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

So–let’s get on with it, shall we?

What the Fudge
1 cup natural peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup local honey*
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flax seeds
1 cup organic cocoa powder

Step 1: Heat the honey on medium heat for about 5 minutes then add peanut butter and mix in really well.  You can see in the first image here it is still separate, the honey and peanut butter are just swirling around each other not totally in love as of yet. So–keep mixing till it looks like the next image.

See how it is creamy and thick and rich looking in this second image–make it look like this.  This is the foundation of the fudge and making sure you cook it while doing this and stirring it until it is emulsified will give you that chewy texture that feels so good in your mouth!

Step 2: While still cooking stir in the cocoa powder until completely blended.  It looks good, doesn’t it? Well, do not sample it, it is HOT!

Step 3: Remove from heat and stir in the seeds–you have to fold them in really as mixing is very difficult to do at this point.  Once again, I want to remind you that this is hot…hot hot hot. (OK so I burned myself trying it, can you tell?) Press this seed mixture into a lightly greased pan and slice up while still warm into 1″ cubes. This really should be step 4 but I did not get a picture–you know, because I burned myself and was all preoccupied.

Other good ideas:

–Add some dried fruits like cherries
–Add in different seeds like sesame or some chopped nuts