Apple Crisp (Cranberries, too!)

We were invited to supper with friends tonight and I was asked to bring dessert. I decided to make two apple crisps, one with cranberries and one without.
I peeled 15 apples, some Granny Smiths and some Firesides, and mixed with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a teaspoon of pure vanillla extract. I divided the apples between two baking dishes and sprinkled fresh cranberries on one.

Using a pastry blender, I combined 2 cups of rolled oats (be sure they are gluten free), 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of Penzey's Apple Pie Spice (or cinnamon), with 1 cup of Earth Balance "butter". This crumbly mixture was sprinkled over the apples. (*Cut this recipe in half if you are only making one pan of apple crisp!)

Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Simply delicious.

Make your own pizza sauce

We didn't host Thanksgiving so there's no leftover turkey for several meals following the big day. Yesterday we were busy cleaning the house and putting up Christmas lights so we turned to a favorite standy-by meal. Pizza.

I make several gluten free pizza crusts at a time and freeze them for days like this. I use the recipe in our favorite GFCF cookbook, "Cooking for Isaiah". (My gluten-eating son in law told me he likes this crust better than regular pizza crust!)

Did you know you can make your own pizza sauce from one of those little cans of tomato paste? (To be sure your tomato paste is GF, read the ingredients. It should be made from tomatoes. Period. Just tomatoes.) There is a recipe here to make it into pizza sauce. I use a tablespoon of Penzeys Pizza Seasoning, fresh garlic and salt & pepper for the seasonings. This makes a lot of sauce so freeze the unused portion for your next pizza night!

Pile on the toppings and enjoy!

I'll admit it. I was scared.

I'll admit it. I was scared. Pie crust has always been my thang and the thought of attempting a gluten free version scared the bejeebers out of me. But I did it!
I made two apple pies and two pumpkin pies using the pie crust recipe in the "Cooking For Isaiah" cookbook. It was very different than making pie crusts with wheat flour (much more challenging) and I'm not sure this is a recipe I'll use again. I guess we'll know tomorrow how they taste.

I didn't need to adapt my filling recipe for the apple pie but I did have to make some changes to the regular pumpkin pie recipe because of the evaporated milk. I found a GFCF recipe that eliminated the milk altogether and used some ghee instead. Each pie has 3 full cups of pumpkin in it along with 4 eggs, sugar, ghee and some spices. Again, I'll know tomorrow if this is a recipe I'll use again or recommend.

My Thanksgiving preparations are done. My mom is hosting the big meal this year so there's no house cleaning or turkey thawing going on here tonight. And Mom is making everything GFCF. Thanks, Mom! ♥

My 48 cent Boo-yah!

The super sized "mart of walls" store is one of my least favorite places to shop but until a few weeks ago I had to include a stop there on my regular grocery shopping rounds. That was the only place I could find FlaxMilk, our favorite milk substitution.

A few weeks ago I discovered that they are no longer carrying it so I can no longer get FlaxMilk in my area. I asked to speak to the dairy department manager but was left to stand and wait so long that I decided to go home and call to talk to him. When I called, I was placed on hold and I finally hung up after about 15 minutes. Aarrrgghhhh.

So I went back today to see if, by some Thanksgiving miracle, they were carrying FlaxMilk again. They aren't. I didn't want to waste a trip so I picked up a few items and then went to the small "gluten free" section of one of the aisles. That's where I found this.

Anyone who does any gluten free baking will recognize this product. Xanthan Gum. I've paid anywhere between $9-$13 for a package this size so the 48 cent sign really caught my attention. There was just one package remaining so I picked it up to see if it had expired.

2013. Not even close to expiring.

I concluded that they must be discontinuing this product just like they discontinued the FlaxMilk we loved. But just in case, I put the one remaining package back on the shelf and took this picture. Then I grabbed the package and headed for the checkout.

The package rang up at approximately $9 so I whipped out my phone and showed the check out lady the picture. She argued that the product must have been placed in the wrong spot and that it was hard to see the text below the 48 cents.

So I zoomed in nice and close on the words "GF Xanthan Gum" on the picture on my phone.

One of my pet peeves is having to argue about the price I clearly saw on the shelves but cell phone cameras might just make those arguments a thing of the past!

A manager came over and called back for someone to check the price on the shelf. I heard her say into her headpiece, "She took a picture" just before she looked at me and said, "You can have it for the 48 cents."

Boo-yah! Score one for the gluten free FlaxMilk missing momma.

Chicken soup and dumplings

The last time I tried to make gluten free dumplings, I wasn't thrilled. I tried again tonight with much better results.

I cooked a whole chicken for several hours until the meat was falling off the bones. I deboned the chicken and put it back in the pot with some carrots, celery, onion, and seasonings. I used the recipe on this blog to make the dumplings.

Start with 2 cups of a flour blend consisting of equal parts of tapioca flour, potato starch, arrowroot and rice flour. Add 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp guar gum. Mix in 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk and 3 beaten eggs. Drop by tablespoon into hot soup and put dutch oven in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes to cook and brown the dumplings.

Winter is just starting so I'll have more opportunities to keep tweaking the dumplings. We liked these but I'm not sure this recipe is "it". It's close though.

GFCF Cornbread muffins

Bean helped me make a large pot of chili for tonight's supper and I made cornbread muffins to go with it. I did some other baking today too, but I'll share those recipes in another post at another time. Here's the recipe I used for the GFCF cornbread muffins (adapted from two other recipes I found online.)

1 cup corn flour (you can use a GF cornmeal but I like the texture of the corn flour better)

1 cup sugar (this is a pretty sweet cornbread muffin so you don't need a dessert!)

3/4 cup rice flour

3 T. tapioca flour

2 T. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 heaping T. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup coconut or almond milk

1/2 cup melted Earth Balance non-dairy butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

Heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare muffin tins with baking spray or cupcake liners. Combine dry ingredients and add milk, melted Earth Balance, vanilla and beaten eggs. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 20-25 minutes. Makes approx. 18 cornbread muffins.

Bean and my nephew split one for a pre-supper taste test and both declared 5 stars!

GFCF potato leek soup

It has been a while since I posted a recipe. It's not that I haven't been making any food for my family, it's just that I haven't had time to write about it! Most of our meals last week were ones that I've made and written about before, but this one was new and I wanted to share it here.

Gluten and casein free potato leek soup. Mmmmm. As we enter the winter season, there is nothing quite like a creamy bowl of soup...and this one is easy, delicious and inexpensive!
I didn't really follow a recipe exactly but what I did was close to this recipe. I made a larger recipe, used all vegetable broth (no water) and used different seasonings (garlic and Penzey's Bouquet Garni instead of marjoram and hot sauce) but cooking is all about individual tastes and creativity. Go wild.
Chop, chop, chop...

Sautee the leeks for a few minutes in olive oil or ghee (the recipe I linked to says margarine but we don't use margarine). Then throw everything together in a crock pot. Your house will smell wonderful all day long.

Blend until smooth, serve with GFCF garlic bread and enjoy!