Gingerbread Men

These cookies are so soft and have a great unique flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

The foundation:

• 1 1/2 sticks lightly salted butter, softened
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 orange, zested

The dry ingredients:

• 4 cups Jules Gluten-Free Flour (plus 1/2 cup additional for rolling, if needed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground dry ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

The wet ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1 lemon, juiced

DIRECTIONS:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.

Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet. A note about crowding the tray(s): these particular cookies can spread a little. Leave room between the cookies. Better to use 3 baking sheets with fewer cookies than to crowd them on 2 trays. Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.

Bisquick Pancake Mix

This post is for all you pancake lovers out there. Bisquick's gluten-free pancake mix is the perfect alternative for gluten-free pancakes. My husband says he likes these better than "regular" pancakes because they don't fall apart as easily as glutenous pancakes do. The taste and texture is great. So go out, get yourself this pancake mix and make yourself some pancakes! You won't be disappointed. Trust me. 

http://shop.glutenfreely.com/Bisquick-Gluten-Free/dp/B0045KDDU0 

Homemade Gravy

Tonight I made pork loin with mashed potatoes and gravy. I make my gravy from scratch, and to make it gluten free is pretty easy. All I do is take the drippings from the meat, add salt to taste, and add a couple of spoonfuls of brown rice flour to it. (You can add however much you want to make it as thick or thin as you want.) Enjoy!

Chebe Cinnamon Roll Mix

I think this picture is pretty self-explanatory. Did these cinnamon rolls taste nasty? No. These cinnamon rolls actually had a decent taste; however, what I am looking for when making cinnamon rolls is more of the perfect texture (and shape) with a great flavor. In order to stand these up straight, I had to lean them against each other. They were crunchy and chewy. You will not find these on my grocery list anytime soon. Ha.

Bob's Red Mill Cornbread Mix

This is a GREAT gluten-free cornbread mix. I honestly can't tell the difference between it and regular cornbread. Okay, well the last time I had gluten-filled cornbread would have been back in 2007... but my husband says he can't tell the difference either! This is a winner!

Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
Cornstarch
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water
1 C. sugar
1/3 C. vinegar
1/3 C. ketchup
1/4 C. chicken broth
1 tsp. salt 
2 Tbsp. gluten-free soy sauce

Directions:
Cut chicken in pieces and sprinkle with garlic salt. Let sit one hour. Dip in cornstarch, then in beaten egg. Fry in hot oil until brown. Place in casserole dish. Combine sugar, vinegar, ketchup, chicken broth, salt, and soy sauce. Microwave for five minutes, stirring mixture halfway through. Pour over chicken and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Makes 6-8 servings.

Pumpkin Bread with Salted Caramel Pumpkin Buttercream

Ingredients

• For the Bread
• 1 ¾ C Gluten-Free flour mix (with xanthan gum added in)
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/4 C pumpkin puree
• For the Frosting
• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 C confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp milk
• For the  Caramel Drizzle
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well-combined. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, using an electric or stand mixer, beat eggs until creamy. Beat in brown sugar and sugar on medium speed for one minute. Add in vanilla, yogurt and oil. Beat until well-combined. Add flour mixture and pumpkin, beat until just combined. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
4. Spread batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a wire rack.
5. While bread is cooling, begin preparing the frosting. Cream together butter and pumpkin puree. Add in cinnamon and vanilla and beat until creamy. Slowly add confectioner's sugar and milk. Beat until well-combined and creamy. Spread frosting over the top of the cooled bread.
6. In a small saucepan, stir together brown sugar and water. Dissolve sugar over medium-high heat. Continue heating until caramel turns dark brown and starts to boil, making sure to stir constantly to avoid burning. Add butter and salt. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Continue stirring for another 1-2 minutes to cool the caramel somewhat before drizzling over the top of the frosting. 
7. Slice bread and serve! Store leftovers in the refrigerator
   
   (I got the original recipe here. I altered it to be gluten-free.)

Pumpkin Bars

Bars:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups Jules flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.  Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.  Spread the batter into a greased 13x10" baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool completely before frosting.  Cut into bars.

Looking For a Good Gluten-Free Flour Mix? Look No Further!

Jules Gluten-Free Flour is PERFECT for baking, and it already has the xanthan gum mixed into it, so you don't have to buy it separately! You can substitute one cup of her flour mix for one cup of wheat flour in any recipe you have. It works great, and tastes great, too! 
(This is a picture of 3 items that were ordered from her website after they came to me in the mail. In the package are gluten-free oats, gluten-free flour, and a gluten-free cake mix.)

If you want to check out her website, she has some great recipes there and some great products, too! Her website is: www.julesglutenfree.com

Salmon Cakes with Yogurt Sauce

Salmon Cakes
1 can salmon
2 eggs
4 baby carrots
1 green onion
1 piece of GF bread (I have used Udi's and Rudi's before, and they both taste great)

Directions:
In a food processor, finely chop the baby carrots and the green onion. Set aside. In a bowl, add the can of salmon and remove most of the skin and bones. Add the chopped carrots and green onion. Add the eggs. Crumble a piece of GF bread and add to the mixture. Mix together. Form little patties and fry in oil in a pan.

Yogurt Sauce
Mayonnaise
Plain Yogurt
Cucumber
Green Onion
Dill Weed

Directions:
Mix equal parts of mayo and yogurt together. Chop cucumber and green onion and add as much of it as you’d like to the mix. Sprinkle a little dill weed in. Mix together.
*This sauce goes well on top of the salmon cakes.

Dominican Tuna Pasta Salad (Ensalada de atún)

Ingredients:

• Chilled GF spiral pasta (I cooled it down in the fridge in a bowl with water so that the pasta didn't dry out---I got this pasta from Trader Joes; their pasta is very cheap and tastes very good)
• mayonnaise
• some olive oil
• tuna
• a little salt and pepper
• chopped onion
• chopped green bell pepper chopped olives

Directions:
Cook the pasta and chill (in water so it doesn't dry out) in the fridge. When chilled, drain the pasta and then start to add the ingredients. You can add each of them to your liking, or you can go by the picture to try to make it look like that. There's no specific amounts that you have to have. Enjoy!

Hello Blog World!

I've decided to create this blog with the hopes of reaching more people in the gluten-free world. This started with a group on Facebook, but since there are more followers and since I post recipes and reviews of gluten-free products on the market, I thought I'd be of more use creating a blog so that I could reach a larger audience. I hope you all enjoy this, and I hope this is helpful to you!

-Rachelle