family makes is safe for our little one with Celiac and the struggles to keep things decontaminated are non-existent..PLUS  having Down syndrome already excludes our little one from many things in life...having a heart condition does too...how fair would it be for us to sit and eat puffy bread (gosh I SO miss puffy bread) while she eats playdough type gluten free bread (still working on the perfect bread recipe.....the $45 buns were wonderful but still somewhat heavy and well...I don't have a mixer anymore :P  I really love the brown rice tortillas..they stay in your freezer and thaw in seconds and are even good untoasted!  Gosh I never realized how close i would be with my new toaster...should have invested in a higher quality one..new mixer is first...Today is hot lunch and of course I pre-paid not knowing about the diagnosis...the school PAC was amazing and they have agreed to go against their no refunds policy and let me have a credit towards my other daughter's hot lunch instead :)

Day 9: Fajitas

     For chicken fajitas:  the salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce and chicken are gluten free naturally and I found some AMAZING but expensive, brown rice tortillas in the freezer section of the gluten free area...However, the SEASONING MIX is NOT gluten free...what to do ???  My hubby was on shift for dinner tonight so he Googled  a recipe for gluten free chicken fajitas and mixed up his own batch of seasoning.  The dinner was SO good everyone wanted more and we still had seasoning left for tacos / fajitas another night.
     Lunch was to be a little tricky for tomorrow because we were out of most things..this gluten free stuff is really expensive...all of the girls had cereal (with the milk on the side of course) BREAKFAST for LUNCH!  they LOVED it.  I started to worry about the dog food...and the cat food...was it gluten free...I figured that it was mostly corn based (we buy the cheap kind) and it is not like she is ever going to eat from THEIR bowls...the cats mostly avoid the young children (wonder why) and the dogs are not allowed to lick us :P  I may have to revisit this after more research...For now she will not be feeding these animals..she can help with the fish, guinea pig and turtles :)

Day 7: HOT DOGS!!!!!!

One of the moms at our daycare surprised me today by bringing me a LARGE amout of gluten free cookies pasta and pretzels...must have cost about $50 NICE!!!  We shared GF pretzels for my daughter's school birthday celebration (oddly enough two of the kids at my daycare can't eat wheat so they try to be gluten free and offer GREAT advice :)   )  I was so grateful...After a long day at work we headed out to buy my middle daughter a new bathing suit at Winners and found GLUTEN FREE GRANOLA!!!!  woot woot!!  They have a whole little gluten free section ...Homesense does too..after that we hit Safeway in search of the rumoured "gluten free pieroghy (perogy)"  and found...you guessed it HOTDOGS!!! on SALE even!!! I am going to attempt homeade buns tonight :P and will let you know how it goes...tonight dinner was yummy pancakes :)  The Kinnikinick mix was BETTER than gluten mix...the pancakes didn't leave the full heavy feeling in my tummy like regular pancakes.  The last few even had fresh blueberries..ANOTHER real TREAT!!  For dessert we had yoghurt and I had the yummy new granola in mine.  I also found that Bob's Red Mill rolled oats were gluten free <3    NOW what to do for the buns???!!!

Day 8: the $45 hotdog buns :(

     I decided to make the gluten free hot dog buns with my little preschool class today...the BUNS turned out to be a little weird looking because the batter was like toothpaste at first and when i placed them on the baking sheet, each little bun had spikes sticking out where the dough had stuck to my fingers..like a porcupine..lol.  The instructions said to mix the dough in a bread machine...sadly I had to give mine away :'(  ...  )or to use a free-standing mixer with a dough paddle.  I figured WHY NOT USE my regular MIXER??!!   Sigh...after the smoke cleared I realized that my mixer couldn't handle this tough glob of dough and was actually on fire ...sigh again ...add a new mixer to the list of appliances..I am starting to feel Amish...
     After all of that...the buns actually baked up and tasted like regular dinner rolls..a titch heavy but YUMMY!!  We had all missed bread SO much they were a  REAL treat.  My youngest didn't even eat a hot dog...she just wanted a bun :P
     I am going to try my hand at bread baking this weekend...the bread we bought pre-made in the frozen section did not impress anyone, the DOG would NOT even eat it...My hubby found a pretty good rice bread that was not frozen but very dry and you sort of have to choke it down.  Hopefully I can find a puffy bread recipe :)
     This week is my hubby's turn to make lunches for the girls...he was a bit overwhelmed at first but I helped and he is getting the hang of it.  I thawed some of the chocolate chip cookie bars I had baked the week before (I always save a bit and freeze some of whatever I bake or make so we have a quick dinner on a night when we are rushed..not like we can just go grab a pizza or McDonald's any more :(  He really appreciated that..
    One of the other parents at our little school was so kind and brought us two BIG boxes of Chex cereal.  Rice and honey nut...Chex has ALWAYS been gluten free :) YUM!!  We have been eating them as night-time snacks :)

Day 5: Brown Rice Spaghetti ???

Since Prego spaghetti sauce was gluten free...my hubby could still make his AMAZING sauce and we could have rice spaghetti.  It would be a trial run for my youngest's birthday party on Sunday...did I mention it would be my daughters birthday AND we were having COMPANY FOR DINNER???!!!!  I found gluten free pizza mix and shells at Superstore as well as number and letter shaped "fries" and BREADING FOR CHICKEN!!!!!  We also found a few more brands of cereal and some animal cookies.  I had the cake mix but could use butter and icing sugar and oil to make the icing on the gluten free cake mix...I figured I would make that the morning of the party so it wouldn't have the consistency of a gummy  rock :P  We had a first aid class all day so we left eggs for our sitter and reminded her to wash her hands when she entered our home...you even have to clean your face and mouth before kissing our daughter....sigh....The 8 hour class took our minds off of our tummies and we are slowly starting to adapt..my husband is even losing weight...he has not been tested yet...my guess is that his "wheat belly" is going down and HE is the carrier...Celiac is genetically passed down but because our daughter has Down syndrome she may just get it naturally...not genetically...I could also have had a false positive blood test...Myself and two of my other daughters tested negative and our two sons have not been tested...My youngest is starting to be really aware..She says things like ".I don't want that chicken cause I don't want my tummy to get sick !!!"   She tested negative but if she is living in a healthier way...good!

Day 4: meatloaf

I WAS able to make my meatloaf recipe with Heinz catsup (instead of tomato paste...most of which have gluten), eggs, and gluten free crushed cornflakes because unprocessed meats, fruits, and veggies and most dairy (almost all unflavoured) is gluten free :)   Fresh potatoes were always gluten free and then I was stumped with what else to add...SO I cooked a HUGE amount of frozen peas and frozen corn...Hubby announced that HE was NOT a RABBIT and would need MORE meatloaf than that...sigh...it was really good I just didn't make enough..the kids loved it, but also baulked at the peas and corn...I almost giggled when serving it because they all got about 2 cups each :P   I did take the criticism personally after the meal was over...it DID take me a few hours to plan and prepare that meal :'( and NO ONE gave me good compliments only complaints about the veggies...I decided to get out and get some air and cry on a long drive by myself...also ...and probably not the wisest idea... I posted about my hurt feelings on my Facebook status and got SO MANY words of encouragement and support...and then, of course, I apologized to my hubby there too..he did learn Anne Murray's ..."Even though we ain't got money...I am so in love with you honey"  song on the guitar and sing it to me earlier in the day...Awwwww     <3       I know :')