GLUTEN FREE OREOS

Now, I know what you're thinking...they can't be that good. You are wrong my friend, very wrong. They are not only great, they are WONDERFUL!!!! I happened upon a recipe on one of my favorite Gluten Free Blogs: Gluten Free Girl and Chef. I love these people, but love these cookies even more. And they are super easy. I changed up the flour that I used, so I didn't follow her recipe exactly. If you do not carry 50 different kinds of GF Flour and want to use All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, or you want to use Wheat Flour (I shudder), they will turn out just fine.

Here is your list of ingredients: Recipe to follow

For all of you who just don't "get" Celiacs and think "How hard can it be to go Gluten Free?" This is a mixture of different flours that I use for just one recipe. Next time you get out your All Purpose Flour from the grocery store to make a cake, think of us digging out all of our Gladware containers of Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Teff Flour, Almond Flour, need I go on?



Uggggghhhhh! Crisco? OMG YUCK!!! I have never even used Crisco out of fear. Crisco scares me. But now, it is my best friend. A fattening one, but a good one.



Mix together all of your dry ingredients



Add your globs of butter, mix well, then add your egg


I was looking at this mixer bowl thinking that this was never going to work. It was so dry. Just give it a few minutes, it will work. It works really well. And just when you are about to give up on your mixer and add more butter. DONT!!! It will mix into a wonderful dough ball. Then you use a heaping tsp. and form dough balls to flatten out on your baking sheet.



Put 'em in the oven to bake and start on your filling:

This grosses me out! Crisco and butter? Why oh Why?


After adding confectioner's sugar...I now know why. HEAVEN!!!


And the finished product puts smiles on everyones faces!



Here's The Recipe: Thanks to Gluten Free Girl and Chef-and notes by me

For the cookies:
3/4c sweet rice flour (I did not have Sweet Rice Flour, so I used 3/4c All Purpose GF Flour)
1/2c white rice flour
1/4c teff flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the creamy filling:
1/2 stick room-temperature, unsalted butter (After tasting the finished product I decided to
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening add 1 more Tbs of shortening and 1/2 c more of
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar confectioner's sugar, but you can do it to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Making the cookie dough. Put the sweet rice flour, white rice flour, and teff flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk, stir the flours together to combine and aerate them. Add the xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Turn the mixer on and let everything combine in motion. While the mixer is running on low speed, add large pieces of the butter until they are all incorporated. Add the egg and mix well. (At this point, you might think the dough will be too dry. Trust. Keep mixing. It will come together.)

Baking the cookies. Scoop a rounded teaspoon of batter (literally. scoop just more than a teaspoon's worth) and form a ball. Gently, flatten the dough in the palm of your hand. After you have flattened, smooth the edges of the cookie dough disk to make it evenly rounded. Place the dough disks onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. (These will not spread, but you do not want them to touch each other.)

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet 180 degrees. Bake until the cookies are crisp on the edges with just a touch of softness in the center, about 5 more minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven. After a few moments, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Making the creamy filling. Put the butter and vegetable shortening into the bowl of the stand mixer. (Clean the cookie dough out first!) Whip them up together, then add the sugar and vanilla extract. Beat the filling on high until it is fluffy frosting, about 5 minutes. (Be sure to turn off the stand mixer and scrape down the sides occasionally.)

Assembling the cookies. If you have a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip, you can pipe tiny dots of filling onto a cookie. We couldn't find ours, so we used a teaspoon measure and our fingers to spread the blob of creamy filling toward the edges but not entirely there. Gently, press the second cookie down onto the filling and watch the filling reach the edges.

Continue until all the cookies are little chocolate sandwiches with a creamy filling. Oreos.

Makes 25 to 30 Oreos. (or 12 if you are like me and want an oreo the size of my hand)

HEAVEN SENT ME THE PIONEER WOMAN"S INDIVIDUAL COBBLERS!

I kid you not people. Check this out:

The Pioneer Woman's Individual Cobblers

Heaven just touched down to earth in my mouth. Did I mention I converted them to be Gluten Free? Simple:

* just substitute All Purpose Flour, for Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour

*add 3/4 tsp Xanthum Gum

*Add 2 tsp Baking Powder

And finish the recipe as is. It is literally the EASIEST Recipe in the world that has everyone hiding in their pantries shoving them in their mouths. Try them out.

COURTNEY'S GLUTEN FREE SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

I absolutely love these biscuits, and so does Carter. Unfortunately Jeff doesn't. But I bet he would eat them and love them if he would even TRY one. Especially with Honey Butter smeared on the top.

Courtney's Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

• 1 1/4 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
• 2 Tbs Granulated Sugar
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 cup Pureed Sweet Potatoes
• 1/4 cup Butter (softened)
• 4 Tbs Milk (for moistness)
• 1Tbs Honey

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine and sift (or toss with fork until mixed well) all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat on low, the Sweet Potatoes, Butter, and Honey until smooth. When smooth, add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time until you have a soft dough. If too dry, add 1 Tbs Milk until soft biscuit dough consistency. As it is GF, it may be more sticky than other dough, but we will remedy that in a minute. Dust your work surface lightly with GF Flour and turn out dough onto floured surface. Turn the dough over and over until it is coated with flour and smooth to touch. When smooth, roll out the dough to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on a cookie sheet (optional-brush melted butter onto tops and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture). Place in preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Watch the tops so they don't burn. If they are browning too quickly, reduce temperature to 400.

These are wonderful topped with Honey Butter:

1/4 cup Butter softened

1/4 cup GF Honey

Beat in a small bowl until smooth and tasty!!

Enjoy! 

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GLUTEN-FREE FREE-FORM CHEESECAKE

I originally got this idea and recipe (with gluten) from the April Edition of Southern Living Magazine. Yes, I know I live in the North now...but the South cooks better. You are going to love this recipe. Complete with pictures per request from my SIL Amanda to strive to be the Pioneer Woman.

Start with these ingredients:

I used Strawberries and Raspberries for a mixture of flavor to top the cheesecake.

Chop fruit and top with 2 tbsp Powdered Sugar and mix well. Place in refrigerator to set.

Grate zest from 1 lime or 1 tsp of Zest, then squeeze the juice of 1 lime or 1 tbsp of lime juice

No comments about the lack of a microplane grater!

Stir together Cheesecake Filling, Lime Zest, Lime Juice, and 2 tbsp. Powdered Sugar. Mix well.

Serve immediately by scooping Cheesecake Mixture into a bowl, top with crumbled GF Cookies (I used Jo-Sef Gluten Free Vanilla Graham Crackers and loved them). Top with your favorite topping or berries.

This photo is from the Southern Living Website, due to lack of brains to take the photo of the finished product. I have a long way to go to catch up with the Pioneer Woman.

Gluten-Free Free-Form Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
• 2 cups fresh raspberries, cut in half
  
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 cups ready-to-eat cheesecake filling
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 6 crisp gourmet cookies, crumbled (Jo-Sef GF Vanilla Grahams)
  
• Garnishes: crisp gourmet cookies, lime slices

Preparation

1. Stir together strawberries, raspberries and 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.

2. Stir together cheesecake filling, lime zest, lime juice, and remaining 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.

3. Spoon cheesecake mixture into 6 (6-oz.) glasses or ramekins. Sprinkle with crumbled cookies. Top with strawberries. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling and Jos-Sef Vanilla GF cookies.

Southern Living, APRIL 2009-with a few slight GF Changes by (ME)
Courtney Morris

GLUTEN FREE ZUCCHINI BREAD-MORRIS STYLE

Gluten Free Zucchini Bread-Morris Style

1/2 c Plumped Raisins (optional)
- to plump raisins, boil raisins in 1/4 c water for one minute. Drain, but save the water.
1/2 c All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (may subs. for bean flour...I hate bean flour)
1/2 c Tapioca Flour
1/2 c White Rice Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthun Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1 3/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Egg
1 c Shredded Zucchini (unpeeled)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 c Cooking Oil
1 c Sugar

Sift together all of the flours, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Put aside for later.

In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add zucchini. Gradually beat in vanilla, oil, sugar, and half of the flour mixture. Beat well. Add the raisins and the raisin water. (if you opted for raisin free bread-add 1/4 water and 1 tsp honey) Add the rest of the flour. Beat well.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 4 loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. It is done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.
(although I always sneak a little slice)

What else could you add...?

Chocolate Chips
Walnuts
Pecans

What could you top those yummy slices with...?

Butter
Cream Cheese (my favorite)
Icing

This recipe originally came from Gluten Free Foods for Kids Recipe Book. Through various other recipes that I have tried, I substituted several different ingredients (ie. bean flour). But, must give credit where credit is due. Check out this book online by clicking here.

AS PROMISED...

Pretty much all Frittata is Gluten Free, a Quiche is not, but Frittata...yes. I was inspired one morning to make this for my friend Toni for our play date. She had fixed me the best white pizza in the world two weeks previous. So I ran with the idea, and made it my own.

Gluten Free White Pizza Frittata

8 Large Eggs (slightly beaten)
1/4 cup Milk (may use soy or rice Milk as subst.)
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese (may subst. for a dairy free cheese)
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Small Red Potato peeled and cubed in 1/2 in cubes
1 Small Yellow Onion chopped
1/4 cup Chopped Fresh Basil
1/2 cup Diced Fresh Tomatoes

Garnish: 1/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Fresh Basil Leaves

Preheat oven to 350

Whisk eggs and milk together in medium bowl. Add cottage cheese and mix well to break up any clumps. Set aside.

Heat oil in cast iron skillet on medium-hi heat. When hot, add Potatoes and onions. Constantly moving veggies to prevent burning. Cook until potatoes are soft and onions caramelized. Turn burner down to medium-low. Add Tomatoes and Basil to skillet and toss until basil is wilted. Add egg mixture, quickly whisk eggs and veggies in skillet to mix up ingredients. Cook on medium-low until edges of egg start to cook (do not disturb egg mixture). About 1/2 in. from side of skillet.

Remove from burner and place into preheated oven. Cook at 350 for 40 minutes or until cooked through. You'll know when egg no longer jiggles when you shake the skillet. Remove from oven, sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, and sprinkle with Cheddar Cheese. Place back into oven to melt cheese.

Frittata is a great Gluten Free choice for breakfast or for brunch instead of Quiche. Unless you have a great recipe for a GF Quiche Crust. (I haven't found one yet).

Frittata is known as the "everything and the kitchen sink" dish, because with the base of eggs, milk, and cheese, you can add anything you want. Have fun and play around with different ingredients. A successful Frittata will be light and airy and make people smile!!!

EASTER IN VIRGINIA PART 2

On Easter Sunday, we all got dressed up and got ready for the Bryant side of the family to come over and have a special Easter Lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect for us to spend time outside. And the food...well lets just say, I will be adding a couple of the things that we had to my recipe book. (Great Cheese Slaw-Sue Sue)

May-Make (Mason) and his adorable nephews!

GG had a great time playing with the boys in the yard.

Emily is my cousin. She is a self-proclaimed kid avoider. She knows she makes kids cry, and wont get near them. Except Sunday...Emily, Tucker, and Carter had a blast together. And would you believe, not one of them cried, even Emily.

Their not BFFs...The are GFFs. (Gluten Free Friends) Emily is Gluten Intolerant too! I think they bonded over Fritos.

Can you hear him giggling?

I love Tucker's face in this picture. It's like he is saying "Do you dare me to get up?"

Mason and I- Now this is how siblings are supposed to pose for pictures.

Mom and Sue-Sue- This is not how siblings are supposed to pose for pictures. Really ladies...could you get serious for one minute?

No need for Part 3 after all. But I do want to say that we had an absolutely wonderful time in VA. I really wish we could've stayed.

The trip home was a lot quicker than the ride down. We made it home in only 9 hours. And again the boys traveled well. Much better than their mother who has ADD and needed to get out of the car. Thanks to everyone who had us down and we look forward to seeing you in July!

Gluten Free Product that I swear by:

This cereal can be found at many major grocery stores. This cereal tastes just like its name "Mighty Tasty". Carter and I eat this at least 4 times a week. One batch will last us almost a week. You can follow package directions, but I don't need that much cereal at one time.

How we prepare it:

Boil 2 cups of Water
Add 3/4 cup of Mighty Tasty Cereal, stir until blended
Immediately drop burner to low and cover pot
Stir occasionally until cereal is consistency that you like.
*I usually stir once a minute to reduce sticking to bottom of the pot. And I only cook it 7 minutes, because it thickens when it stands.

You can add many of the following things to spice it up a bit, or make it your own. But let me know how you like it best.

Here are our favorites:
-Sugar and Butter
-Jelly (Jeff's Favorite)
-Cinnamon and Sugar
-Brown Sugar
-Honey
-Milk and Honey

LET'S CHAT

There are so many things that I should be doing right now, and not typing away on the computer. For example; folding laundry, finishing packing for our trip to VA, getting ready for work...need I go on. But, I realized that I need a break and I have a few unfinished stories or thoughts that I wanted to share before my trip.

When I started this blog, it was a way for me to communicate with friends and family from my hospital bed while on bed rest with Carter. Now it has evolved to so much more as my photography hobby continues and my boys are growing so big. So thank you for continuing to share my life with me.

Now, before I jump into what's been happening lately, I want to say a great big THANK YOU to Michelle Mitchell at Scribbit Motherhood in Alaska for drawing my name to win her giveaway this week. Click on over to her site and check out her life in Alaska. It is truly amazing! Also, Congratulations to Christa and Andy! Their baby boy Brendan came home to them from South Korea this week.

Ok, down to business. So we've had a lot going on these days. So I want to start with Carter and his Gluten allergy. (note: abbreviated but still a lengthy story)Now, he has always been a very very "fussy" child, and we have always said that something was wrong with him from the get-go. Starting in late December we started to switch Carter over to whole milk, as it was about that time. In early January he started to throw up every morning for 3 weeks. I had many calls to the Dr.'s office and got the same reply "we don't need to see him, just switch him back to soy and we will see you for your 12 mth visit." Well, we did that and he still threw up and actually lost weight. He also started to have diarrhea consistently. So I insisted that he go in and be seen, where they concluded that he was lactose intolerant. Ok fine, and they started him on Prevacid to calm and heal his tummy. The Prevacid did the trick with the throwing up, but the diarrhea persisted. Did I mention that he still had yet to sleep through the night and screamed day and night. We did not get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time for 2 months, not including the nights in the 11 months leading up to this that he woke at least 5 times a night. So after several visits to the Dr., she suggested that he was either Lactose & Soy intolerant OR "Do you have a family history of Celiac's?". DING DING DING!!! Why hadn't I thought of that?

Celiac's Disease is an allergy to wheat and gluten that actually damages your stomach and small intestines. Click on the link above for more info. There is such thing as a Gluten and Wheat Intolerance, that has all of the same signs and symptoms, just no damage to your body. (Other than the immediate effects, that are sometimes just as bad). So here is how we started down the path to Gluten Free Living. Carter had all of the symptoms: Family History, red rash on his face, diarrhea, vomiting, hyperactive, bloated tummy, constant smelly gas, unexplained screaming all day, and oh...all night, he would scream with his eyes closed for hours. And many many more symptoms that all lead to Gluten Sensitivity. Those symptoms go away without Gluten and Wheat, then return within an hour of eating something containing Gluten and Wheat.

We made an appointment with the Pediatric Gastroenterologist (tummy Dr.) to get blood work done and for a consultation. Don't even get me started on the ignorant a#%hole today. Dr. Robert Baker from University Pediatrics is the man you want to run from! I repeat RUN!!! You will have to trust me because I will get worked up if I tell you the stories of what we had to deal with. UGH! Now my blood pressure is up. Great!

Needless to say, after a month of tests, trial diets, and Dr.'s visits we have come to this conclusion...Carter may have Celiac's but he is too young to detect the antibodies in his blood. What we do know, is that he is Gluten and Wheat intolerant. So what does this mean for us? It means 2 weeks into starting him on a Gluten Free (GF from here on out) Diet, he slept through the night! HALLELUJAH! (Do you here the trumpets? I do!) So this means, that as long as Carter steers clear of Gluten and Wheat, he is a happy camper. He is a completely different child. He smiles! Whod've thunk it? He sleeps much better than before. And his tummy is feeling much better these days.

Since figuring this all out, we have completely changed our lives! Our kitchen has been turned upside down. Everything labeled GF, stored in separate cabinets for easy grabbing, we make our own bread, we only dine at restaurants that have GF menus, separate butter and jelly containers (we can't risk contamination of Carter's food with Gluten), you won't find a loaf of white or wheat bread within a mile of our house. And many many more lifestyle changes have been made. Education to loved ones is a must, and they get it. Absolutely nothing passes through his lips that hasn't been triple checked first.

So, announcement time: I am going to start to switch gears a bit on this blog. At the end of every post I will be including a GF recipe that we have tried and love, a GF tip, or a GF Product that we cannot live with out. I will be adding labels to my posts (this just means that people searching for Gluten Free Tips can find me easier). Don't worry Mom, I will still be mostly posting pictures of your Grand kids and current events in our lives.

So today's Gluten Free Product is:

Pamela's Products Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix



We made this for Tucker's Birthday and we loved it. We could not tell the difference what so ever. And actually got several comments about how good the cake was.

Recipe Variation: We smeared a layer of GF Carmel Sauce between the layers. It added extra moisture and tasted so yummy. Then we iced the cake with homemade GF Buttercream Icing.

Now you are all caught up. Thanks for reading if you made it this far without snoozing. And I look forward to sharing our, well, new life with you. Hopefully a lot happier, healthier, and less stressed out. Be glad you only read about these things, they are not pretty in realy life.

Until next time:)