September is almost over! Which means I am WAY behind on getting my kids Halloween costumes made… Our family theme this year is going to be incredible, just wait!
Monday, I went grocery shopping, and literally less than 5 minutes in the store I lost my list. I could. not. find. it! So I had to guess what was on it, because I couldn’t remember, I made it Saturday or Sunday and the only thing on the menu I could remember was green chili enchiladas for Taco Tuesday! Hopefully, I am not running to the store a bunch more times this week.
So here it is, ONE STORE! HEB, I got some lettuce, shredded cheese (Y’all I KNOW block cheese is cheaper, but I do not have time to shred cheese or wash more dishes, plus 2 pounds shredded for $5 is a great price.) Chicken broth, and a misplaced can that snuck in masquerading, beef broth, HEB brand Shell Mac and Cheese (I have no idea what we will do if we ever leave Texas, this Mac and Cheese is the BEST EVER, well beside homemade.) More cream of rice, sour cream, diced green chilis, hotdog buns, grapes, tortillas, and two loaves of bread (2 for $2 sale! One went straight into the freezer.) Total spent: $26.16, which leave a grocery roll over of about $20. WHOOP!
This summer we created a list of 18 things to do. I do this list so that we have something to do other than not melt in the Texas heat. We did not get to everything on the list, but here are the ones that we did!
1: Learn to ride a bike!
All decked out in safety gear to practice.
Mr. Z got a bike for Christmas last year, and getting him to learn to ride it has not been easy. We did get a few practice sessions in.
2: Ride a pony.
The pony
Mr. Z explaining why he won’t touch the horses.
A mom’s group that we are in, has a summer trip out to one of the members home, where she has horses and a pony. She leads the kids around for a ride on the pony. We went, but Mr. Z was scared of the large animals and wouldn’t ride or touch it. I am hopeful, that one year he will ride the pony!
3: Vacation Bible School!
He loved the sport themed VBS.
Mr. Z did two weeks of VBS. IT WAS AMAZING, for us at least! Both were evening sessions and so we got to have time with just Baby Hercules. Mr. Z did enjoy VBS and loved having fun crafts to learn about bible stories.
4: Finish Summer Reading
Summer reading logs
Our library does the national summer reading program, but it is very different from our old library in Pullman. Most of the prizes here are coupons for discounted or free kids meals. But we do summer reading, more for the fun of making sure we read every day in the summer. This summer we read The BFG and James and the Giant Peach. Mr. Z loved them and I think reading at lunch will be a summer tradition for us.
5: One Week of NO TV!
This was one that Mr. Z was not excited for at all. But I knew we needed it. The first few days were hard, but by Wednesday, TV time wasn’t even asked for. We have also carried over no TV Sundays, from this.
6: Visit the 3 Splash Pads.
Mr. Z is great at making friends with everyone at the parks.
This one is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, plus, with Baby Hercules getting more mobile over the summer, he also enjoyed the splash pads. We have 3 splash pads at different city parks. One is our favorite and one we don’t really like, but I don’t like going to the same place every time. So I wanted to make sure we went to each one this year.
7: Find a 4-leaf Clover.
Mr. Z was unsuccessful in his search.
8: Read The BFG!
It only took us 10 days to read.
Like I said in 4, we did read it. It was so fun to read at lunch in the summer. Mr. Z just loved it and if I could, I think he would have wanted me to read it in one sitting!
9: Make Popsicles.
One of our favorite things, we have a couple different molds, and we like coming up with fun fruit and juice mixes. Mr. Z’s favorite this summer was strawberries and blueberries with orange juice.
Next week I’ll post the other 9 things on our 2018 Summer list.
My favorite cookie is not the Chocolate Chip Cookie. Actually, for years I would not eat them. Seriously, I did not like the bitter tasting chocolate that people used in them. Then one day I discovered MILK chocolate, chocolate chips. LIFE CHANGING! And then I found out I couldn’t have milk… BUT Mr. Wonderful’s favorite cookie is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. (Actually it is any cookie without raisins.)
I stopped buying wheat flours a couple of years ago, and since moving wheat has only entered the house through “processed” foods (wheat bread for the boys, cereals, and the occasional box of crackers). It really is to help me, because as much as I know I can not handle wheat/gluten containing foods, I have no willpower. So even when Mr. Wonderful wants to make cookies, he is usually dumbfounded or annoyed he can’t read my chicken scratch recipe book.
I came home from something and caught him trying to make these cookies. It was cute, but he was flustered. His main issue was we didn’t have any “normal” four in the house.
This recipe, I *thought* was ready months ago, but it was lacking reproducibility. Which is extremely important. If I couldn’t get the cookies to turn out every time, HOW IN THE WORLD would you!?!?!
What I found it came down to was temperature.
If my kitchen was too hot, they turned out one way.
If it was cool, another.
IT WAS FRUSTRATING!
Trying to solve the problem, I found that I was going to have to do something I hate, using a special flour blend. Because, sometime the cookies, need just a little bit more and sometimes just a little bit less. I thought refrigerating the dough would help, and it doesn’t always. But feel free to chill the dough!
I hate it when you see something on Pintrest, and you look at the recipe and it uses some store bought blend. I do not use those or buy them. They are expensive and honestly it is more cost effective to buy individual flours.
This recipe uses a SIMPLE blend, that I think will change how you make gluten free pastries.
I know some people have a hard time finding speciality flours, but I have a tip for you. GO TO YOUR LOCAL ASIAN MARKET! One. They will have all three of the flours this recipe calls for: millet, potato starch, and tapioca flour/starch. Two. They have the cheapest prices on these flours.
A couple of notes on this recipe, first, you MUST mix the xanthan gum into the fat. If you don’t they will be crumbly.
Second, don’t add all the flours at once. Add about 2 2/3 cup and see if you need more. Sticky dough needs more flour. if you need to add more, than the blend you made, just mix equal amounts of the three flours and add about a tablespoon of the mixer at a time until you get the right consistency. Cookies with too much flour will be dry, and taste overly floury.
Gluten free cookies that are soft, chewy, and everything you miss about "real" cookies
Ashley Teare: Ashley Teare
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 3 dozen
Ingredients
½ cup (113 g) Room temperature shortening
½ cup (113 g) white sugar
½ cup PACKED (190 g) light brown sugar
½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup (147 g) millet flour
1 cup (190 g) Potato starch (*NOT potato FLOUR)
1 cup (130 g) tapioca flour/starch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp cream of tartar
10-12 oz bag of chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, sugars, and xanthan gum until fluffy.
Stir in the vanilla and eggs until well combined.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the millet flour, and starches until well combined.
In a small bowl mix together the soda, salt, and tartar.
Add about half of the flour to the fat, sugar, and egg mixture, along with all of the soda, tarter and salt. Stir, adding the remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
Stir in, by hand, chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes rotating after about 8 minutes.
Notes
1) Xanthan gum must be added to the fat otherwise you will have crumbly cookies. 2) 3 cups of the flour blend, should be more than enough. If you are above sea level you might need more. The blend is easy to adjust, by adding equal portions of each flour. Need an extra cup, mix together an additional ⅓ cup of the three flour and starches. 3) If you aren't sure you need more flour, bake a couple, if they spread, you need more flour.
We are EIGHT days from January being over and we are ready. I have being doing Whole30 this month with a tight budget, but it is going well. I have had plenty of “I am giving up” moments but thanks to my friend’s support group, they have helped give me that extra push. Plus Mr. Wonderful has helped a lot!
A couple of weeks ago we got some cabbage, and it’s not something we normally have so I was looking for some things to do with it. Then I remembered that sauerkraut is fermented cabbage and when it is raw it has tons of gut health probiotics. So I made some with the help of my helper!
Then I got adventurous and made a mexican taco topping inspired vegetable ferment. If it works, I will share that one later.
I used to ferment wheat for bread and other things, think sourdough starter. It was a lot of work, and I had problems, but it is something I want to do more of. I think this summer I might bring that back.
One of the great things about fermenting is that it is doesn’t require any new equipment. Most home cooks have a glass jar, knife, salt, and a something to smash down the vegetables. I am looking forward to some probiotic full vegetables.
I am doing another round of Whole30, this round I am doing with some friends. Well, we are spread all over the place, but we are doing it together. It is really fun to be able to share with the others.
This is not my first Whole30, nor my first January Whole30. One thing that I have noticed with Whole30, is that there are THOUSANDS of recipes. Of those thousands of recipes, most of them call for some random hard to find, unicorn ingredient.
SERIOUSLY!?! Isn’t Whole30 about eating real food, and making real food accessible to busy people? So why does your recipe call for salt mined by virgin unicorn breeders?
This has been something that has been frustrating for me. I find a recipe, it sound delicious, but it calls for some ingredient, that I can not find or is only available at speciality places. I am not one to order or drive hours away to get the one ingredient. So I just don’t make the recipe.
When I am not Whole30-ing, I will play with the recipe, maybe use a similar, yet not compliant ingredient in place of the specialty. One of these experiments lead me to make my own complaint substitute. AND IT IS DELISH!
I really enjoy spicy foods, so this pork sausage has a bit of a kick (I think it could use more, but Mr. Wonderful says it is hot enough). It is great for Italian dishes or with just some sauted zucchini or carrots. Plus, since ground pork is cheaper than pre-made sausages, it is cheaper! So save a little and try this!
Note: I use a mortar and pestle to grind up the fennel seeds. Mr. Wonderful does not like fennel, but if I grind it up, he doesn’t notice it. You can leave it whole if you wish.
I love hamburgers. To me they are the the epitome of summer; grilling, summer nights outside, enjoying family and friends.
In Texas, summer lasts almost all year round, so having potato salad a burgers for dinner didn’t seem strange on a hot November night (High of 85! It’s definitely not soup weather!)
Ketchup Ingredients
I try to avoid corn (I have a weakness for buttery popcorn), it is hard to find an affordable ketchup without sugar or corn syrup. I found a ketchup recipe a few years ago, and I liked it but a half a cup of chopped dates seemed like a lot of sugar to me. Plus does ketchup really need to be sugary?
Not at all! Mr. Z loves this ketchup, and it is the perfect topping for a bunless hamburger. I hope you enjoy this simple ketchup recipe, along with this simple Hamburger recipe.
The Ketchup has options to be vegan, onion free, and Low-FODMAP! If you haven’t tried warm ketchup, do it, LIFE CHANGING!
We currently do not have a grill. (Mr. Wonderful is getting a new smoker for Christmas! Shhh!) Plus, setting it up and prepping the charcoal for hamburgers is more work than I want to do, we use my George Forman Grill I got as a high school graduation present! (I am not telling you how long ago that was…) Cooking them this way is fast and we can have grilled burgers all year round.
This simple ketchup recipe will replace the traditional store bought sugar and corn syrup filled ones. The accompanying hamburger recipe is perfect for topping with your homemade ketchup. Adding just enough flavoring these hamburger are much better than just a meat patty.
Ashley Teare: Ashley Teare
Recipe type: Whole 30
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4 burgers
Ingredients
For the Ketchup:
5 large dates, pits removed (about 60 g)
6 oz tomato paste
14.5 oz can Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, diced
½ cup Bone Broth (or water for vegan or onion free/FODMAPs)
2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Garlic granules*
1 tsp Onion Powder*
1 tsp salt
½ tsp Allspice
For the Hamburgers:
1 pound ground beef, 80/20
1 TBSP Dijon Mustard
1 TBSP Almond Flour
1 tsp Garlic Granules
½ tsp Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Directions
For Ketchup:
Make sure the pits are removed from the dates, chop or leave whole.
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan bring to a low boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and Simmer for 10 minutes.
Pour the contents, CAREFULLY, into a blender and blend until smooth.
Return the saucepan and simmer for an additional 30 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved.
For Hamburgers:
Place the beef in a large bowl.
Add the Dijon Mustard.
In a separate small bowl, add the remaining spices, mix and then add to the beef.
Mix well and shape into 4 patties, about 3 inches in diameter and about an inch thick.
Grill or pan fry.
Notes
FOR KETCHUP: VEGAN OPTION: Use water or vegetable broth FODMAPs: Omit dates and onion powder, replace the garlic with 2 tsp of garlic infused oil in the ketchup. Simmer the ketchup for a minimum of 30 minutes.
I love food. I love to eat it. I love to make it. After years of saying I did not want to become a food blogger, I have given in and here I am. I want to make recipes that are easy, that do not require you to special order ingredients from Buddhist Monks in the high Himalayan Mountains. Finding a recipe that has a weird ingredient that you can’t find at your local grocery store is just annoying.
One of my favorite meals is breakfast. I do not understand how people can just have a cup of coffee for breakfast, even a bowl of cereal is too boring for me. Since going gluten free it has been harder to find decent breakfast pastry or baked goods, especially waffles and pancakes.
These waffles, I believe are so close to the real gluteny thing that you will never miss them. Add some real maple syrup and some butter, and it’s Saturday mornings as a kid all over again. We would have waffles on a regular basis a kid growing up. We always looked forward to dad making them.
Pure Maple syrup is a little strong, taste wise, for me, so I like to make Strawberry Syrup. We always have strawberries in the freezer, I use them a lot in smoothies (another breakfast favorite of mine!). If you start the syrup first they should finish about the same time, and you’ll have wonderfully warm syrup for your delicious waffles.
I am a syrup dipper, but Mr. Wonderful and Mr. Z are both “syrup must be in every square” people. I feel a little better about letting Mr. Z have a syrup soaked waffle went it is mostly fruit.
Quick note: You can just add all the egg in at one time, instead of separating and beating the whites, but it will make them a little denser. Be sure to gently fold in the whites, because they help to make the waffles light.
Enjoy these on you next lazy morning or start a new Saturday tradition with them! They are ours.
These waffles will feel you with memories of soft glutenous waffles of your childhood.
Ashley Teare: Ashley Teare
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 9-6 inch round waffles
Ingredients
For Syrup:
1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
2 T water
¼ cup Pure Maple syrup
For the Waffles:
2⅔ cup (432 g) Basic Gluten Free Flour Blend
¼ cup (57 g) sugar
1 t salt
4 t baking soda
½ cup butter (Shortening or Earth Balance makes a few great dairy free butters)
1½ cups milk of choice
2 eggs, separated
Dash of Cream of Tatar
Directions
For the Syrup:
Combine all the syrup ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes. (I like my syrup without chunks, so I pour it into the blender and puree it all together, and then let it simmer for a few more minutes.)
For the Waffles:
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Be sure to whisk the baking powder and soda in very well.
Next combine the yolks, milk, and cooled melted butter.
Add that to the flour mixture and stir until incorporated, but some lumps will still remain.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. You can add a dash of cream of tarter to help stiffen the whites. I do this by hand, its a great little mini workout 🙂
Gently FOLD the whites into the batter.
Cook according to your waffle iron manufactures directions.
Last week I shared with you my basic gluten free bread recipe. If you got a chance to try it, you got left with 3 egg yolks! I hate having wasteful recipes. I know that eggs are not that expensive of an item, but 3 yolks is a lot just to toss.
One great use for egg yolks is homemade Mayo. I do not have some amazing recipe. But I have a few I love:
Our Paleo Life: Lime Mayo (uses a whole egg, but I think next time I bake bread,I am going to try using all three with this technique.)
These three recipes, are similar, but use different processes. I haven’t made mayo in my vitamix, only because I don’t really want to clean it afterwards (I am lazy, and it doesn’t go in the dish washer.)
I know this isn’t my own recipe, but I think everyone should know, or at least attempt to make their own mayo! It just adds something extra to anything you us it for.
