Pumpkin Pie Cake

Wow! I didn't realize how long it had been since I blogged a new and exciting recipe. I guess going on vacation started my distraction and life just kept right on moving fast after that. I do have a new dessert recipe to share with you. Since it is extremely late (or early, depending on how you view 2 am), I am going to type this here and later do the link to Google documents for printing.
This recipe is actually one that my mom has had since I was a little kid and she sent it to me. She also sent me the recipe for the flour blend that I used. It can be quite helpful to have a mom who is also eating gluten free! Anyway, I made a few changes and the recipe is simply delicious. you'll have to try it for yourself and see.

Pumpkin Pie Cake
1/4 c. canola oil
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 small can of pureed pumpkin (about 1 c.)
2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. rice milk
2 eggs
1 c. flour mixture (recipe to follow)
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
1/4 t. ground ginger
2 T. flax seed
3/4 c. raisins
1/2 c. sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square pan. Combine all liquid ingredients, mixing thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients and then combine with liquid ingredients making sure all ingredients are mixed together well. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until top springs back when touched lightly in the center.

Flour mixture:
1/2 c. sorghum flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1/3 c. tapioca flour
Mix thoroughly before using.

Happy Eating!

Casserole

I think this recipe that I'm going to share with you is one of my all-time favorite casserole recipes. I only have a couple that I have had all my life and still keep making. This is one of those. Actually, it's the first copycat recipe I ever had. A restaurant in my hometown made this and my mom copied it. We're both still making it over 30 yrs. later. That is the sign of a good recipe. I've also made this for friends after they've had babies and needed a dinner and then I promptly had to share the recipe. Of course, this was before gluten and dairy were a problem (or at least before we realized they were a problem). It used canned cream soup, a big no-no on the new diet. I wasn't going to make it again, I thought. Then Thanksgiving rolled around and I KNEW I had to have green bean casserole. So I searched and discovered recipes for Cream of Mushroom Soup and tried one. I ended up tweaking it to make it to suit my tastes and when I finished I wondered why I had ever purchased the canned soup. They are a poor comparison to what you can make at home yourself.
Once I made that cream of mushroom soup, I knew that this recipe would be back in the menu rotation. So here it is: Sausage, green bean potato casserole I know, it's a pretty fancy title for a casserole! Well, at least you pretty much know what's in it by the time you finish saying the name. Try it, you'll like it! I even put the Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe with the casserole and by itself, just so you have it for reference.
Happy Eating!

The Rainy Season

I'm sitting here at the computer listening to the rain pouring down outside and thinking about one of my favorite winter time meals, potato soup. Nothing brings back memories like comfort food. I remember having potato soup as a little girl (my mom probably made it not only because she liked it, but it was an easy way to get some milk in me. I never liked the stuff, guess now we know why. It doesn't agree with me). I liked potato soup. It was warm and creamy and delicious. The recipe my mom made wasn't one of those loaded with cheese and sour cream, it was just potatoes, onion, celery, milk and salt and pepper. I've had the ones loaded with cheese. I even have a great recipe for one of those, but I can't eat those anymore and after adapting a recipe for potato soup from the AIA Gluten and Dairy Free Cookbook, I don't even want those cheesy potato soups. This new recipe is great. It has a few new elements different from my mom's recipe and one from the loaded baked potato soups (bacon). I shared this recipe with my mom and I think that she might try it with some Jimmy Dean Natural Sausage. I might have to try that next time, but for now, the version with bacon was wonderful! Ian was hunting for the bacon in every bite. He wasn't happy when he thought he'd run out of bacon, but thankfully, he still had a couple of pieces.
So, if you're in need of some warm comfort food, I'd recommend this recipe. It'll put a smile on your face!
Potato Soup
Happy Eating!

The Spicy Side of Life

Lately our go to food (meaning quick to make and popular with the whole family) has been tacos. We don't do pizza much any more since we aren't eating dairy and soy gives me a headache, so tacos work quite well. I make my own taco seasoning mix. I found a recipe on Top Secret Recipes website and changed it to make it gluten free and also to suit my tastes. It tastes fabulous...enough to make my husband actually ask for tacos (which, if you knew him, would amaze you. He's not really a Mexican food fan). I love to pair the tacos with some refried beans and Spanish rice. I have a great recipe for Spanish rice. Boy, typing about these makes me want Mexican food. I might just have to make some this weekend!
Happy Eating!

Time To Play Catch Up!

Well, Happy New Year. I am really behind with the recipes I'd like to share with you. I still need to share some of my successes from Thanksgiving and Christmas. I guess I'll go with Christmas for now as it is still fresh in my mind and doesn't require looking up several websites (as Thanksgiving does). So...Christmas, what to say... I did make a couple of Christmas cookies that were gluten and dairy free. One of them was so good, it's on the list to make for Valentine's day as a treat since we can't have some of the more traditional treats. It's called Almond Chocoroons. It's fabulous and I actually found the recipe in Family Circle. Of course, I changed it just a smidge and it's even better. Plus, I can tell you that one of their instructions was not good...using an ungreased cookie sheet...ugh! This cookie is too sticky to get away with that. Just click on the name of the cookie to see the recipe.
I'll share one more of my new recipes for now. It's my Asian Cold Noodle Salad. I'm not bragging, but....yum! I found a recipe that like for a cold noodle salad and then I changed it to suit my needs. Instead of soba noodles, I used pad thai noodles. I also added a couple of ingredients like red pepper and green onion and changed the carrots to julienne carrots (although I'm very tempted to just buy matchstick carrots at the store and save myself a lot of chopping...if making julienne carrot strips it too much work, you can just grate the carrot). By the way, this salad was a big hit at my Bible study dinner (although a bit spicy for some..cut back on the crushed red pepper flakes if you don't like it spicy. I only added one teaspoon the last time I made this and it still had zip without being too spicy). Hope you like it. I'll try to post some of my other recipes from the holidays soon.
Happy Eating!

Gluten Free Corn Dogs

Note: I realize this post is long overdue, my recipes with notes on them were "lost" for a while. Thankfully, they have reappeared and I can share them with you.

I planned a fun menu for our Halloween dinner this year. Corn dogs, tator tots and popcorn balls for dinner. Just your basic food groups (well minus a couple, but ketchup makes up for the veggies, at least on Halloween). The tator tots were easy. I bought Cascade Farms Spud Puppies because, not only are they gluten free, they are free of MSG and they're organic. Hot dogs were found at Trader Joe's (gluten free and nitrite and nitrate free). All I needed was a recipe for corn dog coating and popcorn balls that had no gluten or dairy in the ingredients. I found the corn dog coating recipe on a message board (and tweaked it a lot) and the popcorn ball recipe on a gluten free blog somewhere (I will look for that site so I can give them credit).
Both the corn dogs and popcorn balls turned out tasting absolutely fabulous. I will make them again in the future. Sometimes I just crave a little junk food, it's nice to be able to make it a little healthier without sacrificing the flavor.
Click on the recipe name to access the recipe: Gluten Free Corn Dogs
Enjoy!

New Exciting Recipes.....To Be Seen in the Future

I know it's been a while since I've been on here. Life in general interrupts and I don't get on here as often as I would like to. That being said, I do have some exciting new gf/cf recipes to share with you very soon.
I don't think I've shared my meatloaf recipe yet and I also have some recipes from Halloween to share. Homemade corn dogs and popcorn balls. Yummy!
Plus, I announced tonight to Ian that we will be looking for new recipes for Christmas cookies this year. So far, I've found some that look easy to adapt and I even found one in Family Circle magazine that doesn't need to be changed (well only the chocolate from bittersweet to semisweet, but that's a minor change). So stayed tuned for some great recipes in the days ahead.