Here is another fairly healthy family favorite. I love the fact that there is NO added sugar, just don't tell my girls. I try to bake an extra couple of potatoes just so I can make these. This recipes uses a flour blend - I use my America's Test kitchen blend, but here is the blend from the book -- pretty simple too. 2 cups brown rice flour, 2 cups sorghum flour, 1 cup potato starch, 1 cup tapioca starch.
1 1/4 c mashed sweet potato
1 1/2 cups gf flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 butter or coconut oil, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c milk
Combine all dry ingredients. Mix together eggs, milk, oil and sweet potato. Pour liquid over flour mixture and stir until just combined.
That's it -- sweet potato pancake batter, viola!! Now just pour into heated griddle and cook like regular pancakes.
They are awesome!!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
GF Cinnamon Oat Scones
I've done some experimenting lately and found a few good recipes -- here is the latest on that all of my family likes!! Kevin said the texture of these were really good, they were moist, although I found them a bit dense. Don't think I will try to modify them, not bad at all like they are.
As always, my measurements are by weight -- amazing that I've become "that" cook ;}
4.2 oz sorghum flour (approx 1 cup)
1.3 oz white rice flour (approx 1/4 cup)
1.15 oz brown rice flour (approx 1/4 cup)
1.3 oz potato starch (approx 1/4 cup)
1 cup gf oats (I put mine in the blender just to make them a little finer, Hannah doesn't like chunks)
1/4 c brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp guar gum
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 - 1/2 c cinnamon chips
1/2 c buttermilk
1/4 c applesauce (you could use an egg instead)
Preheat oven to 400. Weigh or measure flours, starch, and oats. Combine with next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until mixture looks like it has little pebbles in it. Stir in baking chips. Add buttermilk and applesauce, stir until moist.
It seems like not enough fluid, but keep stirring, it will work.
Now comes the fun part. I put out a piece of parchment paper onto a round cookie sheet. Dump the dough and shape into a 8 inch circle. Cut into 12 wedges and then separate a bit. Bake at 400 for 14 minutes.
There are several variations -- you could add finely diced apple -- yummy.
You could also pat out and use a biscuit cutter to make round biscuits, instead of traditional scone shape. Or just drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Also, you could brush with either egg white or milk and sprinkle a bit of sugar on top.
Like I said earlier -- we loved these and they aren't that unhealthy!! Only 169 calories per scone. Enjoy warm with applesauce or a glass of cold milk.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Cinnamon Bread - gluten free and yummy!
firstof all this is taken from "the how can it be gluten free cookbook" by americas test kitchen.
they include a flour blend that i tweak a bit, mostly because i do not want to use that much white rice flour, instead preferring to add something a bit healthier. so here it what i use, if youwish you can use the original amounts given in parentheses.
12 oz brown rice flour (7 1/2 oz)
12 oz sorghum flour (none)
7 1/2 oz white rice flour (24 oz)
7 oz potato starch
3 oz tapioca starch
3/4 oz powdered milk
after mixing all of that together, here is the actual recipe.
Dough -
14 oz flour blend
4 oz oat flour
1 1/2 oz milk powder
3 T powdered psyllium husk
3 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 c warm water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 cup raisins (optional, i did Not add)
Filling
1/2 c powdered sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Put all dry ingredients, except raisins) in mixer with paddle attachments, pulse until combined. in a separate bowl mix water, eggs, and butter. with mixer running, slowly pour into mixer, scraping down side if needed, mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. this is VERY crucial. add raisins if desired.
dump 1/2 the dough onto an oiled piece of parchment, using wet hands spread into an 8 x 11 rectangle, spread 1/2 the sugar mixture evenly over dough and spritz with water, using parchment, roll into a log and place in sprayed pan with seam facing up, repeat with remaining dough and filling, and place seam down.
let rise until doubled, bake at 350 for almost an hour and half. cool completely before slicing.
they include a flour blend that i tweak a bit, mostly because i do not want to use that much white rice flour, instead preferring to add something a bit healthier. so here it what i use, if youwish you can use the original amounts given in parentheses.
12 oz brown rice flour (7 1/2 oz)
12 oz sorghum flour (none)
7 1/2 oz white rice flour (24 oz)
7 oz potato starch
3 oz tapioca starch
3/4 oz powdered milk
after mixing all of that together, here is the actual recipe.
Dough -
14 oz flour blend
4 oz oat flour
1 1/2 oz milk powder
3 T powdered psyllium husk
3 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 c warm water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 cup raisins (optional, i did Not add)
Filling
1/2 c powdered sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Put all dry ingredients, except raisins) in mixer with paddle attachments, pulse until combined. in a separate bowl mix water, eggs, and butter. with mixer running, slowly pour into mixer, scraping down side if needed, mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. this is VERY crucial. add raisins if desired.
dump 1/2 the dough onto an oiled piece of parchment, using wet hands spread into an 8 x 11 rectangle, spread 1/2 the sugar mixture evenly over dough and spritz with water, using parchment, roll into a log and place in sprayed pan with seam facing up, repeat with remaining dough and filling, and place seam down.
let rise until doubled, bake at 350 for almost an hour and half. cool completely before slicing.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
GF Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Hannah and I have been doing the gluten free thing for exactly a month !!! (for all those worriers out there, it's because she has been diagnosed with celiac disease, not because I was bored and needed a new challenge)
Last night, supper was just for the girls and I - we've had rice lately and Mexican too, and quite frankly, I didn't feel like experimenting with yet another so-so pasta - so pulled out an old favorite. Muffins!! I haven't attempted anything like since Hannah was diagnosed, but figured why not. Started going through the cookbooks and liked this one the most. I have to say, everything I've made from this particular cookbook is awesome!! "America's Test Kitchen: How can it be Gluten Free?"
Here's the recipe -- it starts with a flour mixtures, of which you use a little over half. That's the only issue with this cookbook, but I've started making up the flour mixture and having it ready, mostly because this IS the book I use most.
12oz white rice flour
3.75 oz brown rice flour
3.5 oz potato starch
1.5 oz tapioca starch
1 1/2 Tbsp milk powder
I know -- all white stuff, but I'm experimenting with ways to make it better, especially bread.
Okay, on to the recipe -- makes 12 normal to large size muffins
11 oz of the flour mixture
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of either xanthan or guar gum
3/4 c white sugar (next time I'm only using 1/2)
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp. ground flax (not in the batch I made, but will add next time)
1 medium to large apple, diced into small pieces (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 cups)
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax and gum of choice.
In a separate bowl combine sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
Add to flour mixture and stir until well combined. Fold in apples (or blueberries, or cranberries with orange zest, whatever suits your fancy) cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes -- this is the important part. Once batter has rested, spoon into prepared muffin pan.
Heat oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes. They will brown a little on top, but not too much.
These would also be good to use lemon extract and add some zest and poppy seeds. Just your basic muffin batter.
Last night, supper was just for the girls and I - we've had rice lately and Mexican too, and quite frankly, I didn't feel like experimenting with yet another so-so pasta - so pulled out an old favorite. Muffins!! I haven't attempted anything like since Hannah was diagnosed, but figured why not. Started going through the cookbooks and liked this one the most. I have to say, everything I've made from this particular cookbook is awesome!! "America's Test Kitchen: How can it be Gluten Free?"
Here's the recipe -- it starts with a flour mixtures, of which you use a little over half. That's the only issue with this cookbook, but I've started making up the flour mixture and having it ready, mostly because this IS the book I use most.
12oz white rice flour
3.75 oz brown rice flour
3.5 oz potato starch
1.5 oz tapioca starch
1 1/2 Tbsp milk powder
I know -- all white stuff, but I'm experimenting with ways to make it better, especially bread.
Okay, on to the recipe -- makes 12 normal to large size muffins
11 oz of the flour mixture
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of either xanthan or guar gum
3/4 c white sugar (next time I'm only using 1/2)
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp. ground flax (not in the batch I made, but will add next time)
1 medium to large apple, diced into small pieces (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 cups)
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax and gum of choice.
In a separate bowl combine sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
Add to flour mixture and stir until well combined. Fold in apples (or blueberries, or cranberries with orange zest, whatever suits your fancy) cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes -- this is the important part. Once batter has rested, spoon into prepared muffin pan.
These would also be good to use lemon extract and add some zest and poppy seeds. Just your basic muffin batter.
Monday, June 9, 2014
search for bread
Decided I wanted a healthier version of the bread I made earlier this week. It turned out super and was pretty straightforward, so I figured I couldn't mess it up too bad, so I made a few changes.
I left out a bit of the oat flour and replaced it with buckwheat. I also replaced one of the eggs with ground flax seed, used honey instead of sugar, and finally replaced the butter with about 1/2 the amount of oil.
It turned out okay -- a little heavy maybe - I have a hard time baking for the full 1 1/2 hrs and then an even harder time letting it cool for over an hour.
Here are a few pictures of the process.
I left out a bit of the oat flour and replaced it with buckwheat. I also replaced one of the eggs with ground flax seed, used honey instead of sugar, and finally replaced the butter with about 1/2 the amount of oil.
It turned out okay -- a little heavy maybe - I have a hard time baking for the full 1 1/2 hrs and then an even harder time letting it cool for over an hour.
Here are a few pictures of the process.
this is what the flour mixture looked like after adding the buckwheat
The egg, honey, oil mixture
Beginning of mixing it all together -- kind of a goopy mess
Let it go for 6 minutes and you get a thick batter/dough consistency
It still isn't sturdy enough to not fall over the sides when it rises, so I fashioned a foil collar to help create a taller loaf
the glob waiting to rise
Final result - sorry I didn't get a picture of the fully risen loaf before it went into the oven.
a couple more tweaks over the wknd - going to add some whole grain cereal to one loaf and then make another with only partially ground flax seed, make it meal instead of powder and see if I like the way that turns out. The flavor and texture of all have been good, I'm just trying to make it a little healthier.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
And the Journey Continues
Two and a half weeks in -- here's the scoop
Hannah is doing fantastic. I think we've only had one little tiny incident. She made some candy sushi and had a bit of the cand -- that night as we were going to bed, she doubled over with a small tummy cramp - lasted a couple of minutes and then she was off to bed. Next morning she asked me if one of her friends at school that has peanut allergies could eat it, so we checked. We were good with peanuts, but in reading the ingredients, come to find out, one of them had wheat. Hannah had picked up the candy, all of which she had checked out, but one of the was mini's, not the regular candy, guess they used flour to keep the candies from sticking -- other than that, we haven't had any issues with anything.
She seems to be feeling better and has a better outlook on life. It's amazing to me how many things I've read that relate to neurological and behavioral issue in children that have Celiac. Her outlook on life seems to be better, granted we still have some of our normal issues, but I can usually put a finger on what is causing them - usually hunger. Still haven't been able to convince her to eat any quantity. Her definition of a meal consists of about 1/4-1/2 cup of food. TOTAL. We're going to be working on it, next week we meet with an occupational therapist that is a feeding specialist. Can't wait to see how that evaluation goes.
We were cuddling the other morning and when I asked Hannah what she thought about how this lifestyle changed made her feel, she gave me an answer in the form of a most beautiful grin. Almost made me cry. Right now she's an awesome trooper!! I only hope it continues as we try to get her to eat a variety of foods and see what the OT has to say.
My journey - not quite the same. The first week I felt like I was covered with poison ivy or bug bites everywhere. My skin was crawling -- I just wanted to peel my skin off. My nerves were on end, not just physically, but emotionally as well. I wasn't sleeping well and was craving sugar all over the place. About drove me crazy. Lasted for about a week, still have occasional itchiness, but not so bad.
Then I got sick, nothing major initially, just sore throat, coughing, sinus gunk, etc.. Put up with it for 5 days or so and then went to the Dr. Turns out I had a sinus infection and an ear infection - antibiotic on board. I'm actually done with it tonight and can't say that it helped a ton. I'm still coughing and sinusy -- YUCK. Also feel exhausted all the time, I'll sit down for a bit and find myself falling asleep, except when it's midnight and then I'm wide awake. I even took to sleeping on the couch, so that I wasn't tossing and turning in bed for hours on end, let myself fall asleep whenever it happened.
I still feel like my body is reacting, I'm exhausted and just cranky. The physical symptoms of withdrawal I can handle, but I'm still trying to figure out the emotions involved. I find myself reading something and just tear up or I'm in the grocery store, usually with Hannah, looking for all the foods we can find, trying to tempt her to eat something, to pique her interest in something other than the 3 foods she'll eat, and I'll feel the tears welling up. I know she doesn't get the enormity of this disease, but at times it hits me and I just want have a pity party for her.
I try super hard to be upbeat and keep a sense of adventure for her sake, but right now I feel like I'm going at it alone. I really don't mind the cooking and experimenting, but sometimes I'd love to just look at the family and say let's order a pizza" or let's go out to eat without thinking of where and what we are going to do. Oh well, one step at a time and one meal at a time -- today we survived with homemade pita bread and falafel with gf rice krispies instead of bread crumbs. Part of it though, is the experimenting, I'd love to be able to just pull a recipe and know how it will turn out -- again, time will persevere.
If you are a praying person, my request is that I'll find someone that has been down this road and that I will connect with. I know there are lots of people that go gf, but I would love to have a connection with someone that i can just click with. Okay, enough whining -- off to toss and turn for another couple of hours :-)
Hannah is doing fantastic. I think we've only had one little tiny incident. She made some candy sushi and had a bit of the cand -- that night as we were going to bed, she doubled over with a small tummy cramp - lasted a couple of minutes and then she was off to bed. Next morning she asked me if one of her friends at school that has peanut allergies could eat it, so we checked. We were good with peanuts, but in reading the ingredients, come to find out, one of them had wheat. Hannah had picked up the candy, all of which she had checked out, but one of the was mini's, not the regular candy, guess they used flour to keep the candies from sticking -- other than that, we haven't had any issues with anything.
She seems to be feeling better and has a better outlook on life. It's amazing to me how many things I've read that relate to neurological and behavioral issue in children that have Celiac. Her outlook on life seems to be better, granted we still have some of our normal issues, but I can usually put a finger on what is causing them - usually hunger. Still haven't been able to convince her to eat any quantity. Her definition of a meal consists of about 1/4-1/2 cup of food. TOTAL. We're going to be working on it, next week we meet with an occupational therapist that is a feeding specialist. Can't wait to see how that evaluation goes.
We were cuddling the other morning and when I asked Hannah what she thought about how this lifestyle changed made her feel, she gave me an answer in the form of a most beautiful grin. Almost made me cry. Right now she's an awesome trooper!! I only hope it continues as we try to get her to eat a variety of foods and see what the OT has to say.
My journey - not quite the same. The first week I felt like I was covered with poison ivy or bug bites everywhere. My skin was crawling -- I just wanted to peel my skin off. My nerves were on end, not just physically, but emotionally as well. I wasn't sleeping well and was craving sugar all over the place. About drove me crazy. Lasted for about a week, still have occasional itchiness, but not so bad.
Then I got sick, nothing major initially, just sore throat, coughing, sinus gunk, etc.. Put up with it for 5 days or so and then went to the Dr. Turns out I had a sinus infection and an ear infection - antibiotic on board. I'm actually done with it tonight and can't say that it helped a ton. I'm still coughing and sinusy -- YUCK. Also feel exhausted all the time, I'll sit down for a bit and find myself falling asleep, except when it's midnight and then I'm wide awake. I even took to sleeping on the couch, so that I wasn't tossing and turning in bed for hours on end, let myself fall asleep whenever it happened.
I still feel like my body is reacting, I'm exhausted and just cranky. The physical symptoms of withdrawal I can handle, but I'm still trying to figure out the emotions involved. I find myself reading something and just tear up or I'm in the grocery store, usually with Hannah, looking for all the foods we can find, trying to tempt her to eat something, to pique her interest in something other than the 3 foods she'll eat, and I'll feel the tears welling up. I know she doesn't get the enormity of this disease, but at times it hits me and I just want have a pity party for her.
I try super hard to be upbeat and keep a sense of adventure for her sake, but right now I feel like I'm going at it alone. I really don't mind the cooking and experimenting, but sometimes I'd love to just look at the family and say let's order a pizza" or let's go out to eat without thinking of where and what we are going to do. Oh well, one step at a time and one meal at a time -- today we survived with homemade pita bread and falafel with gf rice krispies instead of bread crumbs. Part of it though, is the experimenting, I'd love to be able to just pull a recipe and know how it will turn out -- again, time will persevere.
If you are a praying person, my request is that I'll find someone that has been down this road and that I will connect with. I know there are lots of people that go gf, but I would love to have a connection with someone that i can just click with. Okay, enough whining -- off to toss and turn for another couple of hours :-)
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Try and try again
Well, we've made it one week!! Hannah has survived, she has done very well. We made it through eating out, a couple of parties at school, and an overnight visit with the grandparents. We've also experimented with made from scratch pancakes, biscuits, pasta, and chocolate chip cookies. Nothing turned out horrible, although some were better than others.
The pancakes I made at home - so, so. The biscuits were made at GraMona's -- again so, so. Next time would definitely cut down on the fat (plus I forgot the xanthan gum at home, so they were a bit crumbly) I had planned to stay for breakfast so mom and I had that meal pulled together, but we ended up staying longer and neither one of us had planned lunch. Last minute, we decided to have pasta. She makes pasta a bit, so we just made her regular recipe with brown rice flour. Normally you let the dough sit before rolling and cutting -- BAD IDEA. Getting used to different chemical reactions is going to take a bit. I'm assuming that with wheat flour you let it sit so that the gluten can develop -- NOT with RICE!! So next time, lesson learned, roll immediately. Again, xanthan gum would have helped.
Then this morning, Hannah told me they were having a chimes party at school and she would like to take something that everybody could eat, not just a single serving for her (that's what we did last week with the school stuff). Unfortunately, I've been knocked out with some nasty cold/allergy/sore throat whatever and did not feel up to a trip to the store. Happened upon some choc chips and decided to make choc chip cookies. What kid doesn't like those. Followed the recipe to the letter and this is what the first batch turned out like.
Definitely needed more flour, so added that, and not only did they hold their shape while raw, but worked beautifully in the oven as well. The true test was that Hannah said the kids really liked them and several of them were amazed they were gluten free. Hannah has been testing out various things the last couple of weeks and "graciously" sharing them with her friends. They unanimously agreed that this was a keeper. So here's the recipe -- adapted from "Gluten-free, Hassle Free" by Marlisa Brown.
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup almond meal (I ground it up a little more fine in my dry container Vitamix)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 bag of chocolate chips or mini baking chips
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined, scraping down sides of mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and then add to butter mixture. Mix well. Dough should be stiff, but not crumbly.
Place by the tbsp on a baking sheet and bake for 9 -11 minutes. Let cool on pan for a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
I put the rest of the dough (dropped by tbsps) on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Guess we'll find out later if that works or not :)
The pancakes I made at home - so, so. The biscuits were made at GraMona's -- again so, so. Next time would definitely cut down on the fat (plus I forgot the xanthan gum at home, so they were a bit crumbly) I had planned to stay for breakfast so mom and I had that meal pulled together, but we ended up staying longer and neither one of us had planned lunch. Last minute, we decided to have pasta. She makes pasta a bit, so we just made her regular recipe with brown rice flour. Normally you let the dough sit before rolling and cutting -- BAD IDEA. Getting used to different chemical reactions is going to take a bit. I'm assuming that with wheat flour you let it sit so that the gluten can develop -- NOT with RICE!! So next time, lesson learned, roll immediately. Again, xanthan gum would have helped.
Then this morning, Hannah told me they were having a chimes party at school and she would like to take something that everybody could eat, not just a single serving for her (that's what we did last week with the school stuff). Unfortunately, I've been knocked out with some nasty cold/allergy/sore throat whatever and did not feel up to a trip to the store. Happened upon some choc chips and decided to make choc chip cookies. What kid doesn't like those. Followed the recipe to the letter and this is what the first batch turned out like.
Definitely needed more flour, so added that, and not only did they hold their shape while raw, but worked beautifully in the oven as well. The true test was that Hannah said the kids really liked them and several of them were amazed they were gluten free. Hannah has been testing out various things the last couple of weeks and "graciously" sharing them with her friends. They unanimously agreed that this was a keeper. So here's the recipe -- adapted from "Gluten-free, Hassle Free" by Marlisa Brown.
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup almond meal (I ground it up a little more fine in my dry container Vitamix)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 bag of chocolate chips or mini baking chips
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugars, add eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined, scraping down sides of mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and then add to butter mixture. Mix well. Dough should be stiff, but not crumbly.
Place by the tbsp on a baking sheet and bake for 9 -11 minutes. Let cool on pan for a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
I put the rest of the dough (dropped by tbsps) on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Guess we'll find out later if that works or not :)
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