Muffin Recipe

Brown rice flour, super fine

Tapioca starch

Potato Starch

Xanthan Gum

This is the basic flour blend used in most of the muffins in this book.

Changes I made:

1.  I used home dried cherries.

2.  I used olive oil instead of butter.

3.  I used low fat ricotta.

4.  I used vanilla extract.

5.  I used dark chocolate chunks.

I cooked these for the full 22 minutes, but I did test at 18.

I also ended up with 12 muffins.

As an update, these are the first gluten free thing I have baked that is still just as good at room temperature.

It hasn’t taken us long to go through 12 muffins. 

(My husband was home and took two with him in addition to our snacking.)

Black Forest Muffins (Recipe Review)

I bought this book from Thrift Books.

Finding gluten free items, whose texture isn’t off, is proving elusive.

Even more elusive is finding nut free items because everyone likes to use almond meal as a flour substitute.

While there are some recipes in this book that use almond meal, the bulk do not.

They use a brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch mixture.

We decided to try the Black Forest Muffins first.

My notes:

1.  I used nut free dark chocolate chunks and home dried tart cherries.

2.  I used vanilla to avoid the nut issue.

3.  I ended up with 12 decent sized muffins.

 4.  They took the full 22 minutes to cook.

The overall verdict is these are FABULOUS!

The texture is perfectly soft and not at all gritty!

I cooked these late in the evening and I apologize for the lighting.

This was the best I could get of the inside.

I’m hoping you can make out the cherries and chocolate chunks.

I want to either try pumpkin or gingerbread next.  

Beef and Broccoli Casserole (Recipe Included)

This recipe was a relatively easy one to convert to gluten free.

As usual I made a few changes:

1.  I used frozen broccoli and steamed it slightly before adding it.

2.  I made a white sauce and added cheese to replace the broccoli soup.

3.  I used gluten free bread crumbs.

4.  I cooked my rice with beef broth for added flavor -- used the Instant Pot for ease.

I made my casserole up in the morning and refrigerated it until I was ready to cook it.

Then looking at my general idea of the menu plan:

I went ahead and cooked 3 pounds of beef while I was at it.

I had 4 pounds in total, but the 4th was made up into patties.

1 pound went into this casserole, 1 pound was taken out of the pan (plain), and 1 pound had taco seasoning added.

Easiest Roast Ever

My daughter rarely raves about any food that isn't sweet, but she loves this roast.  Kind of amusing to me, because she is even willing to pick the pieces of onion off....(any of you, who read here, know she has texture issues with onions).

 I'm trying to continue the "fall in love with your cookbooks again" project.  I hadn't made this particular dish since last summer.  I'm not sure why.  However, finding a piece of beef on mark down was the perfect excuse.  This recipe is super easy and uses very few ingredients.  Also, I like that it uses ingredients I pretty much always have on hand.

 The only substitution I make is to use Braggs Liquid Aminoes, because I cannot use soy sauce.  That runs my cost up a little bit, but I offset it by buying in bulk.  I keep the huge bottle hidden in my pantry away from the light, and it lasts me quite some time.

 This recipe is from the Fix It and Forget It Big Cookbook.  (I bought my copy used -- hence the name written down the side..lol. I love reading it for inspiration, even if I don't follow the recipes exactly.)

I use whole wheat flour to coat my roast with.  

This evening, when I serve it, I will thicken the sauce a touch if it needs it. 

Most of the time it doesn't require much, if any.

My daughter has requested rice and veggies with it.

We haven't decided on the veggie, but it will be whatever we have on hand.

Recipe Meh (keeping it real)

One of my goals has been to try some new recipes.  Today we decided to try a stir fry that has ramen noodles as a base.  For full disclosure, I did alter the meat and veggies rather than use the original recipe.  However, by my estimation that shouldn't have changed the overall taste.  The recipe was from a Taste of Home cookbook. This recipe fell short of our expectations.  It isn't horrible, but it isn't great either.  It isn't well seasoned.  I'm sharing what I did and then I'll share what I would do differently if I ever make something similar to this again.  

I thawed a bag of stir fry veggies, which I heated in the wok.

I added cooked chicken breast.

When this was heated through, I added the pack of chicken flavored ramen noodles, the seasoning packet, 1 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.

Then the recipe calls for it to simmer until the noodles were done, which we did.

 

(The original recipe called for pork and fresh stir fry veggies, but the rest was pretty much the same.)

   

 

Like I said, "It's just meh."

Despite me adding additional Braggs Liquid Aminos (my soy sauce substitute).

 

 

 

In the future, I'll approach this a little differently.

 

I'll cook my veggies and meat and add some onion powder and garlic powder.  Perhaps a dash or two of soy sauce.

I'll prepare my  noodles separately.

 

When they are done, I will drain them --  all but 1/4 cup of liquid.  I'll add the soy sauce and the seasoning packet.  Then I will serve the veggies over a bed of the seasoned noodles.

 

I'm hoping that will combat our biggest complaint -- the seasonings simply weren't the pop we were looking for.

Vegan Meatballs

This recipe is from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen.  We have enjoyed each of her recipes that we have tried, but she does have a few that have nuts that I cannot vouch for.  (Carol, I believe with a few easy substitutions you could make these gluten free.)

Meatballs and Pasta

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
canola oil for frying

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook onion and mushrooms until soft and lightly browned.  Add garlic and cook a few more minutes.  Transfer to a food processor.  Reserve the skillet for later use.

Add cooled brown rice, bread crumbs, flour, basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper (if using) to the food processor.  Pulse until the mixture just comes together.  If necessary, transfer to a large bowl and mix with your hands.  Season to taste and let cool slightly.  Form the mixture into 1 to 2 inch balls.

Heat canola oil in the reserved skillet over medium heat and pan fry the meatballs in batches.  They should be well done and browned on each side with a nice crust.  Drain on paper towels.

To serve:
Combine cooked pasta with your choice of sauce.  Top with meatballs and garnish with parsley and Parmesan topping.


I see no reason these couldn't just as easily be served with a gravy.  I would assume they would not "simmer" well in it though, but I haven't tried doing so either.

Borrowing Cookbooks from the Library

I have a weakness for cookbooks. I can sit and spend hours reading them.  I mentally adjust recipes, look for things I might like to try, and just in general enjoy them. 

I picked up these three from the library Sunday afternoon. 

My general review is based on the number of recipes I could see myself making some version of.

Isa Does It only has about 4 or 5 recipes I might try. None of them were particularly earth shattering to me.  This was one I am glad I checked out before considering purchasing it.

However, Vegan Brunch, which is written by the same author, was marginally better. Mostly I found a few pancake and bread type recipes I might would try. Again not high enough to qualify for me to spend money on.

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson is one I would consider investing in.  I made a list of 26 must try recipes and a long list of several other possibilities. Most of the recipes I immediately ruled out were because of nut and or peanut ingredients.  Some could be easily altered though.  Of course, I have admitted before I am partial to her books.  However, the plan is to try the recipes I have marked and see if we like them. If we do and I consider them worth investing money in I will begin a search for an inexpensive used copy of this book.

Carrot Muffins

I love this little cookbook.  The recipes are all family friendly....young child and teenager alike. 

I made the carrot muffins today -- adjusting for my food allergies and preferences. 

Robin Robertson's Pumpkin Spice Cake

As I have mentioned before, Vegan on the Cheap is one of my favorite cookbooks.  Rarely do the recipes have ingredients I cannot find.  They also rarely have ingredients that sound a little "weird" to me.  :-)

This pumpkin spice cake recipe is from this book.  I did not make the chocolate glaze, so I am not sharing that recipe.  (I try to only share recipes I can vouch for turning out well in my opinion.)

This recipe uses items I keep on hand and makes frugal, healthful dessert.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a Bundt pan and set aside. (I used two small pans because I was slicing ours in travel sized pieces for a road trip.)

In small bowl combine:
1/2 cup soy milk (can be plain or vanilla)
2 tsps. apple cider vinegar
Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together (until light brown and fluffy) for about 2 or 3 minutes:
1/2 cup of vegan margarine (softened)
1 cup of light brown sugar

Add:
1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Beat until incorporated.
Stir in the soy milk mixture.

In medium bowl whisk together:
2 cups AP flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsps. baking soda
2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsps. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture about 1/3 at a time, incorporating after each addition. 

Put batter in pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick test shows it is done.

Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and then remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack and then gaze if desired.

Pumpkin Cake

This is hands down my favorite vegan cookbook.  The recipes are so approachable and her recipes are in line with how a home cook thinks....or at least how I think. 

It's beginning to feel like fall.  I was down to 3 cans of pumpkin left from last fall's stock-up....and now there are two... 

This vegan cake is super easy to make and really delicious.  Of course, I changed a few things.  I used whole wheat pastry flour and refined coconut oil as opposed to all purpose flour and vegan margarine.

Half of one cake became dessert.  I sliced the rest and put in a tin for our road trip.

Holiday Spice Muffins

These muffins are from the "gift jar" book and they are a great tea muffin.  However, my family says they are not sweet enough without a sweet drink with them.  I did alter the recipe and use coconut sugar.  I'm not sure if that made a huge difference or not.  I personally like them, but I will continue to play with the recipe until I can find a happy medium my family likes.  When I do I will share the finalized recipe.

Date Bars Recipe

In Duff Bakes  by Duff Goldman and Sara Gonzales, Sara talks about eating date bars as a child.  I don't know if it was because I grew up on the opposite coast or what, but I never remember having these as a child. 

The ingredient list isn't overly long and all of the items are thinks I keep on hand.  I have to confess I did not search for Medjool Dates, but simply used what I could find at the local grocery store.  I'm sharing the recipe in the order I did the work. 


Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Cut strips of parchment paper about 1 inch wider than the sides of your pan.  Line them in the pan and grease it all.  (Just keeps the date filling from sticking to the side of the pans.)

Filling
3 cups pitted chopped dates
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats

Place the dates, honey, vanilla, brown sugar, and 3/4 cup of room temp water in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often until thickened.  This takes about 10 minutes.  Let this cool for 10 minutes and while it is cooling make your crust.


Crust
2 sticks of butter, softened
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of all purpose flour

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the salt.  Gradually add the flour, mixing it as you go.  This will be a crumbly mixture.  Use your hands to press half of it into the pan and set the other half aside.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes and let it cool just a bit.

Mix the oats in the leftover crust.
Spread the date filling over the bottom crust.  Top with the oat topping...about 1/2 inch thick.  (The recipe says you won't need it all possibly, but I did.)

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool.  Cut into squares.

Homemade English Muffins

From the library I checked out the cookbook Miserly Meals by Jonni McCoy. These were an attempt at her English muffin recipe. I am not certain, but I think there may be a typo in the recipe. It took considerably more flour to make a dough I could handle.  I know it isn't unusual for a recipe to require varying amounts of flour, but I used not quite a cup more.  However, these muffins were a hit with my family.

English Muffins by Jonni McCoy with my notes in parentheses)

1 cup milk (I used water and powdered milk)

1 1/2 tbsp. of dried yeast (I used 2 1/2 tsps quick yeast)

1 tsp. Sugar (I added two)

1/4 cup butter melted

2 cups flour (I ended up with closer to three)

1 tsp. Salt

Do the usual mix, knead, rise until double, etc. shape into circles about 1 1/2" thick. 

Let rise again for 20 to 30 minutes. Cook one side at a time on a hot skillet. (5 to 8 minutes each side)

My notes -- I am babysitting most days and I want home baked, but need easy. I put it all in the bread machine on dough cycle. At the end I let it rest five minutes and then I patted it out to about 1 1/2"  thick on a floured surface and used the biscuit cutter to cut them out. I let them rise, covered for about 30 minutes. I then cooked mine on a griddle, 8 minutes per side. I ended up with 12 English muffins.

When I make these again I will pay closer to 1", but beyond that these were a hit. 

Another Cake from Duff Bakes

Oh my goodness, this is sooooo good. Very rich! I like that it uses cocoa powder and kitchen staples. 

Sorry that photo isn't as clear.