I’m still here. Sorta. Since I’m gluten free for life, you won’t get rid of me that easy! I’m blogging more often at JessieGunderson.com and busy with my five Thinglets, five acres and being a home school junkie. Haha! Anyhow, if you subscribe you won’t miss it when I post. I’ll just stick to the best of the best. Thanks for being patient.

ENJOY!

Slightly Messy but Tasty and Cheaper Than Storebought Energy Bars

• ½ cup dry roasted peanuts (the ones I found were not salted but they could be)
• ½ cup sunflower seeds (no shells)
• ¼ cup flax seed
• ½ cup (or slightly more) flavored craisins- I found them in orange, raspberry, and blueberry at WinCo
• 4 cups Gluten Free Rice Chex (works better if you do not crush them)
• ½ cup Natural Creamy Peanut butter (be sure to mix the oils in beforehand)
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• 1 t vanilla

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a big bowl and set aside. Heat peanut butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Combine ingredients until more or less evenly mixed with a scraper. Scoop mix into lightly greased 8×8 pan.  Press into pan firmly with a metal or non stick flipper.  Don’t be afraid to use some hutspa so that it will stick together.  Let sit for 1 hour.  Cut into desired size (10 bars in an 8×8 pan seems to work well).  It may be necessary to form up bars with hands when removing from the pan (so this is not for those of you who are grossed out by a little stickiness).  I cut them up and put them in snack bags to take camping with my kids.

Gluten Free Cranberry Rice Bran Muffins: Yield 12 muffins

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 C. rice bran
• 1/2 C. tapioca starch
• 1/4 C. sorghum flour
• 1/4 C. sweet rice flour
• 1/4 C. packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 C. soaked craisins (set aside until last)

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/3 C. butter or shortning
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 to 3/4 C. cold water

Combine DRY ingredients excluding brown sugar.

Cream together:

• 1/3 C. butter or shortning
• 1/4 C. packed brown sugar

Add 2 eggs and beat approx 2 minutes to combine.

Add dry mixture and stir. The dough will be dry.

Add 1/2 C. cold water and mix, adding up to 1/4 cup more as needed to make a custard-like dough. It should be able to be scooped with a spoon but not too thick. Most gluten free doughs are much thinner than their wheat counterpart. This is the only way you will not get a hocky puck for a muffin! Spoon into prepared muffin tins.

Bake at 375% for 15 minutes covered with tin foil or an upside down foil roasting pan.

Bake another 4-5 minutes uncovered until a toothpick comes out clean.

ENJOY

Just in case you’ve been dying to know where I’ve gone… here I am in all my baby glory.

It’s no wonder I haven’t had time for two blogs. To keep up with the most recent events visit Blog Schmog.

As most of you know cooking is not my favorite thing to do but since the majority of our large family has to eat gluten free, some need dairy free and one needs several other dietary considerations, I don’t get out of it often. EXCEPT when my Hubby and favorite chef gets into the kitchen. I’m so blessed!

So, I posted the following question on a gluten free group I am a part of and got a ton of feedback. Would you like to add your two cents? We can keep this list going over the years and hopefully it will be a good resource for others as well.

Okay everyone, desperate times call for desperate measures.

The baby should be coming in less than five weeks and we’ve eaten up all the freezer meals I made in advance.

That’s what happens with six people in the house already!

Needless to say I’m tired of the same ol’ same ol’.

So, your mission is to post or link your all time favorite freezer meals.

Here are some of the ideas we have already come up with.

• seasoned taco meat (not pre packaged seasoning/most has gluten)
• broth for soups (noodle soup with easy homemade GF noodles, veggie soup, egg drop, chicken and rice, onion soup, beef stew with rice or potatoes)
• cooked chicken
• freeze rice for meals or breakfast (with cinnamon/brown sugar)
• pot roast
• season meat while fresh and freeze to put into a crock pot with carrots and potatoes
• meat loaf
• meat balls
• lasagna or no-noodle lasagna (one of my most popular recipes)
• muffins (recipe linked below)
• pancakes
• mushroom soup to add to casseroles. If you like it creamy make a roux and add the soup with the liquid.

EDITED TO ADD:

• burrito casserole (layer anything you would have in a burrito with corn tortilla’s and tomato sauce on top)
• Gluten Free Cranberry Rice Bran Muffins

The Nourishing Gourmet had a similar post and tons of great ideas too.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 5 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 17 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 169 posts. There were 17 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 16mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was January 25th with 137 views. The most popular post that day was Food for Goofs.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were glutenfreehomemaker.com, networkedblogs.com, fireandsalt.blogspot.com, blogschmogme.wordpress.com, and thewholegang.org.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for gluten free white sauce, gluten free breakfast casserole, slime, rose, and gluten free noodles.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Food for Goofs February 2009
11 comments

Xanthan Gum vs. Guar Gum April 2009
24 comments

No Noodle Lasagna Recipe January 2009
14 comments

Borrowed Breakfast Idea – Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole February 2010
6 comments

Green smoothie pants and still smiling. April 2009
16 comments

Here is a family favorite. My kids love all the different variations we can make with this recipe for gluten free sugar cookies. I found this posting at Karen’s blog, Only Sometimes Clever. I have added some of my own preferences to the original recipe from her blog. Karen has a page with over 40 gluten free recipies. Many of those are health conscious and multiple alergen conscious but oh so good!

Flour Mix: I like to mix this ahead of time in a galon ziploc bag

• 4 Cup brown rice flour
• 2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 2 Cup tapioca or potato starch
• 1 Cup amaranth flour
• 2 Tablespoons xanthan gum
• 3 Tablespoons baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 Cups powdered sugar
• 2 Cups granulated sugar
• 2 Cups shortening
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 Cup vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon salt

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F. These cookies do not spread

MIX flours, starches, xanthan gum and baking powder with a whisk OR combine well in a galon ziploc bag.  Set aside.

Using your largest bowl, CREAM sugars, shortening, eggs, vanilla and salt.

ADD flour mixture a little at a time stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the flour mixture is mostly incoporated, KNEAD the dough in the bowl or between sheets of wax paper. The mixture will have the consistency of play-doh, but not too soft. If it is too dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time until it will gather into a ball. Resist adding water if at all possible. The dough works best if it is not very moist. Unless a crispy cookie is desired, BAKE at 325 degrees F until the edges are just golden on insulated pans. I bake mine on stones and get a lighter fluffier cookie. It’s all a matter of preference.

I split the dough in four and work from there. This recipe makes FOUR complete batches of cookies. That’s a LOAD of cookies folks. The recipe halves fine too, although I prefer to make the whole thing, wrap in plastic, put in ziploc bags and refrigerate up to 2wks. Karen says it also freezes well though we can never keep it that long.

Variations:

The cookies at the top are made by mixing cocoa powder into some of the dough and rolling that out into a thin rectangle. Then using a plain dough, roll that into another rectangle, placing it on top of the first chocolate rectangle then making the whole thing into a long log. Refrigerate or freeze until firm and slice for cookies.

Below is another favorite. Roll and use various cookie cutters to create holiday shapes. Frost and add delightful toppings. Check out Karen’s post for more ideas both from her and her readers!

Hands down, my favorite Christmas cookies of all time! Can you believe I’m going to share it with you? MERRY CHRISTMAS from me! Everyone needs to eat these cookies.

This recipe is adapted from my grandmother’s wheat flour version (I’ll include the original for those of you who don’t have to eat gluten free).

Chocolate Mint Layer Cookies:

Cookie Layer -

• 2 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 Cup butter
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1/4 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/2 Cup brown rice flour (ORIGINAL recipe:  3/4 c sifted flour instead of the two rice flours) BTW the cookie layer is so thin on these, you could probably use any gluten free flours that float your boat. Also if you want to you could include a slight amount of xanthan gum (1/2 teaspoon). I didn’t find that it needed it but could improve the texture I suppose.
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Mix flours and sugar. Add to chocolate mixture. Add eggs and vanilla. Pour into greased 9x9x2 in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 min. I might try covering them with tin foil for part of the time next time I make these. Cool.

Mint Creme Filling:

• 1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter softened
• 2 tablespoons cream or evaporated milk
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint flavor
• green food coloring

Combine ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread over cookie layer. Chill until firm.

Would you believe I got a little “help” from Peewee? She did such a great job with daddy’s wrench. “Mum mum!”

German Chocolate Glaze:

• 3 oz german sweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1inch piece of parafin wax (this is how the original recipe reads. I use probably 1/2 and inch piece from a cube of parafin wax that is approx 1 in square and keeps forever so I have no idea the length it started out to be.

Melt ingredients together. Spread over cookies (quickly it sets fast).

Cut cookies in 1 inch squares. Makes 6 dozen.

I dare you to save them for Christmas day.

Wild Rice & Cranberry Stuffing: Made with onions, garlic, vegetable broth, wild rice, cranberries, seasonings and nuts if desired. We’ve made variations of this delicious stuffing in past years but here is a link to one that I really like.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2394

 Apple Crisp: Use cornstarch in place of the flour. Mix in dark brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, spices, and nuts if desired.

Cheese Buns: These little rolls are light and fluffy, warm and delicious. Link below! (It seems wordpress is having difficulty with links in text. Hopefully this is fixed soon) These cheese buns behave a bit like a popover but they rise, apparently because of the tapioca starch not all the eggs that you need in a popover so in my opinion you get a much better texture more like wheat buns. To get them just right you might want to try them out before Thanksgiving but believe me, if your family is around, even the flops won’t go unnoticed.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2010/02/20/gluten-free-and-lovin-it-–-cheese-buns-extraordinaire/ 

Mashed Potatoes: Don’t forget lots of garlic and butter!

Gravy: So much easier than you might think. At least it surprised me. Using the meat drippings scrape off some of the fat (save the drippings) and put it into a saucepan. Slowly add and whisk an equal amount of flour (corn starch works great, or rice flour, all purpose gluten free flour, bean flours, etc. etc.), on med to med/high heat simmer this mixture until the flour is browned (you should see a bit of color in the bubbles, you don’t want raw flour, it tastes bad, believe me). Once you’ve got the flour cooked (this doesn’t take long) increase the temperature and begin to pour back in the meat drippings and whisk like mad so you don’t get lumps. Continue to whisk. This should thicken into a nice gravy within 5 min or so. It is just making a roux like I wrote about in this post below. http://glutenfree4goofs.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/you-must-learn-to-make-sauce/

Fruit Salad: This should be naturally gluten free. Double check ingredients that are unusual

TWO QUESTIONS FOR YOU…

1.What are some of your favorite holiday recipes? Link or if they are naturally gluten free simply name them.

2. What are you thankful for? I am so thankful to my mom for letting me borrow her flour mill indefinitely. I can bake like crazy and cheap! That’s hard to do gluten free but when you buy in bulk and mill it yourself, the flour alternatives are quite reasonable! Thanks MOM

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Think substitute or make from scratch instead of cutting things totally out. For example, need carbs? Corn, rice (careful of boxed rice), potatoes. This should help with thanksgiving. Instead of packaged gravy, make it using corn starch! Many, many gluten free foods are BETTER because they don’t rely on processed food. Watch your ham and instead of an injected one or some fancy stuffing that no one eats, get an organic one and make a rice and craisins stuffing.

What else? Need dessert? Ice cream is almost always a go and you can make a mean crockpot applesauce with brown sugar for it to go on. You can get mixes for the things you just can’t live without. Look at the new Betty Crocker gluten free line, (sold at WalMart) she has brownies and cakes and may even have a pie crust. If not I’ve made naked pumpkin pie before in a pinch.

As for now, with you kids, get some special treats to curb the munchies. Things you don’t usually buy but you can say I know it’s tough without… but here have a snickers! LOL

Another great option for a quick pick me up is a protein and/or fruit smoothie. When I’m really lamenting the lack of options my hubby whips up a dessert smoothie with peanut butter, chocolate, protein powder and milk. MMMM!

I keep stocked on protien stuff, yogurt, nuts, cheese and then definitely invest in some good gluten free noodles. You can get a case of Tinkyada noodles (by far the best texture out there IMO) on Amazon. Its spendy but definitely worth it if you really want to go for it. I just buy elbows and use them for almost everything. Sometimes I grab some spaghetti noodles.

Check out my no noodle lasagna “recipe”. We make it in advance and freeze it. Stick to meats and fresh veggies. We do a lot of salmon or chicken on the bbq, and when it comes to taco night we make our own seasoning and use warm corn tortillas. Cumin is the “secret” to the flavor.

Chex has gluten free cereals and if you can develop a taste for grits you can still have hot cereal too. Eggs are a go.

Speaking of eggs, you can boil up a dozen or so at a time and have another quick protein. Hard boiled egg, or egg salad sandwich (on rice cake or gf bread) etc.

Just plan ahead! That’s the best way to stay on top of it. Don’t let yourself get hungry without having an idea of what you will eat. It takes dilligence and probably at first you will be longer at the grocery store but just make sure you always have something that IS ok. That’s one of the hardest parts.

Do you want to join me in working through this beautiful art book for moms Come over to my other blog Blog Schmog and join us?

I’d like to work through the 12 week art course with other moms. Would you like to order the book and blog your progress too? I can tell you in advance, I won’t be accomplishing it in 12 weeks. It will be more of a here and there process. But the “homework” is manageable even if you want to keep to the schedule. Order yours and look it over. I want to start in September sometime.

Here is what I’ve been up to in random order…

• The hogs are filling out. We just went to the farmer to get another 900lbs of grain that should finish them off by Thanksgiving.

I still have a very sad garden. The only things I’ve been able to harvest are red potatoes and a few golf ball sized onions. The carrots are ready. It seems only below ground vegetables worked this year. I am holding out hope for some tomatoes, garlic and my squash plants have little baby zucchini, summer squash and pie pumpkins on them so keep growing!

• Baby is growing. I guess I’m making skin right now! Yesterday I got my first dizzy spell. That’s never happened before, that I can remember. It’s funny how mushy my brain is too. I went to my first appointment at 12wks. I knew all the pertinent dates, even conception but I still had myself all messed up. My midwife did the calculations and she said, “Jess you are 16wks not 12, we need to draw blood today.” I’m a month further along than I originally thought. Must be another girl. Too funny!
• On birthing… I was talking to a friend of ours who is an anesthesiologist and telling him my birth stories, including the one time I got an epidural. I told him that I’ve decided (through personal experience, assisting a mother in her hospital birth and extensive research) that birthing naturally is a matter of education and being confident in what God made our bodies to do. I love this quote on Dayspring’s website, “Childbirth should be viewed as a natural undertaking in life, not a medical crisis…” Here is what my friend, whose career is largely dependant on epidurals said, “If more mothers educated themselves I’d be out of a job.”
• As we “speak” I’m rocking out with our favorite net radio station www.christianrock.net
• Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Call it nesting or fall cleaning but I’m on a rampage to get my basement cleared out so we can finish the drywall and floors. I’m hoping to acid wash the concrete and get the majority of the unfinished space usable by the time baby comes. Has anyone ever done the acid wash? NO I’m not doing it but I can coach my hubby on how to do it rather than having to hire it out. Seriously, how hard can it be? As long as you don ‘t melt your shoes right? :-]
• Requests I’ve had for future blog posts… my testimony, baby bump pictures and my favorite gluten free pizza crust recipe. Any other requests? I’m not guaranteeing anything!