Pamela's Chocolate Brownie Mix

E - mmpf, gumpph, (thumb sticks up in the air), flumpf. They're great!
D - Goooooooooood. My skin smells like brownies!



(This mix was on sale for $2.89 at my local grocery store. I bought every one they had on the shelf! They are pretty good, but not this good. )

Best Ever Gluten Free Brownies Ever

I can't even find the picture I took of these brownies, but holy heckapowie does D (top, thinking he's a rockstar) look like SuperDad (bottom, wondering if his grandma will still have that flooring in 30 years. Answer = yes.). Am I right?

Recipe adapted from October 2008 issue of Family Fun magazine.

1/4 c brown rice flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
4 T butter
2 ounces/squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 lg egg
2 lg egg whites
1 c sugar
1 T canola oil
2 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Heat butter in small saucepan, don't burn. Remove pan from heat and add chocolagte, stir until melted. Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl (oh yeah, this recipe will use ALL of your bowls and measuring instruments), lightly whisk the egg and egg whites just until combined. Whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture but do not overmix.

4. Pour into pan. Bake about 30 minutes - toothpick will come out with a few moist crumbs, but brownies will set up as they cool. If they aren't all gone by then. Ahem.

Gingerbread Mans

E's teacher let us know that they'd be baking gingerbread men in school, so what did I do? Oh, I e-mailed Ginger Lemon Girl, of course. And she gave me this recipe. And it was great! Yay! (Okay, so my cookie-cuttering technique could use some work.)

Gluten Free Apple Bread

Like everyone else, we have an abundance of (free!) apples, so SuperDad made this, using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix for the flour. Also skipping the walnuts because walnuts are nasty. ;)

It looked like this:

A Gluten Free Shopping Spree

I'm still kicking myself for completely missing the bread. But, not too shabby for 60 seconds. Pretzels, anyone?

Gluten-Free Corn Bread Awesomeness

1 c corn meal
3/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
1/4 c. Expandex Modified Tapioca Starch
1 t xanthan gum
2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk (I used regular milk, but I got this recipe from a GCFC friend who uses rice milk w/out problems)
1/2 c oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, tapioca starch, xanthan, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, beat eggs, milk, and oil slightly.

Add egg mix to flour mix and stir until smooth. Do not over beat.

Pour into greased pan. 9X9 for 20-25 minutes, or muffin pan for 12-15 minutes.

Total cost: ??? All of these ingredients are things I keep on hand all the time, so I'm not really sure.

Verdict: Fairly yum. They ate them, anyway!

Merry Gluten Free Christmas, Ev-e-ry-bo-deeee!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Lots of family, lots of fun, lots of great gifts. Enough pajamas to last at least another year. More toys than any child really needs. And, oh my gosh, I never thought I'd say this, but TOO MANY BOOKS! :) Or, maybe it's a matter of not enough bookshelves. Hm.

I made Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free brownie mix. YUM.

I made Hobo Dinner for nine.

I made Fruit Salad:
3 apples, diced
1 pear, diced (which I then picked out of my portion, because, ew pear)
1 can of pineapple, drained (juice reserved for my children who never get juice and think this is an awesome treat!)
1 orange, peeled, sectioned, and diced
Or whatever fruit you have.

Mix all fruit in a bowl.

In a jar or other small container with lid, mix:
1 T of oil (I used canola)
1 1/2 t of poppy seeds
2 T of lemon juice

Shake well. Pour over fruit and mix. Mix before serving. Enjoy.
This recipe is from the Betty Crocker Cooking Basics cookbook, which is awesome.

I also made Deviled Eggs. Here are my deviled egg "secrets":
1. Start with old eggs. They should be in your fridge a week or more. New eggs don't peel. Trust me.
2. Start with cold water when you hard boil your eggs.
3. After hard boiling, cool the eggs in ice water.
4. You've got to use Miracle Whip. Mayo just doesn't do it.
5. I know you know this, but maybe you don't know this. I set up a baggie inside a heavy glass. I put the yolk filling into the baggie. I cut off the corner of the baggie. I use this to fill the eggs. This is much prettier than trying to use a spoon and your finger and getting mad and yelling at your husband when he was really just walking by. Or something.
6. My kids don't really like deviled eggs. Even though they are awesome and also gluten free.

Gone Crunchy

You know how when people are dating and they guy loves to show the girl how to bowl or throw a football or whatever? I was never that girl. I didn't particularly like (that's an understatement, actually) being told how to do things, even if it meant I would never learn how to throw a dart (which, by the way, did get *much* easier after I got glasses). Which is why my husband is a photographer, and yet I take photos like the one here.

Honey Baked Granola
1 c. SAFE gluten-free rolled oats
1/8 c brown sugar
cinnamon, some
pinch salt
1/8 c honey, warmed until liquid
1/8 c light olive oil, or 2 T melted butter (I used the oil, because I was too lazy to heat up something else. I mean, really.)
1/2 c raisins or other dried fruit

Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the honey and oil (or butter, if you're not lazy, like I am) . Bake at 325 for 15-25 minutes or until crunchy. Stir once, half-way through baking.
Add raisins before serving.

My kids really liked this!