Holiday Desserts

Before my home went gluten free I made pies for every holiday, however I never made my own crust, so why try to start now? I tried the Gluten Free Pantry mix and was surprised how tasty and light it was with my pumpkin pie. I used 1/2 of the box for only one crust instead of 2 and gave up after trying to roll it out...I simply put it into the pie pan and spread it out in the pan.

Over the next few days I will post the recipes that are staples at our home:

Sweet potato pie:

Peel, chop and boil 2 medium sweet potatoes until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain, mash and cool. Add 1 box of organic tofu,and 1/8 C of maple syrup,blend well. Take 1 packet of plain geletin and let sit in 3T of boiled water for 5 minutes. Add this to sweet potato mixture along with 2tsp of cinnamon mixed with 2T of sugar. Pour into 9" pan over crispy rice crust. Put into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. See recipe below.

Crispy rice crust:

3C Gluten free rice crispies
1/4 C margarine of choice, melted
Mash cereal with a potato masher until 1/2 of the mixture is powdery. Mix melted marg with rice crispies until well coated. Press into bottom of greased lined pan and bake at 300 for 10 minutes. Take out and cool completely before adding filling.

Holiday Eats

Cornbread Stuffing: Gluten free and free of the top 8 allergens

Follow the recipe for the cornbread muffins below from October 15th. Spread the mixture onto a lined, greased cookie sheet. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes. Let cool and break into 1" pieces.

Add:
1 1/2 Lbs ground cooked pork, season with sage, parsley and sage.
4 stalks of celery finely chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 C mushrooms
Cook celery, onions and mushrooms in 1/4 c olive oil, or butter.
Add 1/2 C of broth of choice
Combine all ingredients in a 9" casserole and cook covered at 350 for 30 min. Remove cover and cook at 425 for an additonal 10 minutes.

Brown rice granola

This granola is tasty, easy and is also my base for sunflower bars.
Combine:
6 C gluten free rice crispies
1/2 rice bran /I use EnerG
1/2 C Perky crunchy rice cereal
1/2 C coconut
Combine well and add:
1/2C oil
1/2C honey
1/2C water
Spread out well on a large, well greased cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 1 hour.
After it is done take off cookie sheet and let cool down in a container, otherwise it will stick
Options to add are:
Raisins
sunflower seeds
Craisins

Honey Corn Bread Muffins

Today I had a wonderful discussion group at the library in Chestertown MD.I always enjoy picking up tips from others on their successes with living gluten free. As promised I am writing out my cornbread recipe, this is also the base I use for my Thanksgiving gluten free cornbread/sausage stuffing.

Muffins:

1C cornmeal
1C white rice flour
2/3 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 C orange juice
1/3 C oil
11/2 tsp baking powder, 11/2 T water, 1 1/2 T oil (used as a substitute for 1 egg)
1/4 C honey
2 tsp gelatin
Combine all ingredients well and drop into mini muffin tins. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes.

Easy Healthy Quinoa

I must admit I am loving quinoa! I have heard and read how healthy it is, but have put off trying to prepare some. It is easy, delicious and nutritious. Here is an easy recipe I put together last night.

Spicy Quinoa:

Cook as directions dictate. 1 C quinoa to 2 C water

Throw some veggies in a saute pan with olive oil, I used 1 small zucchini and 1/2 a sweet onion.
After they are browned, add in the quinoa and then 1/2 C organic salsa and 2 tsp curry powder.

YUM!

I served this up with chicken breasts dredged in cornmeal and fryed. I added honey mustard sauce:
1/4 honey 2T mustard.

Molasses cake for Marie

As Summer is winding down, we have had our last few road trips. Most recently we went to upstate New York and while we were there I was fortunate enough to spend the day with our very good family friend Marie. Walking into Marie's home is always a huge comfort, this trip was no different we walked in to smell a Molasses Cake in the oven, games were out waiting to be played, we enjoyed the hammock in the back yard along with the wooden swing tied to the big tree and relaxed. Although my family could not eat the Molasses Cake, it made me want to create my own....so I did and it came out great!

Molasses Cake for Marie:

1/3 C of oil

1/3 C of water

1/4 C molasses

1/3 C sugar

Egg Replacer/ 4 tsp dry + 4T water

3/4 brown rice flour

1/8 C potato starch flou

1/8 C tapioca flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine wet ingredients well,

 mix by hand for 1-2 minutes.

Add dry ingredients, mix well and and pour into 8" well greased cake pan.

Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Upcoming Events

Here are some upcoming events some of you may be interested in:

At Whole Foods in Annapolis, I will continue cooking gluten free and allergy friendly foods.

September 10th, 11 am - 1 pm will be the pizza class, for children and adults. This is a gluten free crust that my son, with his great advice helped me create.

I will also be presenting in October, November and December. If you are interested in attending the date will soon be posted on the website for Whole Foods Annapolis. The December class is the most popular , we had to turn people away last year, this is the Gluten Free gingerbread houses.

I will also be at the Kent County Library on October 15th from10 am - 12 pm presenting a gluten free educational piece along with recipes and great information.