Good Morning

Whenever a new gluten free product comes out in the main stream there is a lot of excitement in the GF community. I was shocked to see Bisquick come out with this but I was excited to give it a try. So far we have made the chicken fingers recipe they have on the side of the box as well as pancakes and waffles–nope I did not make any biscuits with it yet .

Since we have been under the thumb of  heavy snow storms lately the kids have been home more often then not! I love to make them a cozy breakfast of waffles but was out of the healthier types of flours and thought–let’s see how well this mix can hold up to add ins! It held up as you can see. I followed the recipe for waffles but omitted some of the mix and added in almond meal and flax seeds. (1/2 cup meal replaced 1/2 cup mix) The flax seeds were whole but I did add in 1/4 cup ground flax with added water to allow for the mix to stick together better. I thought the almond meal would cause the mix to fall apart in the cooking process.  I also tossed in about 1/4 dark chocolate chips.

Everyone loved the waffles and the added ingredients were a hit! This mix seems to be very versatile and cooks exactly like the original bisquick does. Have you tried it yet?

Here is a little clip from WebMD covering the benefits of flax seeds:

Some call it one of the most powerful plant foods on the planet. There’s some evidence it can help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. That’s quite a tall order for a tiny seed that’s been around for centuries: flaxseed.

Flaxseed was cultivated in Babylon as early as 3000 BC, according to the Flax Council of Canada. By the 8^th century, King Charlemagne believed so strongly in the health benefits of flaxseed that he passed laws requiring his subjects to consume it. Fast-forward 13 centuries, and some experts would say we have preliminary research to back up what Charlemagne suspected all those years ago.

These days, flaxseed is found in all kinds of foods, from crackers to frozen waffles to oatmeal. In the first 11 months of 2006, 75 new products were launched that listed flax or flaxseed as an ingredient. Not only has consumer demand for flaxseed gone up, agricultural use has also increased — to feed all those chickens laying eggs that are higher in omega-3 fatty acids.

Although flaxseed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its healthy reputation primarily to three ingredients:

• Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
• Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods

Can't you just feel the warm oven and smell the medley of vanilla and spices?

I have loved granolas ever since i was a little girl and my mom would buy those small boxes of thick cluster granola with dried up raisins and nuts in them. Old school granola, loaded in calories, sugars and wonderment! I think the caloric value was integral to the mountain climbing crowd that it was marketed towards–but i loved it–despite keeping my feet at sea level.  Love it!  For my own family I like to create a less saturated fat granola–you know one that is actually good for you.

Here is a great recipe that you can make and eat right away, or spoon over yogurt, pack into snack bags for school or even sprinkle onto a bowl of fruit.  It also makes great holiday gifts packed up for teachers or loved ones!

Cranberry Orange Granola

¾ c orange juice
1/3 c honey
2 T canola oil
2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2 t orange zest
2 c old fashioned oats
1 c dried cranberries
½ c coconut
½ c chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Combine juice and honey and stir until the honey dissolves.  Add all of the spices to the liquid and mix.  Combine all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl then dump liquid and stir  to evenly coat mixture.  Let the mix stand for 10-15 minutes to absorb the liquid.  Place on a greased or foil lined cookie sheet with a lip around it and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until the oats have started to brown a little.  Stir every 5 minutes or so.

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I am lucky enough to be very good friends with Christine Maxwell the  owner and creator of “Sweetly Stuffed-Gluten Free Confections out of Milford NH”. This mother’s Day weekend I joined her family for a BBQ and she thrilled my daughter and I with a large assortment of her treats for us to try–and better yet to share with you all!  here is her wonderful recipe for cinnamon rolls. Her dough texture is alarmingly good– saying something like “you won’t know it is gluten free” is far too simplistic a comment to make about the texture and flavor of the dough. I was super impressed with the entire pastry from the spiced lemon glaze to the warmth of the cinnamon roll that is left in your soul after you eat it!  She has so many more recipes and food ideas, it is shocking people are not banging down her door asking for her foods!

Please allow me to share with you the genius behind this–before she decides to make it illegal to share!

This is a guest recipe by Christine Maxwell, if you would like more information about Sweetly Stuffed -Gluten Free Confections please email

sweetlystuffed@gmail.com

This recipe works best when using a kitchen aide mixer with the dough hook attachment or a similar type mixer.
Step 1: Layer the following ingredients in mixing bowl
1/3 c. olive oil
1 egg
*3 c. Sweetly Stuffed Yeast Dough flour blend (see below for flour blend mixture)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Step 2: In another mixing bowl whisk together the following ingredients and set aside
3/4 c. GF powdered milk
1/3 c. white granulated sugar

Step 3: In liquid measuring cup combine the following ingredients and set aside
1/2 c. warm water for proofing yeast (100-115 degrees)
1 Tbls. brown sugar dissolved in the water
1 packet quick acting yeast

Step 4: measure out the following ingredient and set aside
1/2 c. GF beer or soda water (room temperature)

Directions:
Mix Step 1 ingredients until dough forms small pea sized pellets.
Gradually add the ingredients from Step 2 into the Step 1 mixing bowl until thoroughly incorporated.
Now gradually add the ingredients from Step 3 into the mixing bowl from Steps 1 & 2 and allow mixer to knead the dough until a ball is formed on the dough hook.
Gradually add the 1/2 c. GF beer or soda water and knead on high speed until dough is a tacky very thick cake like consistency.

Spray a rubber spatula and a large metal bowl with non-stick spray and spoon into dough into the metal bowl…cover and let rise in a warm environment anywhere from 40 min. -1 hour.

Freeze or refrigerate dough for later use or use in your recipe right away.

For cinnamon rolls…
Divide the dough in 2
Roll out dough onto a well floured surface until it is about 1/4″ thick
Spread the **cinnamon mixture (see below) evenly over dough and roll into a log.
Cut log into 1″ thick slices for 8 cinnamon rolls.
Spray baking pan with non stick spray and place rolls in pan leaving about 1/2″ space between them.
Brush with an egg white wash
Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let cool, then ***frost (see below)

Or for later use, before baking, freeze them in the pan and once frozen transfer them to a zipper freezer bag.

To bake frozen cinnamon rolls:
Arrange frozen rolls in baking pan and place in the oven at 375 degrees. (no need to thaw or preheat oven.)

**Cinnamon mixture:
1/4 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

***Icing:
Cream together 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened & 1 (or 8 oz) block cream cheese, softened
gradually add 1 c. confectioner sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract & 2 tsp. lemon extract

For convenience GF baking I mix giant batches of my flour blends ahead of time and store them in giant plastic zipper bags in fridge, that way I only have to measure as if were typical baking…

*Sweetly Stuffed’s Yeast Dough Flour Blend mix:
1 1/4 tsp. dough enhancer
1/4 c. arrowroot flour
1 c. tapioca flour
1 c. sourghum flour
1 c. white rice flour
1 c. sweet rice flour
1 c. Gluten Free Pantry French bread mix
1 pkg or 3.4 oz. van instant pudding (just make sure it is GF by contacting the manufacturer)
6 tsp. xantham gum

whisk until well blended. Should equal approximately 6 cups for doubling the above recipe.

Looking for more gluten free feasts? Check out Gluten free Wednesdays from Gluten free Homemaker!

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns
serves 12
1 batch of raw GF bread dough + 1 tsp cinnamon added to the dough & 2 tsp vanilla
2 apples washed and chopped
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbls Agave Nectar
1 tsp salt
Topping- 8 ounces Greek yogurt I used no fat vanilla.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees slightly grease a baking dish–I used butter as really it is a scant amount but does add a flavor to the finished product. Add diced apples, cinnamon,vanilla, agave nectar, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix. The salt really allows the apples to “sweat it out” and adds a unique twist to the bun when finished. Since this is a lower in fat (naturally) as well as low in sugar recipe–the salt balances out what your taste buds may otherwise feel is missing.Set apples aside. Fill a 1/4 measuring cup about 2/3 full with the bread dough and place in your baking pan–repeat to make sure you have 12 even sized raw lumps of dough.

Next wet a wooden spoon and press out a center for the apples to be placed in the buns. The wet spoon prevents the batter from adhering to the spoon and smooths the dough out perfectly.

After the bread “bowl” is created you want to fill it with the apple mix. After filling all 12 buns you want to cover this and set in a warm area and allow to rise till about double in size–this takes about 45 minutes. I just cover mine and set them on the stove top while the oven preheats. Of course since it takes so long to rise–feel free to toss some potatoes into the oven to bake for your meals later in the day!

You can see here how much the dough has risen–air pockets can be seen and the dough has a “puffy” look to it. Perfect! Go ahead now and place these in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until they are golden brown on the tops and edges.

These were served with warm so the vanilla yogurt really just melted and filled all the crevices. The apples were caramel like in texture and really flavor filled!

Calories Per Bun- 170
Carbohydrates- 36
Fiber-6 grams
Fat-6 grams
Protein- 2 grams

Other Good Ideas:
–bake large batches for bake sales and to bring to holiday events
–double the batch and freeze half of them so you can pop them in the oven without waiting for all the work to be done.
–try pumpkin filling instead of apples

Just for kicks there are 309 calories in a traditional cinnamon bun with 13 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbs with 2 grams fiber, and 5 grams protein. So we just about halved the calories and added in some more fiber and less fat and carbohydrates.

12 large eggs in my stand mixer set on medium speed with 1/4 cup water added. I used water instead of milk because 1 million years ago when I worked in a diner we used water to make the eggs fluffier. ( Yes, there were diners 1 million years ago in Moe World) While the eggs were blending I cooked 3 pieces of natural smoked bacon. This bacon has such a great taste to it and really incorporates it’s power of taste into the entire dish. No need to panic those who are still in fear of bacon, it is only 3 pieces added to 12 eggs. I then prepped my vegetables; sweet onions, seeded plum tomatoes, fresh parsley, Portabella caps, and of course chooped up the crispy (cooled)bacon.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a muffin pan and line with muffin cups (or use silicon muffin cups if you have them) and add eggs without the vegetables evenly into each muffin cup–they should all be about 3/4 full. Then evenly distribute the ingredients that you have chosen into the raw muffins. Set in the oven and allow to bake until they are golden brown and puffy–about 35 minutes.

Summer Frittata
serves 2
4 whole large eggs
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup shredded peppers
2 cloves garlic pressed
1/2 small onion shredded
1/2 sweet red pepper shredded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped finely
2 fresh basil leaves chopped finely
2 ounces feta crumbled

Preheat a non stick skillet on medium heat. In a mixing bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the feta. Pour the Frittata batter into the pan, moving the mixture around to ensure there is no pan showing. Cover and cook until egg is firm–about 7 minutes.
Invert egg onto a serving platter and top with feta cheese. Serve warm.

Calories Per Serving: 235
Protien: 17 grams
Carbohydrates: 7 grams
Fat: 15 grams

Other Good Ideas:
- You can vary the vegetables in this depending on the season. Shredded potato, squash, peas, brocolli etc
-You can serve this cold making it an excellent ( I wanted to say egcelent I admit it) luch box menu item

A few new cool things I tried with these little flat cakes I thought were so great they needed to be shared with you. First, I used rice flour to keep them gluten free, but this time I soaked the rice flour in warm water for 30 minutes. You see, a few weeks ago a woman asked me how to make gluten free items not have the texture of corn bread because her husband did not like that. (Hi Marci!) So yesterday while surfing new recipes I saw a blog post about soaking the rice flour overnight and I thought CRAZY-I must try this! Given that I have low attention span and lack of impulse control, I managed to soak them for 30 minutes. As an aside–I do have some more soaking right now and will wait to prepare perhaps some biscuits or something at a later time.

I also used coconut cream in the batter, just 2 tablespoons so no one needs to close the page and run from the computer. Little tidbit about coconut cream–like avocado fat–this is good for you fat. This is the stuff which helps your body work, smoother skin, faster brain functioning etc. You can purchase it at your local market or pick it up at your Asian marketplace–where I buy mine.

Zucchini Carrot Pancakes
Serves 10
1 1/2 cups rice flour soaked in 3/4 warm water
1/2 cup finely grated zucchini squash
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 Agave or Honey
2 fresh eggs
1 tbls Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of Salt

Soak the rice flour in warm water for at least 30 minutes. It reminded me of the recipe for making slime with water and cornstarch. When you moved the fork around the flour had a firm texture but when you let it sit, it appeared to be liquid. It was magic flour!

While the flour is soaking you can shred the vegetables (fruit?) into a glass bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients aside from the sodas.

Set a pan on medium heat and grease lightly with butter. While that is heating blend the wet ingredients with the wet flour and add in the sodas. I let this sit for about 5 minutes so everything could meet and meld and agree to taste fantastic.

Adding one ladle of mixture to the hot pan allow to cook until the edges are dry–then flip and cook for a few more minutes. Serve while hot!

Calories Per Serving-145
Fat-3 grams
Carbohydrates- 26
Protein-4

Other good ideas–
– add chopped cranberries and orange zest
– omit sweetener and serve with a savory dish
-make ahead and freeze

It is blueberry season! Did you know blueberries have their own organization supporting their health benefit message across the planet? They do- Blueberries Health check that link out to read up on the benefits of this berry added to your diet. I try and include seasonal vegetables and fruits into our menus anytime I can–right now it is blueberry time!

Here is a fantastic alternative to the fast food, over processed crappy muffins that have been over marketed to us. You can make these up ahead of time and freeze them for those winter months when the berry bushes are dormant and so is the sun.

Oatmeal Apple Blueberry Muffins

Serves 3

1 ½ c old fashioned oats
1 c applesauce- I use natural no sugar
1 c blueberries
3 eggs
4 egg whites
1 t cinnamon

Mix everything in a bowl and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes to let the oats swell a little. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Spray regular size muffin tin with no-stick spray or better yet use a no stick tin. Fill holes almost full as these don’t rise much at all. Cook for 25 minutes. If you want the tops browned, put under the broiler for a minute or less. Voila! This makes 12 muffins which is 3 servings.

Calories Per Serving: 308
Carbohydrate: 44 grams (6 grams fiber)
Fats: 8 grams
Protein: 16 gams

Other good ideas: try this with other seasonal fruits like raspberries or peaches! You can also substiture the blueberries for a cup of diced apple.

A Mouth Full of PB&J
Serves 12
5 tbls chunky natural peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut flour*
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
6 scoops protein powder ( I used banana for this recipe but use your imagination!)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 cups water

Mix the dry ingredients with the peanut butter and blend till a meal like texture is formed. If you have made pastry dough before you know what I am talking about here. Slowly add the water while the mixer is on low allowing a dough to form.

.
Pack dough firmly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup and tap out onto a clean plate. While these “rest” you can prepare the topping.

Topping:
1 tbls peanut butter
2 marshmallows
1 tbls Agave syrup
1tbls paraffin (canning wax-food grade of course)

Microwave on high until the wax has melted. Don’t be worried about the wax as this is the same technique used to make those chocolate covered treats you are always tempted to buy! Blend the mixture till the marshmallows are swirled but not completely blended into the mix. Flip the measured out rounds over and add 1 teaspoon of the topping to each peanut butter round.
Add 1 tsp of your favorite sugar free jam to the top of when you serve them.

*I chose coconut flour because of the fiber rich content of this flour. You can substitute it with Oat flour just as easily.

Calories Per Serving- 150
Fat- 8 grams
Protein- 16 grams
Carbohydrate- 12 grams
Fiber- 3 grams

The best part was handing this plate of food (as pictured here) to my son and his delight with it. Marianne shares that these waffles also freeze and toast up well–so you can make a few batches and store in a container in your freezer for a great on the go breakfast–lunch–dinner–snack food!

Protein Packed Waffles
serves 8
1 cup Gluten Free flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup low fat cottage cheese, drained of the whey
5 egg whites
1/2 tbls Vanilla extract
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 tbls butter

Blend all ingredients with a stick blender until a batter consistency is formed.Lightly butter the waffle iron. Cook on medium high until the waffle is done. Garnish with fruit and serve.

Calories Per Serving- 188
Carbohydrates- 33 grams
Fats- 2 grams
Protein- 8 grams

Seen in the photo above served with 2 slices of low fat turkey bacon, fresh fruit and 1 slivered almonds:
Total Calories- 296
Carbohydrates- 52 grams
Fats- 6 grams
Protein- 16 grams

So, thank you MariAnne for your wonderful addition to the Squeaky Gourmet blog! To read more about MariAnne, her own success as well as see her advice on dieting and fitness please check her out here: Got Built?