Noms: Gluten Free Nutella Muffins

I haven't given y'all a lazy easy recipe in awhile!! I saw the inspiration for this on Pinterest (of course) but as usual, have to adapt things for the gluten free life. So here we go.

Ingredients:
Pamela's Pancake and Baking Mix (using her muffin recipe, check her ingredients list)
Nutella (or knock off Jif Chocolate is good too)
Muffin pan
Usual baking stuffs

Follow Pamela's recipe for her muffin mix. Fill the muffin tin (sprayed or use liners) only about half full instead of 2/3 as she says. Add a dollop of Nutella in each muffin space. Gently swirl the Nutella in with a toothpick (swirl easy...if you do it too much it just mixes it, which isn't bad but not the effect you're going for...unless it is..then mix your socks off.) Bake as directed per Pamela's directions. (Is her stuff not awesome?) Let cool if you can stand it and eat!

They are SO good. My kids and I love them! They may 'poof' out the pan but I consider those free parts and they don't count in calories...obviously.

Enjoy!!!

Tasty Tuesday: Gluten Free King Cake

Okay, so I hate cooking. But I love to bake. I figure if I must slave in the kitchen, sugar should be involved, right?

Well one thing I miss terribly since going Gluten Free over 6 years ago, is King Cake. Our family doesn't even celebrate Mardi Gras but I LOVED king cake.
So, I wanted to attempt a GF version.

Now, if you eat GF you know, what you make GF is never EXACTLY like the original. I've accepted that and a new level of dessert contentment helps me accept that!

(Please excuse my photos, it was an overcast day and the lighting in the kitchen is awful)

This is ONLY GLUTEN FREE. If you have other allergies, you'll have to make your substitutions.


Ingredients:
Chebe Cinnamon Bread Mix and required ingredients for basic recipe (on box)

Cream Cheese Filling (optional):

8 oz Cream Cheese
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp lemon zest (I didn't have this and it was fine)
1 tsp vanilla

Icing:
3 TBSP soft butter
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 TBSP milk

Now there are other icing recipes that involve only powdered sugar and lemon juice, but I had no juice, so I found this one. Worked for me.

DIRECTIONS:
Make cinnamon chebe (which is delicious by the way), as directed on box. I doubled the recipe to make two separate king cakes. If you want a larger king cake you could double the recipe and roll the dough, intertwining it like you would a bread.

But I digress, make the chebe bread as directed to the nearly last step about rolling it and cutting. This is where you decide how you want to design your king cake. You can make 'mini' king cakes by continuing in their directions and basically making a cinnamon roll with king cake toppings. I rolled mine flat as directed then cut it in half. Then I rolled each piece into a 'log' and connected it to make a circle (traditional king cake shape).

The dough was a little skinny, but that was fine with me.

(by the way, it is NOT pretty by any stretch of the imagination)

IF you want the cream cheese filling, make the filling then insert it in the dough BEFORE YOU ROLL IT.  To make the filing just beat the filling ingredients until smooth.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.


Once out of the oven, I prefer to let it cool a bit. I left the blue/green cake cool, I did not let the red/yellow cake, and you can see the difference when you pour on the icing.

To make the icing:
Beat the butter until softened. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat, gradually adding milk until a glaze consistency is achieved.

Okay, I'll be honest, I totally didn't do it this way because I didn't read the directions first....I just put the butter, vanilla and milk in one bowl and added it straight to the powdered sugar. When I started beating it, it didn't glaze up well so I just put a bit of milk in it until it reached glaze consistency. Still worked out okay.


Pour icing on top of king cakes and then add colored granulated sugar on top.

Enjoy!!

VERDICT: No, it's NOT the same as Randazzo's or Rouses's king cake, but until they make a GF version, it's better than others I've tried. I DO NOT KNOW how it will turn out if you change anything for allergy reasons. I'm hoping the cream cheese one is better after it sets up a bit because the cream cheese still tasted warm when I tried it, and I'd rather it be cooler. I'll be sure to try it again tonight just to check :)

 

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Tasty Tuesday: Thanksgiving Ideas!

It's almost turkey day!!! Can you feel it? Can you SMELL IT!? I'm so ready! My turkey is thawing in the fridge, I purchased my gluten free pie crust, I'm ready to start a-cooking!
I'll share a few of my Gluten Free alterations to our Thanksgiving dinner.

Pie:
Really only my father-in-law and I really like pie, so I don't bother making a crust. I purchased a GF crust from Whole Foods (their brand). Use your canned pumpkin as directed to make your pie.

Stuffing/Dressing:
I found a recipe once upon a time for a dressing made in a baking dish in the oven. Again, trusty 'ol Whole Foods helps, I buy their brand of GF Stuffing Cubes....viola...use in whatever stuffing recipe you have.

Everything else on Thanksgiving is generally Gluten Free. I do make crescent rolls for the rest of the family, but other than that, most turkey day fare, is easily modified to GF....turkey, cranberry, veggies, etc. All, easily made GF.

So, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and I'll see you, full and fat on Friday! :)

~~Amy

Tasty Tuesday: Snickers Salad

Yeah, I know. Snickers Salad. Ok, so it's not a SALAD, but, it is freaking fantabulous.

Of course it was found on Pinterest and originally from this super cute blog. Anyways, it makes me feel better to call is salad because "Snickers Apple Cool Whip Smush" doesn't have the same ring to it, know what I mean?

Personally, I think it's heaven in a bowl.
And easier than pie to make.

Ingredients:
*Tart, Juicy Apple (I used one) Chopped and diced. Leave the skin on...it counteracts the unhealthiness of the snickers.

*Snickers. You can use one bar, or you can go in your huge stash of discounted Halloween candy as I did and use the mini's. I also snuck in a few Snickers Peanut Butter Squared, because really, peanut butter can only make it better. Stick 'em in the fridge, makes it easier to cut and stir.

*Thawed container of cool whip.

Chop your apple, chop your snickers. Take gratutious food photography shots. Stir in cool whip. Slap in a retro pyrex container and eat until you are physically ill or a button pops off your pants, whatever happens first. If any leftovers survive, stick in fridge.

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

If not for Pinterest, I might starve.

Found this one, haven't tried it yet, but plan to. No one will probably like it but me, but I'd come to the decision a month or so ago that I was going to cook what I wanted to cook with considerations for some of their preferences, but that overall, as she who slaved over it, I had final say in menu planning.

****To make this gluten free, substitute the flour for Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour or your desired GF flour mix.*****

This is from Martha Stewart, and although I'm not a fan, I admit she's not a shabby cook.

Pan-steaming is a smart way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Gentle heat and moisture keep the meat juicy and tender without any added fat.

Everyday Food, November 2008

• Prep Time 20 minutes
• Total Time 45 minutes
• Yield Serves 4

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 to 2 tablespoons minced canned chipotles in adobo
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 8 corn tortillas (6-inch)
• 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

Directions

1. In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. Add chicken. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes; remove skillet from heat. Let chicken steam, covered, until opaque throughout, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer chicken to a medium bowl; shred with two forks. Set aside.
2. While chicken is cooking, make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add flour, cumin, and chipotles in adobo; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 cup sauce to bowl with chicken; toss to combine.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in a double layer of damp paper towels; microwave until hot, about 1 minute. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture; roll up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, in baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce, and top with cheese. Bake until hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Cook's Note

Chipotles in adobo (smoked, dried jalapenos in sauce) are spicy -- for less heat, scrape out ribs and seeds. You'll find them in the international aisle.


~~~~~~~~ Enjoy

Poppy Chow---Pinterest Inspired

I've been slowly working my way through the awesome things I find on Pinterest! Today I was in a mood. No real reason, just bleh, meh, uninspired, feeling whiny. No real reason, just a case of the meh's.

So I decided to make something yummy for a treat. The recipe came from HERE and someone had pinned it of course. (If only I got paid to use pinterest....)

It was messy but not hard to make, and I just happened to have a giant box of popcorn on hand! Apparently you only need 1-2 bags to make 9 cups of popcorn, so I now have an extra giant bowl of popcorn to let the boys make art with...

I used Kettle Korn because that's what I had on hand. But let me tell you, DELISH!! Totally worth the mess!!

It was awesome! I could eat it til I puke....

~~amy

Meanie Mommy Cooking

That's IT. I'm DONE. I'm tired of attempting to please the masses. I think I live with one of the pickiest families on the face of this earth.

The youngest, HAH, I'd do better listing what he DOES eat than what he doesn't.
The oldest, he's slowly learning but still dinner is a battle.
The oldest, who-should-know-better-and-should-be-legally-obligated-to-like-what-I-cook-no-matter-what-because-he-married-me-damnit, is pretty picky himself. As a good friend says, my husband has an "untested palate."

So, perhaps I should not try to appease them anymore. I find tons of great recipes and I don't bother because I know they won't like them.
NO MORE. I am the one buying the groceries, putting them away, planning the menu, cooking, prepping, storing, blah blah blah, it's MY turn to cook what I want. (deju vu again, I feel like I've written this post before...oh well...if I can't remember, surely you can't...)

Since I am addicted to Pinterest, I'm going to continue to try more of those recipes. Now, if you know me, or have read this at all, you realize I am NOT a huge cook. I LOVE to bake, but hate to cook. Like I say, it's way more fun to do it when the end results has chocolate. But, we do need to eat and eat relatively healthy. So, here's the new rules:

*You have two choices:
1. Eat it and be grateful there is food on your plate.

2. Don't eat it and be grateful you were offered food on your plate. Then leave the room without complaint. Kitchen is closed after you leave the room.

That's it. Plain and simple. I may very well just write these rules on a sign in the kitchen.
Now I admit sometimes even the stuff I make, *I* don't like. That's cool. When it's an epic fail we can all eat cereal. But for the most part, it's not half bad.

So eat it, or get out my kitchen and shut up.

Meanie Mommy Menu is ON like donkey kong.

~~mama

Gluten Free Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yes...you read right! I am slowly working my way through my "to cook/bake" category over on my Pinterest.
This week I tried the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes found here.

Since I'm gluten free, these kind of recipes would have previously depressed me.....I would have chalked it up to yet another recipe I couldn't eat because it wasn't gluten free. But, AHA! They DO make Gluten Free Oreo style cookies! Both Kinninnick and Glutino companies make them!

So I took the above recipe and tried it with the GF oreos! Viola....

DELISH!!! Sooooooooo good. Unless you have a large group to feed, I highly suggest cutting the recipe in half or you may suffer death by cupcakes. Seriously...I need restraints to keep me away from these things.

Go for it....enjoy!

A Handmade Life....

It's no secret, I love handmade, homemade, heartmade, whatever you want to call it. If it can be made with your brain, heart, and two hands (and sometimes feet!) I like love it. So I've declared war. War against mass manufactured items.
Obviously, not EVERYTHING in life can be handmade, at least not cost effeicently. But, for this upcoming school year (2011-2012, I measure my life in school years! LOL) I declare it, The Year of Handmade.

Handmade is not new to me, nor you if you have read this blog for any length of time. It is, indeed, my livelihood, and how I make a few pennies to spend here and there. But there are a lot of things in life I take the shortcut with. And I think it's time to stop.

It will be baby steps, I'm sure. But I will let you know how things go along the way!

First Mission:
Use up all store bought laundry soap, dish soap, and cleaning supplies. This is hard since I am also a couponer and have amassed quite a stock in cleaning supplies. But I vow to use it all up and make my own healthier, cleaner, cheaper versions! It's really not THAT hard. I keep recipes and ideas organized on my Pinterest boards. I've made many of them before, but just didn't keep it up. Well, now is the time!

Second Mission:
Bake/Cook More, including stocking up the freezer with ready to go meals. Now, we only eat out maybe 1x a week. So we don't have a problem eating IN....but *I* have a problem with loving cooking. You can read about it in my latest Real Housewives of NOLA post.

So those are my first two missions for the coming months....I hope to slowly add more and share my progress. Do you have any ways you choose homemade over mass-made?
~~Amy

girl, disconnected...Slidell on Food Network!

Well this is cool, I didn't know this was going to be on!

Chili anyone?

I haven't done a recipe in awhile, so here go, homemade chili for even the laziest of cooks.



Ingredients:

1 1/14 ground beef (or turkey)
2 cup diced onion (I buy mine precut from a local produce farm)
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes with juice
2 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 1/14 cup of water or beef stock
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can kidney beans (or pinto)

1. Sautee' meat and onions in big pot.
2. Add all ingredients EXCEPT beans.
3. Simmer and stir occasionally for 1 hour.
4. Add beans (after you drained them if you wish to drain them)
5. Simmer 15 minutes more.
6. EAT! :) Serve with cheese, tostitos or crackers, or whatever floats your boat!!

Enjoy!!

Lazy Mama Recipes: BBQ Chicken

It's Lazy Mama Recipe Time!

BBQ CHICKEN:

Ingredients/Materials:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins (We use one pkg)
BBQ Sauce (your choice, I use Kraft most often because I know it's Gluten Free)
Glass Baking Dish with Sides (size based on how much chicken you want to use)

1. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Do whatever you're supposed to do to chicken before you cook it, wash it, pat it or whatever. But I'm lazy so I just throw it in in the dish. You don't even have to have it thawed...but if it's frozen it'll all be stuck together..so separate the pieces before you freeze em. Ehh, just throw it in the dish.
3. Cover chicken with 1 bottle of BBQ Sauce. Make sure all chicken pieces are coated.(regular size, unless you're cooking for a bigger family...and really love BBQ sauce, then just pour whatever the heck you want in.)
4. Heat Oven to 425 and cover your dish aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove, stir chicken around, turn pieces over, recover and cook for antoher 20-30 minutes. (the more chicken you have you may have to add a bit of cooking time.)
6. Remove and serve! Check to make sure the chicken is not pink in the middle. Serve with baked beans and corn on the cob. Easy, cheap and quick (well, quick to prepare.)

Enjoy!
~~mama

Terrific Tuesday

Ahhh...summer vacation...I'm enjoying having my boys around all day, and settling into life as a WAHM again after deciding not to return to work full time :) Soooo content with that decision.

So here we have a Terrific Tuesday.

Woke up early before, the boys, and enjoyed the peace and coffee.

Gathered my goodies for chicken gumbo in the crock pot...:)

and THEN...the mail came with a goodie box of FABRIC!!!

So that's a nifty Tuesday as far as I'm concerned!! How was your Fourth of July weekend?

Operation Simplify 2010--WEEK ONE

I'm one week into my Operation Simplify. So far so good!!
I've created a schedule for me to keep things in line. I've only deviated slightly due to weather or children's needs! It is very helpful having a specific time to work with Eli and it helps remind me NOT to goof off on the computer!

For my goal of cooking I've been working on slow cooker, crock pot recipes.
This week I've tried a few and here's what I think:

Baked Potato Soup:
I loved it!! I shared some with my best friend who'd just had a baby, and my niece who was in the hospital with her baby with pneumonia! My husband didn't really like it but he's a wuss and doesn't like soup. The kids didn't like it because, well, they are uber picky!

Gumbo:
Okay while I greatly appreciate her effort, this recipe needs major work. First of all, it needs WAY more spices. Creole seasoning, salts, peppers, SOMETHING. Seeing as the blogger is NOT southern, it is totally understandable that this was left out. :) Also when I did it her way and put the rice in, it ended up being a gumbo mush. Like rice/gumbo/risotto. So I'm going to try it again but make the rice separate and put the gumbo OVER the rice just like you're SUPPOSED to do with gumbo. There is no roux required but I might try to do one also. Overall the taste was good...just needed a kick.

Overall I'm digging using the crockpot--when I actually do remember to turn it on, it works great! :) Now to train the hubs to clean it up every night, how come kitchens aren't self cleaning!

How is your Operation Simplify going??

~~Amy

Random Recipe--Gluten Free Mocha Cake

ENJOY!! (No, I will not pay your gym fees for eating this cake. Eat it and be happy damnit.)

GLUTEN FREE Mocha Cake

1 box devils food cake mix (to make it gluten free, use Pamela’s Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix)
1--8 oz cream cheese
1--3 oz cream cheese
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp hot water
1 Tsp coffee granules
3/4 cup butter
6 1oz choc squares (semi sweet)
1 Tsp corn syrup
1 stick of butter

Mix and bake cake according to directions. (I use 2- 8 in round pans)
Cool cake.

To make Icing:

Cream 3/4th cup butter and cream cheese. Mix sugar in.
Mix on high speed until fluffy.
Reduce speed.
Have ready the hot water and coffee granules dissolved in it and ready to pour in mixture.
Mix until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl.
Put icing in between the 2 layers of cake and on the outsides of the cake.
Put cake in fridge for 1 hour.

To Make covering:

Cut choc squares into pieces.
Put corn syrup, choc pieces and 1 stick of butter in sauce pan.
Melt on low heat.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Remove cake from fridge.
Put wax paper along edges of cake (along bottom of pan so choc doesn’t get on pan.)
Pour the syrup over the top of the cake, let it run down sides.
Chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

YUMMMMMY!!