Tomato free Chili

I had practically written off making anything like chili once I had to get rid of tomatoes. Until I read some blogs and a suggestion was made. Then I decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe that I used as my starting point. And this is what I came up with:

Gluten free Dairy Free Tomato free Chili

2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
2 cans red kidney beans drained and rinsed or mild chili beans
2 cans great northern beans or white kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 15 oz can carrots
1 15 oz can beets
40-48 oz chicken broth
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder or use fresh cloves
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp paprika

Put carrots, beets and pumpkin into blender and purée. Add a little chicken broth to make it easier. Set aside. In large pot brown meat. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn onto low. Cover. Simmer.  Enjoy with corn chips or corn bread!

Now go enjoy your delicious bowl of awesomeness!!  

The happy girl

The fat rain drops pounded on the ground.  It echoed through the chimney; plink, tink, plonk.  It gushed out of the gutters and onto the brown grass.  There was freshness in it as the drops poured from the gray cloud-filled sky.  I sat, looking out the window, as the rain drops hit the puddle that had formed in the folding chair. I have always felt a sadness that went along with rain.  And this time was no different. 

Cassie was happy today though.  There are so many days when she is just sad, grouchy, and angry and those days always seem to be followed by rainy days.  She can feel it coming, and it doesn't make her feel well.  I think, from what I can determine from her mood and actions that it down right hurts. 

When I was a teenage girl and I was babysitting, I loved the children I cared for…for the most part.  Having children looked fun and easy.  Now, as I am in my 17^th year of mothering/parenting, etc., I have found that the fairy tale only exists in pieces; small glimpses of wonderful-ness.

There are fairy tale moments, indeed.  There are glimpses of beauty in motherhood. And when they happen I pause and try to take in those precious pieces of my day. They don’t last, but THEY are what make parenting worth it…especially when many moments are filled with the day to day, and the hurts, trials and troubles of life. 

One of my struggles has always been in knowing what each child needs and finding a way to meet those needs.  Months ago we eliminated food dyes and other dyes from Cassie’s life followed by ridding her of gluten.  The change in her has been extremely significant. She is happier.  She talks more.  She actually talks to people outside of our house….sometimes. She is sweet and funny.  And when she has a bad day I find myself searching again for answers and ideas that could help her to be happy. 

As of late, the topic or thought on my mind has been trying to determine a cause for these hard days and then a solution. I haven’t found it yet, but I’m sure through prayer and pondering I will be led to the right information that will bless our lives as a whole.  

Gluten Free Flax Bread

I found this recipe for gluten free bread in my desperate search to replace bread made with wheat and white flour.  I don't eat a lot of bread but once in a while would like toast or a sandwich.  The kids eat bread a lot more than I do.  When I eat it I want it to taste as much like regular bread as possible.  While its extremely difficult to make a good gluten free bread I have found that it can be done.  Here are some great places to find good recipes:

"The Gluten Free Gourmet" by Bette Hagman
"The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" by Bette Hagman
"Special Diets for Special Kids" by Lisa Lewis, PhD

I've used a few of the recipes from these books and from others.  Many times they are SO pricey to make that it's better if I just go purchase a loaf or two.  This recipe came out awesome the first time, no tricky techniques required.  I have even used different flour blends in it with good results.  The flaw with the recipe is that it makes too much for the normal loaf pan and it spills over the edges and all over the oven. The reviewers warned about this, but did I listen...nope.  I just HAD to try it myself.  Haha!

I decided to adjust the recipe to fit into a regular loaf pan so that I wouldn't have to go and purchase a new pan.  Below you will find my adjustments to the recipe.

Gluten Free Flax Bread

1 cup gluten free flour mix
3 Tbsp garbanzo bean/chick pea flour
6 Tbsp potato starch
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp flax seed meal
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup water or almond milk or coconut milk (I do half water and half dairy free milk)
1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 1/4 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Combine flours, flax, starches, gum, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In the mixer, combine wet ingredients together and then add the dry. Scrapes the sides of the bowl.  Mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes.  Pour into 1 greased loaf pan.  Let rise to the top of the pan in a warm, but turned off oven for about 40-80 minutes. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool and slice.

Success!!

I have been trying to make a good gluten free cookie and knew that all it would take was the right recipe with the right ingredients.  Sounds easy until you try to find one.  I was SO frustrated. I almost gave up....a couple of times. BUT I decided to be relentless and I finally found what I was missing....the right flour mixture.

I searched and searched and finally found some helpful information and mix recipes on the Living Without website. They have a great list of substitutions too! Then I thought I hit the goldmine. I found this page with a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that looked promising.  LOL!  They were NOT good!  UGH!!  The kids ate them so they weren't a total waste.

But the page was NOT waste of time.  I found the awesome recipe for the flour mix that is amazing in cookies on that same page that had the not-so-tasty chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Look down at the bottom and you will find it.  :)

I was craving some lemon cookies the other day and decided, after much searching, that I would attempt to create my own recipe for these delicious cookies.  The second batch was BEAUTIFUL!  (I've also included the recipe using regular white flour below)

GF DF Lemon Cookies

½ cup all natural shortening

1 cup white sugar

1 ½ tsp lemon extract

1 egg

4 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup gf  All Purpose flour mix (below)

¾ cup gf cookie flour mix (below)

½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ heaping tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

Cream together shortening, sugar, extract, egg and lemon juice until well blended. Place flours, soda, xanthan gum and salt on top.  Mix well.  Scoop onto cookie sheet or baking stone.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned on edges.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cool on pan for about 5 minutes.  Move to cooling rack.  Enjoy!

 All-Purpose Flour Blend

Use this blend for all your gluten-free

baking.

1/2 cup rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour

1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend (or GF Cookie Flour Mix as I called it)

Makes 9½ cups

2 cups super-fine brown rice flour

1½ cups sweet rice flour

2 cups cornstarch

1 cup chickpea or garfava flour

1 cup tapioca starch

2 cups sorghum flour

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate in an air-tight container until used.

For a cookie made with regular wheat/white flour see below:

Lemon Cookies 

½ cup all natural shortening

1 cup white sugar

1 ½ tsp lemon extract

1 egg

4 Tbsp lemon juice

1 ¾ cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Cream together shortening, sugar, extract, egg and lemon juice until well blended. Place flours, soda, xanthan gum and salt on top.  Mix well.  Scoop onto cookie sheet or baking stone.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned on edges.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cool on pan for about 5 minutes.  Move to cooling rack.  Enjoy!

Food dyes....in strange places

It was a nice day to be out of the house...cloudy, windy, and freezing!  Brrr! We even went back to the house to grab a warmer coat and hats and mittens.  Yup...it's cold.  We enjoy going to kid's resale shops with our friends... and then going to craft stores like JoAnn and Michaels.  Today was no different.  Once we enjoyed searching the racks at Children's Orchard we entered JoAnn.  *sigh* yarn!

Part way through our adventure, Miss Ballerina asked to go to the bathroom.  We happened to be right next to it...SCORE.  When we were washing hands, that quiet little voice whispered that I should check the label on the soap; which was on sale with a cute sign next to it. It was some lemon scented soap that was bright yellow.  It made the entire bathroom smell delicious...which says a lot.  Guess what the last ingredients were...RED 40, BLUE, and YELLOW.  ACK!!!

I washed my hands, and since they were out of paper towels, I ended up wiping them on my jeans.  Ugh.  But...oh well.  Then Littlest Miss said, "Hands!" She wanted to get in on the hand washing fun!  But after reading that label there was no way I was going to wash her hands with that soap.  So, I just rinsed her hands.

We exited the bathroom and began looking at the yarn selection again.  A couple of minutes later Littlest Miss started acting like her bottom hurt or something hurt.  I picked her up and tried to console her and instead of getting happier...she got more upset, agitated and angry.  Her poor mood escalated until I could barely hold onto her.  She thrashed and threw her body around in pain.  I flipped her over and looked into her eyes...her pupils were tiny...constricted.  Somehow that hand soap had affected her even though it was on my hands and not hers.  She never touched the soap directly.  Wow.

I quickly paid for my yarn and made a bee line for the car.  I buckled her screaming, thrashing form into her car seat and got out the baking soda.  I added the baking soda to her sippy cup of water and shook it up.  But she refused to drink it.  I needed something to get her to drink the water.  I remembered that I had a small container in my purse that was empty.  I took it out and poured a little water into it.  She happily sucked down the water from the tiny cup.  After about 4 small cups of baking soda water she started to calm down.

Not only do I have to be aware of all the different types of food that have food dyes but I also have to be aware of hand soaps.  I stopped into the health food store on the way home and grabbed a bottle of hand soap that would be safe for her little hands.

I never realized how difficult it would be to keep a toddler away from dyes.  They are everywhere.  I found them, yesterday, in mayonnaise.  REALLY??? They couldn't make it without?  Crazy!!!

We are now home...relaxing...and enjoying the happy baby.  *huge sigh*

My quest continues...to make sure my home is as dye free as necessary for my little one to be as happy as possible.

Yummy Delicious Cranberry Muffins!

I love it when an idea turns out wonderfully!  I LOVE to bake, but going gluten free makes baking a bit intimidating.  I've learned a little bit about it and have tried some new things. So, I'm getting more confident.  Here is a recipe I altered to make it gluten and dairy free.  I hope you all enjoy these deliciously soft and moist muffins! The original recipe was found here.

GF/DF Cranberry Lemon Muffins

2 cups GF flour mix (see other recipes for my favorite one)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon peel (in the spice section in Walmart or you can use fresh)
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup sour Almond milk (1 Tbsp lemon juice in measuring up. Fill to 1 cup mark with Almond milk)
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin pans or line them with paper muffin liners. Combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon peel, and flax. Mix well.  Make sour milk in measuring cup. Set aside. In separate bowl beat eggs with a fork.  Add lemon juice.  Mix well.  Add sour milk.  Mix.  Add milk mixture to dry ingredients.  Mix until just moistened. Add melted coconut oil.  Mix. Fold in cranberries.  Fill muffin cups to 3/4 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Don't over bake.

I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as my family did.  My friends, who are not gluten free, loved them as well.  That says a lot to me.  Gluten free can and will be delicious!  I just have to make it so!

GF/DF Oven fried chicken Yummy!

My grandmother shared this delicious recipe with me in the recent years.  I asked her for the recipe again a few months ago and then I lost it.  I was thrilled to find the recipe again on this page. My family absolutely loves it!  I changed it to make it fit our needs.  Now it's gluten free and dairy free....and STILL delicious!



Oven Fried Chicken

This simple oven fried chicken is coated with a seasoned flour mixture and baked with a little butter.
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

3 to 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
1/4 cup corn flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup  dairy free butter or olive oil
Preparation:

Directions for oven fried chicken recipe
Preheat oven to 425°.
Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels...if desired. In a bowl with a lid, combine flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Place lid on and shake to coat chicken with the flour mixture. I ended up making a second batch of the flour mixture and threw that in until it was evenly coated.

Put butter in a shallow baking pan; place in oven to melt. When butter is melted, arrange chicken in the baking pan in a single layer, (if using bone-in chicken, place skin side down and add an extra 10 minutes to baking time, after flipping). Bake at 425° for 30 minutes; turn and bake 5 minutes longer, or until chicken is tender and done. Oven fried chicken recipe serves 4.