It's a Baby Shower!

Here's me the day of the Baby Shower!

Hey everyone!

Something interesting happened this past weekend. J. a friend of mine is pregnant and some of her friends threw her a baby shower. J. has  lot of dietary problems, one of which is being allergic to wheat. Not gluten, but wheat. Unfortunately the people throwing her baby shower did not plan anything for the mother-to-be to eat. They figured she could just eat the salads. They didn't even have a cake for her. They had cake for everyone else, and some ice cream for her. When my mom and I heard this our hearts broke! This poor pregnant woman who had gone without any wheat her whole pregnancy, was now not going to be able to eat anything but salad at her own shower. We decided to make her something she hadn't had for 8 1/2 months.

My mom made a beautiful 5 inch deep gluten-free, corn-free Beef Lasagna. Then we used "Healthy Bread in Five minutes-a-day" recipe for Gluten-free Crusty Boule Bread for the garlic bread. For dessert I made gluten-free, corn-free "baby" lime tarts, quinoa raspberry bars, and flax brownies. Everything was a huge hit!

The only problem  was that we only made enough for the mom-to-be, us, and those we knew who had allergies. We had no idea that non-allergic people would be chowing down on the food too! Thank goodness we pushed J. to get in line before it was all gone! 

I think these recipes would come in handy for either a baby shower or a wedding shower, just change the color scheme!

Hope you enjoy them as much as the party guests did!

This is a regular sized tart. The mini ones disappeared too quickly for me to take a picture!

Gluten-free, Corn-free, Soy-free "Baby" Lime Tarts

Makes 30 mini tarts

For the crust:

1/2 C. Spectrum Organic Shortening

1/2 C. Corn-free Powdered Sugar

3 Egg Yolks

Pinch of Salt

1 C. Brown Rice Flour

1/2 C. Amaranth Flour

1/4 C. Potato Starch Flour

For the filling:

3 Egg Yolks

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 C. Lime Juice

2 tsps Grated Lime Zest

Prepare crust:

1 In a mixer, whip together the shortening and sugar, until light and fluffy.

2. Add egg yolks and salt and mix.

3. Add the flours and mix briefly.

4. Put the mixture into a large zip-lock and refrigerate for 1 hour.

5. Line a mini-muffin pan with color coordinating liners. I used blue and green. Michael's carries the liners in several color combinations in their cake decorating department.

6. Press a tablespoon of the crust mixture into each muffin cup. You want it to fill the bottom, but not climb the sides.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 3 minutes.

Prepare filling:

1. Whisk egg yolks with lime zest.

2. Add the sweetened condensed milk. Whisk.

3. Add the lime juice.

4. Fill the par baked crusts with the filling, leave a little space between the filling and the top of the cup.

5. Bake for 9 minutes or until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.

6. Refrigerate before serving.

Dark Chocolate Flax Brownies

Makes 15 brownies.

8 oz Bakers Chocolate

2 oz Semi-sweet Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

1 C. Spectrum Organic Vegan Shortening

4 Eggs

2 C. Brown Sugar

1 rounded cup, Flax Meal

1/2 C Brown Rice Flour

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

4 tsp Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 11x13 inch pan with parchment paper.

2. Using the microwave, melt both chocolates and shortening in a small bowl. Stir. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs till frothy. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the chocolate a little at a time - incorporate it slowly - and beat until shiny and thick.

4.In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry mix to the chocolate mixture, beat well. Add the vanilla, and mix for 30 seconds.

5. Pour into pan and bake for 33 minutes.

Quinoa Raspberry Bars

Makes 15 bars.

1 C. Sorghum Flour

1/2 C. Buckwheat Flour

1/2 C. Tapioca Starch Flour

1 C. Quinoa Flakes

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

3/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 2/3 C. Light Brown Sugar
2/3 C. Olive Oil
2 Tbs Molasses
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs
1/2 C. Enjoy Life Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 C. Freeze Dried Raspberries (broken up)

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients.

2. Whisk together the wet ingredients.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a sturdy spoon until you get a sticky batter. This will take some time, but keep at it!

4. Add in the eggs. Mix until combined.

5. Mix in chocolate chips and Raspberries.

6. Line an 11x13 pan with parchment paper. Press batter evenly into pan.

7. Bake for about 23 minutes.

Gluten-Free, Corn-free Strawberry Lemon Tarts

Some of you may remember my post on Key Lime Pies. Some of you may not. However, since posting that recipe I have come across some . . . difficulties. I tried changing the flavor to make strawberry cream pies, orangesicle cream pie, and chocolate cream pies. I have been successful with all of them, but boy was it difficult! So I thought I would share my misfortunes with you all so you can learn from my mistakes.

1. This is not a dairy free recipe. Sorry! However this recipe needs citrus juice to react with the sweetened condensed milk, otherwise the filling is too thin and runs out of the English muffin ring.This ends up in the filling burning, the sugar caramelizing, and the pie tasting like carcinogens. Yuck.
2. Don't bake the pies too long. Bake only until the filling is set (or doesn't jiggle when shaken), and when a butter knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
3. Don't press too much of the tart crust into the rings, if you do you won't have enough filling.

I am having some lighting/camera issues, so I will post pictures of this recipe sometime in the next couple of days.

Strawberry Lemon Tarts
For the crust recipe, refer back to my post on Gluten-free Lime Tarts.
For the strawberry Lemon tart filling:

1/4 C. Strawberry Puree
1/4 C. Lemon Juice
3 Organic Free Range Egg Yolks
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1. Whip egg yolks until light. Add puree and lemon juice, whip together.
2. Pour in sweetened condensed milk, and mix until thick.
3. Pour into pre-baked tart rings. 

Gluten-free, Corn-free, Soy-free Pumpkin Tarts

Okay, I don't know about you guys, but I tend to stock up on seasonal items when they are on sale. Turkeys around Thanksgiving, picnic tablecloths in the summer, and toys in the winter. Well, last fall I bought about 10 large cans of Libby's 100% Pure pumpkin. Why so much pumpkin, you may ask? First, it was a great deal. Second, last summer my local grocery store completely ran out of pumpkin. They were out of whole pumpkins and canned pumpkin. This is a problem when you are on a rotation diet and need to have pumpkin amaranth bars. I promised myself this would never happen again. So I had hoard of pumpkin in my garage. This week I decided to break out some of that pumpkin and create individual pumpkin pies.

I know what your thinking. "It is 100 degrees outside! What are you doing baking pumpkin pie?!"
Well, I don't think that pumpkin pie is exclusively fall dessert. I enjoy pumpkin pie year round. I mean after all, isn't pumpkin pie really just an exaggerated  custard pie? Would anybody look at me weird if I said I was eating coconut cream pie in the summer? Well, would you?
Didn't think so. Now that you've been properly chastised, let's move on.

I love making individual pies and tarts. I use English muffin rings because they are the perfect size. I have a pie dough crust recipe that I love to use for all of my pies. It's very flexible, and rolls out like a gluten-full pie crust, after it's baked it has a wonderful flaky texture.

For the filling, you can't go wrong with the recipe on the back of the can. I like to use the Fat Free Evaporated Milk. I think it makes the custard taste richer, without adding a ton of fat. Also, I like to mix my own spices but you can use pumpkin pie spice if you would like.

My last tip is to triple check that the can of pumpkin you're using is 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix. Depending on your allergies, the pumpkin pie mix might contain something that will mess you up.

On a side note, for any of you out there who watch Memphis Beat on TNT, doesn't make you want to eat biscuits and drink sweet tea? It sure does me.

Gluten-free, Soy-free, Corn-free, Individual Pumpkin Pie
Makes 4 4-inch Pies

Pie Crust:
1 C. White Rice Flour
1/2 C. Tapioca Starch Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Xanthan gum
1/2 C. Spectrum Organic Shortening
1 Organic Egg, beaten
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbs Ice cold water

Pie Filling:
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cloves
2 Organic Eggs
1 can Pure Pumpkin (15 oz)
1 can Fat Free Evaporated Milk (12 oz)

1. Mix flours, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl. Rub in the shortening but not too much. The mixture should resemble baked beans. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar, and ice water.
2. Slowly stir the mixture into the flour mix until a ball is formed.
3. Knead the pastry, with a little rice flour, for 2-3 minutes.
4. Wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Roll out dough on a floured board. Take the English muffin rings and cut out a circle of dough about an inch bigger then the ring. Put the rings on a parchment covered baking sheet, press the dough into the ring. If you rip a hole, you can just patch it. Poke the dough a couple of times with a fork. Bake the pie shells at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
6. Mix sugar and spices. Beat eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar mix and the pumpkin. Gradually stir in milk.
7.  Prepare the pie filling, and pour into the baked shells.
8. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes; or until a butter knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don't use a tooth pick or cake tester, the custard testing won't work right.
9. Make sure you allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy your "fall" dessert this summer!

 

Millet Chocolate Chip Tea Biscuits

I am constantly trying to use different flour combinations. I do this to gain the health benefits of different grains, and also to make sure I'm not overloading my system with only one type of grain.

One grain that I particularly love is millet. I love to use it as grits, cook it as cereal, bake the flour into bars, biscuits, and breads. It does tend to make things a little bit more crumbly, so if you try substituting it out, make sure to take that into account. One of my favorite recipes is Millet Chocolate Chip Tea Biscuits.

Millet Chocolate Chip Tea Biscuits
Inspired By the Flying Apron

1 3/4 C. Millet Flour
1 C. Tapioca Starch Flour
1 1/2 C. + 1 Tbs Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1 C. Canola Oil
1 C. Sugar
1 C. Rice Milk
1 C. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

1. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Combine canola oil and sugar in a stand mixer. Add the flour and rice milk alternately.
3. Add chocolate chips, mix briefly.
4. Chill the dough for three hours.
5. Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
6. Scoop out the dough with an ice cream scooper, place on parchment paper covered baking sheet, and slightly flatten.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Gluten-free, Corn-free, Soy-free, Dairy-free, Chocolate Chip Blondies

Hey everyone! Now that things are settling down in my crazy, insane life; I promise that we will return to our normal posting program. You are also probably going to notice a few changes that will be made around here. Have you noticed the new background? How about the new recipes page? A lot of new things going on, so keep coming back to check it out!

I wanted to share two things with you guys today.

First, through some of your comments I realized that not everybody has a breadmaker to bake their bread in. I personally think if you are going to go gluten-free this is definitely an amazing time saver, but to each their own.  A loaf of bread I only ever bake in the oven is Vegan sandwich Bread from Ali over The Whole Lie Nutrition. It comes out wonderfully, and tastes amazing spread with pesto.

Second, nobody in my family is allergic to egg so only every now and then do I make something intentionally egg-free or vegan. having said this, I recently fell in love with Cybele Pascal's The Allergen-free Bakers Handbook. All of her recipes are egg-free, however I do not use egg replacer because most all of them contain corn which my family is allergic to. So I adapted a recipe out of this book to contain egg as well as making it so I can flip-flop flours as neccesary. To make this recipe egg free just replace the 2 eggs with 2 eggs worth of prepared egg replacer.

Gluten-free, Soy-free, Corn-free, Dairy-free Chocolate chip Blondie Bars
As adapted from Cybele Pascal's The Allergen-free Bakers Handbook

1 1/2 C. + 1 Tbs Sorghum Flour
1 C. + 1 Tbs Tapioca Flour
1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 1/2 tsp Corn-free Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 C. Spectrum Organic Shortening
3/4 C. Sugar
1/4 plus 2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 tsps Vanilla Extract
2 eggs
1/4 C. plus 1 tsp Rice Milk
1/2 C. Ener-G Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 in square baking pan

2. Whisk together flours, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

3. In another bowl whisk until fluffy the shortening and sugar.

4. Add the vanilla and eggs.

5. Add the flour and rice milk alternately, mixing in between.

6. Add chocolate chips.

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Mine bakes in exactly 35 minutes.

Hope you like!

Check this and other recipes out at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Gluten free, Soy free, Corn free White sandwhich bread

I don't know about you, but somedays I am craving a sandwhich!! Just absolutely dying for a big, fat, juicy sandwhich.

Unfortunately on a limited calorie diet, anything described big, fat, and juicy is pretty much a no-no. But there are ways to fake big and juicy without any of the fat.

A sandwhich typically consists of bread, spread, meat, cheese, and typically some vegetable of some sort.

With gluten-free baking, bread is a touchy subject. Pretty much all store bought bread is disguusting, so that is not an option. I have figured out the easiest way to have fresh, soft, delicious bread all the time.

A breadmaker. Thats right. Breadmakers are no longer the trend of the 90's. Most breadmakers today even have a gluten-free setting. I love my Cuisinart Breadmaker, it makes the most beautiful white sandwhich bread. Soft, tender, flaky. Wait. Why describe the bread, when I can show it to you?

It slices and toasts beautifully.  It took me awhile to get the recipe just right, but now that it is I am happy to share it with you! This bread recipe posted below:

Gluten-free White Sandwhich Bread

3 Eggs
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1/4 Agave Nector
1 1/2 c. Buttermilk
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 Tbs Yeast
1/3 c. Tapioca Starch Flour
1/2 c. Potato Starch Flour
1/2 c. Garbanzo Bean Flour
2 c. White Rice Flour

1. Your breadmakers manual should tell you whether to put the dry ingredients or wet first. If not, then place wet first, then dry ingredients on top. Sprinkle the yeast on top last.
2. Select Gluten free or Sweet Dough setting. Leave the bread in an extra 20 minutes after it has finished baking.
3. Pull out and let cool before slicing.

For the rest of your sandwhich, the options are limitless!

• Mayo, Spicy Mustard, Roast Beef, and Swiss
• Mayo, Yellow Mustard, Turkey, Tomato
• Avacado, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato
• Egg salad
• Basil Mayo, Chicken, Provolone

A favorite of mine is a grilled open face sandwhich. Thats what I had for lunch the other day, you know, when I was CRAVING a sandwhich.

First I took1/3 of a Gluten-free whole grain baguette, cut in half, sprayed it with a little Grill Pam and broiled it until crispy and brown. Then I topped each half with 4 slices of tomato, 3 slices of Turkey, and half a slice of Swiss cheese. Then i broiled it until the cheese was all melted and bubbly. It was delicious!!!! And only 265 calories total.

See this and other recipes at Gluten free Homemaker
Gluten-Free Bread

Gluten free, Corn free, soy free Key Lime tarts

Finally! A break in the insanity long enough for me to write.

I bet that almost everyone out there has been forced to eat at either someone elses house or out at a public event. For the past three days I have had to eat out at a building project. It was so difficult trying to keep to my daily calorie limit! In the mornings, there were boxes and boxes of donuts. At lunch, iceberg lettuce as a vegetable. Burgers, chips, brownies, boxed cookies. Yuck. By the time I got home, which was usually at about 10:30, I was too tired to eat anything. Today I was practically gorging on vegetables. haha.

The only way I could eat low calorie was by following a few easy rules.
1. Don't eat anything pre-packaged or store bought.
2. Don't put mayo or full-fat dressing on anything.
3. Aim for protein, carb and vegetable. Don't double up on anything.
4. No dessert! It is all going to be full of fat, sugar, and empty calories.

By sticking to these rules I was able to only go above my calories by 150 each day, and I'm sure you can too.

Today I'm sharing with you all a recipe for a killer not-super low calorie, gluten, soy, corn-free dessert.

Gluten-free, Soy-free, Corn-free Key Lime Pie

Crust:
1/2 C. Organic Shortening
1/2 C. Corn-free Powdered Sugar
3 Egg Yolks, organic cage-free
pinch of salt
1 C. Brown Rice Flour
1/2 C. Amaranth Flour
1/4 C. Potato Starch

Filling:
3 Large Egg Yolks
1 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 C. Lime Juice
2 tsps Lime Zest

Prepare the crust:
In a food processor combine the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and pinch of salt, mix until incorporated. Add the three flours and mix briefly. Dump out in to a large zip bag and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Press half the crust mix into 4 english muffins tins resting on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Use pie weights or dried beans to prevent the crust from puffing too much.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Prepare filling:
Beat eggs until fluffy.

Add all other ingredients and whisk until combined.

Prepare pies:
Pour filling into rings.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the filling is set and doesn't wiggle when shaken.

Let cool completely. They should come right out of the rings, if not take a butter knife and slide it around the edges. Top with whip cream if you can have it. Enjoy!

See this and other recipes at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

Gluten free Greek Strawberry "Tart"

Hey everyone!

It has been an unbelievably busy week, and unfortunately it seems like the crazyness will continue.

I have been cooking and baking though, so I have a lot to share with you. I can't share everything with you in this one post, so I am going to give you some small little tid bits.

You all know about my attempted weight loss, well I recently reached a pretty big mile stone. So far I have lost 50 lbs. I was so excited, I danced around the house for like 45 minutes. I have been working really hard the past couple of months, working out, dieting, and counting calories. So I thought about once a week I would feature a gluten-free diet recipe for those of you who have allergies and are trying to lose weight.

This weeks recipe is more of a snack or breakfast.

Greek Strawberry "Tart"

3 Cracklebred Original crackers
1/4 c. Fage Greek Yogurt
4 large strawberries
1 Tbs chopped walnuts

1. Spread a cracker with 1/3rd of the yogurt.
2. Slice the strawberries and arrange on to the crackers.
3. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Total Calories: 145!

I thought this was a perfect summer afternoon snack.

Check this and other recipes out at What can I eat thats gluten free Wednesdays

Gluten free, Corn free, soy free Millet bars

Hey everyone! Here I am posting before the weekend is up. Ha. I kept my word . . . and you doubted me. Shame on you.

Well, I forgive you. Moving on.

I am so excited about this new feature Foodbuzz just installed. It's called Healthbuzz and it has a specialized area for those who have food allergies as well as a vast library of other bloggers post's having to deal with other health issues. Another great feature is the section on Fitness. There are soooo many bloggers out there focusing on weight loss! It's inspiring. Plus, if you do check it out, you might just catch a glimpse of me over at Healthbuzz. Thats right. Your little ol' Funny Girl is a Contributing Editor over at Healthbuzz. So, go check it out. I'll wait here.

You back? Good.

Well remember that picture I teased you with earlier this weekend? Well now you are finally going to get the recipe! This recipe is Gluten-free, Soy-free, Corn-free, Dairy-free, and Egg-free. This recipe started with a flopped blondie recipe. When I tried to make it work, it came out amazing. So now I make "bad" blondies on purpose, and often.

Millet Bars

Whisk together these dry ingredients:

1/3 c. Garbanzo Bean Flour

2/3 c. Millet Flour

1/3 c. Tapioca Flour

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp Corn-free baking powder

In a seperate bowl, beat to combine:

2/3 c. Brown Sugar

1/4 c. No Sugar added Apple sauce ( I use Motts)

1/4 c. Olive Oil

2  1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbs agave Nectar

1/4 c. Rice Milk

Combine wet and dry ingredients, add in:

1/2 c. Enjoy Life Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

Pour into 8x8 in Pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-30 minutes.

Cool completely.

Melt in a measuring cup in the microwave:

3 oz Bakers chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 oz Enjoy Life Semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs Spectrum Shortening

Pour chocolate mixture over cooled bars, let completely harden before cutting.

Check this recipe and other recipes out at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Tempting

Hey all! I have a hugely busy weekend ahead of me, but I promise to post before its over.

I just thought I would wet your whistle with some pics of some upcoming recipes. Enjoy!

Crustless Canadian Quiche

Some of you might be following The Gluten-free Homemakers' Gluten-free Wednesdays Monthly challenge, if not I would totally recommend checking it out. Anyhow, the challenge this month was to create and make a quiche. Now I have never made a quiche in my life, nor have I ever eaten one, so when this challenge came out I was really excited to participate.

First, I looked at a lot of recipes for different kinds of quiche. Bacon quiche. Quiche Lorraine. Veggie Quiche. A lot of different kinds of quiche.
Second, I decided to build my own recipe, but adapt it a little bit.
I knew that I wanted to make it crustless to cut down on the calories, and then I decided to make it with mostly egg whites to cut back on the cholesterol.

I am really happy with this recipe, it was a sooo good and only 200 Calories a slice.

Check this and other recipes out at The Gluten Free Homemaker.

Crustless Canadian Quiche

3 egg whites

3 whole eggs

1 C. Skim Fat Ricotta Cheese

1/2 pack of Canadian Bacon (I use Hormel)

1 large Tomato or 2 small

1/2 C. Celery, diced small

4 Tbs Parmesan cheese, optional

Salt

1. Spray a glass pie plan with non-stick spray.
2. Beat eggs together. Add ricotta. Mix together.
3. Add all other ingredients on top of egg mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until center doesn't wiggle when jiggled.

Hamburger Buns

For a while there, it actually felt like summer. It really did, but now it's cold and rainy and dreary and dark.

 

I hate being betrayed by my own weather. Oh well. April showers bring may flowers, right?

 

I even had a summer recipe all sset up to share with you. Hey, maybe you would like to see it anyway?
Okay, well the other day I was watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network. Oh my goodness. This is one of the few shows that when I watch it, drool pools in my mouth. You ever had that happen? Of  course most of the food is soooo bad for you! Always deep fried, smothered in cheese, and served with fries. Oh god. Your head is screaming "Don't eat that!", but your stomachs saying "Please! Just a bite!!!". The episodes that really get me are the pancake and burger episodes.

 

Burgers are my achilles heel. Anyhow, the episode had burgers from a restraunt in Long Beach, California. The burgers were so juicy and smothered in things like grilled pineapple, that they literally dripped down the patrons hands. So now my plan is that once it warms up I am going to make burgers like that, including the grilled pineapple! But first lets talk about the bun. Gluten Free Hamburger buns are pretty much disgusting, especially the store bought ones. They are all hard and dry, and are only palatable if you toast them. Well, I have discovered a recipe for hamburger buns that are a vast improvement over those hard things.

 

 

 

Gluten-free Hamburger Buns

 

4 C. White Rice Flour
2 C. Tapioca Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
7 tsps Xanthan
2 tsps Salt
3 Tbs Yeast
3 1/2 C. Warm water
1/2 c. Olive Oil
2 tsp Rice Vinegar
6 eggs

1. Add all the dry ingredients except the yeast a stand mixer. Blend together. Pour the yeast in on top.
2. Add the warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Add the oil, vinegar, and eggs.  Mix on high 5 minutes.
4. Scoop into english muffin rings or rings made out of aluminum foil. I like to use a large ice cream scoop to do this.
5. Let rise on your oven for 30 minutes.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Makes 15 hamburger buns.

Beef stock

For most people with multiple allergies finding prepackaged food of any kind is extremely difficult, if not darn near impossible. Where as most people who have to eat just gluten-free or just corn-free can typically find something to eat, those with multiple allergies never can. It's true. They never can. If it doesn't have garlic then it has soy. If it doesn't have carrot it has russet potato. If it's tomato free then its cooked with corn oil. Bluch. Why even bother? I say, let's just make everything ourselves! A perfect example of this is beef stock.

Beef stock is one of those basic necessities that every cook needs in there kitchen, it is positively invaluable when making meatballs, soup, or gravy. The problem with store bought stock is that every single one contains pepper, carrots, and soy. All three of these ingredients my mother is allergic to, so in my house we make our own beef stock. Here is how I go about doing this: Here is what you'll need.

Ingredients
3 lbs of Beef Bones
1 Onion
1 Bunch Parsley
1 Celery
Olive Oil
Salt
1 Bay Leaf

First place your bones in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, and then rub the bones with the oil.

Chop the onion into fourths, and the celery into four inch chunks (including the leaves, they add a lot of flavor). Add to the roasting pan and sprinkle all with salt.

Roast for 1:30 at 400degrees, flipping the bones every half hour.

When finished roasting, place all the bones and veg into a large stockpot.

Now place the roasting pan over two burners on your stove and heat just until the pan is hot. This only takes a minute.

 When the pan is hot, add 1 cup of red wine and scrape the pan with a wooden spatula to get all the lovely carmalized drippings off the bottom of the pan.

Pour the wine and drippings into your large stockpot.

Add a bay leaf and the rest of the parsley. Now if you can have pepper, then it would be good to add 5 or 6 peppercorns to the pot too.

Fill the pot with water, put on the stove and heat just till simmering.

When simmering, lower the heat just until you see a few bubbles rising to the top.

Do not let it boil.

Leave it on the stove to lightly simmer for 4-6 hours.

Now go watch a movie. I recommend Julie and Julia or The Three Musketeers, but you know, whatever floats your boat. The important thing is to leave the pot alone. Do not stir. This will make your stock cloudy.

After the 4-6 hours, remove the pot and strain the bones and vegetables out of the stock.

Leave the stock overnight in the fridge. In the morning a thick layer of hardened fat will be on the top.

Scrape this off and throw away.

Now you are ready to package and freeze.

I like using Glad containers for this.

Now you have stock for all of your favorites recipes.

Check this recipe out at Gluten Free Wednesdays.

Amaranth Cereal

Hey everyone. Sorry I havn't been around for a while. I've had the stomach flu for the past week, and as most of you know, throwing up and writing about food are not a good combo. I couldn't even watch the food network. Yeah. That's bad. I'm still under the weather, but at least the stomach part is over. Thank goodness.

Now back to our normal broadcasting schedule.

When my family went gluten free something we quickly came to realize is how messed up most peoples diet is. At least half of Americans go a full year without eating a single whole grain. How shocking is that?! When I first heard that statistic it really made me think. If you dissect the average persons diet you can really see the where the problem areas are.

The average Americans diet:

Breakfast:
Coffee or mixed, blended coffee-like drink
Cereal (bleached, dyed, sweetened, and then "enriched")
Pastry ( sugary, buttery, and doused with preservatives)

Lunch:
Fast Food (fat chance of finding a whole grain there)
School Cafeteria food (deep fried, soaking in ketchup, french fries counting as a vegetable)

Dinner:
Fast Food (deep fried, depleted, with 23 different ingredients)
Restaurant Food ( Containing the same amount of calories you should have for your whole day)
A frozen dinner ( seriously? No whole grains unless you specifically are looking for them)

There you go. Not a whole grain in sight. Unfortunately, with some people who go gluten free it sometimes is not a lot better. White rice flour is not a whole grain. When we went gluten free, my family and I decided we were going to try to eat as healthy as possible. As part of this endeavor, we decided to add whole grains into our life as much as we can. Here are a couple of ways to incorporate whole grains into your life:

• When eating pasta try quinoa, brown rice or flax pasta instead of white.
• Instead of white rice try brown rice or quinoa as a side.
• Try puffed whole grain cereals like Arrowhead Mills Puffed Millet.
• Buy a bread machine and make your own gluten free bread with millet, amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat flours.

One of my favorite whole grain foods is Amaranth cereal. Amaranth seeds, like buckwheat and quinoa, contain a complete set of amino acids. Its seeds have a protein content greater than that of wheat. Several studies have shown that like oats, amaranth seed or benefits those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease; regular consumption reduces blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I personally think this is awesome. I love cooking amaranth for a breakfast cereal similar to cream of wheat.

Amaranth Cereal

2 c. Whole Amaranth grain
6 c. water
dash salt

1. Add all ingredients to pan, cover and bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cook for 25 or until the consistency that you like.

WARNING: When lifting the lid to check thickness watch out for amaranth popping. When a semi-solid substance boils it tends to pop you with boiling hot amaranth cereal that burns your flesh. Be careful.

My mom likes to eat this cereal sweetened with splenda. Pureed prunes also taste really good too. I know weird, but good.

For more recipes check out Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Corn-free Corn dogs

I love how, some days, inspiration comes from the wierdest places.

That did not happen today. Today I found inspiration from the same place women have been getting inspiration from for the past 50 years.

The grocery store.

A couple of days ago, I was shopping and found my favorite brand of hot dogs were on sale!!

Now, I know some of you out there have problems with hot dogs. I don't. I love them. However I only buy the really good brands such as Jennie-o or Hebrew National (they answer to a higher authority, haha). Another option is going through a specialty meat store and buying sasauge or by ordering online at a organic meat store. My favorite is Blackwing Meats.

So I saw these hot dogs on sale, and immediately started craving corn dogs. I wasn't, however, craving corn, gluten, or something deep fried. So I started thinking about ways to adapt this recipe into a healthier alternative.

The dough is crunchy on the outside, but chewy inside. If made smaller these would make great party hors de' ouvers! Make sure to serve with a lot of mustard, which is my favorite condiment.

Corn-free Corn Dogs

2 c. Rice Flour
1 c. Tapioca Starch Flour
1 c. Garbanzo Bean Flour
4 tsp Sugar
4 tsp Xanthan Gum
4 tsp Yeast
1 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1 c. Milk, rice or dairy
1 pack Hot Dogs

1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add wet ingredients.
3. Mix until combined with a spoon.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a couple time, until smooth.
5. Form into a square.
6. Cut in half, then cut into 10 pieces each.
7. Roll each peace into a 3 inch long 1 1/2 inch wide strip.
8. Cut hot dogs in half, or whatever size best fits the dough.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Let "dogs" rise on a warm oven for 14 minutes.
3. Bake for15 minutes or until completely cooked all the way through and golden brown.

Check this and other recipes out at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free