Sugar Free, Gluten Free Anytime Muffins

Lately I have felt as though the fun has been sucked out of the kitchen...read labels, bake food I really don't like, and never produce a product that looks perfect anymore. I don't experiment with my own recipes because wasting gluten free ingredients is seriously a crime! But finally I am starting to feel drawn back in. What changed? I started *gasp* buying bread! I finally found a wonderful gf bread recipe that even I liked to eat on a regular basis, but then I found Kinnikinnik....their bread is soft, bouncy, good texture and tastes good. And the best part is that it's less then a $1 more per loaf for me to buy then it is for me to bake (and that's not including my time or the electricity to turn the oven on!). I'm so excited! Plus I've found that Safeway carries their bread, frozen but I'm ok with that! So it's not only good tasting, it's somewhat convenient too. So I've had a few weeks away from baking, I've been gleefully opening bags of bread from the freezer and the sense of fun that the kitchen used to offer me is returning.
Tonight my hubby called me a 'whirlwind' in the kitchen, and it felt good. It's been a long time since I have been busy enough to warrant being called that! What was I making?

Super healthy eat anytime muffins!! Courtesy of Mennonite Girls Can Cook (my new favourite website!!)
They are sugar free, gluten free and packed full of good for you things!

I did not change anything in the recipe except to use ground flax seed and I made them as muffin tops because...well why not? :)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 Cup Almond Flour (meal)
3/4 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Xylitol
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Ginger
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (GF)
1/2 Cup Steel Cut Oats (GF)
1/4 Cup Flax Seed
1/2 Cup Raisins
3 Tbsp. Oil
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Milk (or almond milk etc)
4 Medium Carrots, Shredded
1 Medium Ripe Banana, Mashed

Prehead oven to 400F. Coat a 12 Cup muffin pan with oil (I used coconut oil, it works great!)
Whisk together flours, xylitol, baking soda, baking powder, spices, oats and flax until there are no lumps. Stir in raisins.
Mix oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana in another bowl. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended.

Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 23-25 minutes (depending on your size of pan). Serve warm or at room temperature. To store keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.
Great with some butter, some cream cheese or drizzle honey on top!


NOTE: I did find that my steel cut oats were still kind of crunchy in the finished product. I think next time I will mix up the liquid ingredients first, add the steel cut oats and let them soak while I measure and mix the dry ingredients/shred the carrots :)

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin Tops

I know I have been horribly absent this month. I am currently in the middle of a very heavy course, and it includes lab days which I have been prepping for. Hopefully it will be over soon and I can get back to some fun things in life! Summer is passing me by while I have my nose shoved into a textbook!

I bought 20lbs of blueberries last week and froze most of them for smoothies and winter baking, but kept 5lbs out for immediate use. I decided some blueberry muffins would be wonderful and wanted to try out my new muffin top pans that arrived from (where else!) well.ca this week! What are muffin top pans? They are shallow wide muffin pans that allow you to get mostly just the muffin top (the best part in my opinion!) of the muffin!!

This recipe from Gluten Free Frugally was a first attempt for me and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I would like to make some recipe changes since they are very sticky once cooked. It actually tastes quite 'normal' and is something I can actually make myself eat :)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter/Margarine/Oil
4 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups GF All Purpose Flour Blend
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
4 Tsp. Baking Powder
2-3 Cups Blueberries

Mix together sugar, butter and eggs. Once creamed, add milk and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients (except blueberries) and mix on medium high for 4-5 minutes. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into pans and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: The way this recipe is composed, I would think if you left out the Xanthan Gum and substituted regular all purpose flour it should turn out as a great non gluten free muffin!

Quinoa Oat Muffins

I was so excited to find a GF recipe that didn't call for many different flours that I had to try this right away. I had just picked up some quinoa flour at Bulk Barn and was itching to try it out. I am a frequent shopper of bulk barn and I love it when they get a new gf product, I always get some to try right away! I love quinoa because of it's high nutritional content, and now I can use it more often! I use GF oats for this recipe, obviously if you aren't avoiding gluten then by all means use your regular oats!! This recipe is from Virtually Vegan Mama so these are vegan depending on the type of milk you use. I've made these with coconut milk (the drinking kind, not the thick canned kind) and also with cows milk and they both turned out great! Whether you are a gf house or just trying to eat healthier I would say give these a try. My kids love them and they are packed full of all sorts of good for you things!

1 Tbsp. Ground Flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp. Water
1 1/4 Cup Quinoa Flour
1 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (not instant, but not steel cut either)
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Milk (any type is fine)
1/2 Cup Date Syrup (Recipe coming soon, if you don't have this use maple syrup or even honey instead)
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Chopped Dates
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a muffin pan (or mini muffin pan).

Mix 1 Tbsp. of Ground Flaxseed with 3 Tbsp. of Water, set aside.
Mix together dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together flaxseed mixture and other wet ingredients.
Mix everything together. Fold in raisins, dates and nuts. Mix until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Enjoy! These are best enjoyed within a few days of baking but will last longer if stored in the fridge.

GF Berry Scones

This recipe is from my new favourite cookbook: Gluten Free on a Shoestring 

The only modification is adding in a step that git missed in the book.

 

2 Cups GF AP Flour Blend

1 Tsp. Xanthan Gum  

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder  

1/2 Tsp. Salt  

2 Tbsp. Sugar  

1 Cup Frozen Berries (I used more like 1 1/2 Cups)  

5 Tbsp. Butter, Chilled and Diced  

1 Cup Milk (Low fat is fine, nonfat is not)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine dry ingredients. Transfer a few tablespoons to a separate bowl and toss the berries in it.  

Add the diced butter to the dry ingredients. Cut it in until in pea sized amounts.  

Add the milk. Stir to combine.  

Add the berries and bit of flour in to the mixture. (This is the step missing in the book lol)  

Transfer to cookie sheet. Pat into about a 1/2 inch oval/circle...the dough is quite sticky just do the best you can.  

Brush top with a bit of milk. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Score the top into triangles with a sharp knife.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until scones are puffed up and slightly brown around the edges. Cut where you previously scored the top.

Serve immediately topped with butter or just plain. They do reheat well in the microwave. They are not very good cold.

Gluten Free Rice Krispies

Kelloggs had said there were no plans to bring these to Canada and suddenly here they are! Safeway and Superstore are carrying them so far. Superstore has a great sale on this week $3.97 (regular $5.69 I think) each limit of 4. BUT stop at the coupon board and pick up the 'buy 3 kelloggs cereals and get $3 off' coupon. It brings the boxes down to $2.22 each (if you buy 4 at a time). For those of you buying gluten free you know how cheap that is for any gf product! I went in and out of the store 3 times and got 12 boxes. I may yet go back again!

These taste just like the 'real' ones, are made with brown rice and still go "snap crackle pop" much to the delight of my kids. Im so excited that my son can still experience the simple joy of a rice krispie square!

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Granola Bars

I originally posted this recipe back in May before our house was going gluten free. I never did get a picture posted and so now that I have made a gluten free version I decided it needed a picture!

Ingredients
41/2 Cups Rolled Oats (use GF Oats if you are sensitive to Oats)
1 Cup Ground Flax Seed, Hemp Protein (I'm sure you could substitute other unflavoured/mild flavoured protein, I just find this one works well) & GF All Purpose Flour (About a 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 ratio)
1 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (not packed)
2/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Molasses
2/3 Cup Applesauce, Heaping
2 1/4 Cups Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Seeds, Berries etc.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl and then mix into the dry. Add the 2 1/4 cups of extras. I usually do a mix of raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But mix it up! Dried cranberries, dates, almonds etc. they will all taste wonderful!
Pour into pan, and press down or if you have a small rolling pin roll it down. Bake for 10 minutes, re-roll it down (or push it down), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool completely and cut into bars with a sharp knife.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and pull them out one at a time for lunches.

These are slightly more moist then the original recipe, but the only problem with that is a few sticky fingers. They hold together beautifully and taste even better! Plus they have more of a protein content then the original recipe due to the hemp protein and the GF all purpose flour has more protein then regular flour as well.

Southwest Breakfast Casserole

Finished and ready to eat!

Before baking.

Our meatless Monday's dish...or this week's Meatless Tuesday lol (we had leftovers that needed eating yesterday).

So simple, so tasty and yes so filling...not to mention economical!

Ingredients
(I have tripled the recipe, and it is enough to feed 3 adults, 2 kids and have 2 lunches leftover (and yes, it reheats quite well! And of course I use more cheese then the original recipe because cheese is wonderful!)


3 Cups Cooked Rice
1 1/2 Cups Salsa
2-3 Cups Cooked Beans
Shredded Cheese (a cup or two)
8-9 Eggs

Mix rice and salsa in the bottom of a casserole dish and press flat. Sprinkle some cheese on top. Spread beans on top. Sprinkle more cheese. Dig 'pockets' in the layers for however many eggs you want to put in. I do 8 or 9 depending on how I space the pockets. Crack eggs into pockets. Sometimes I put 2 in the centre if its a bigger hole :)
Bake at 350°F for 30-50 minutes or until egg whites are no longer runny. Baking time depends on your preference of egg...a little runny yolk or fully cooked. Enjoy!

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Fall is upon us, and one of the only good thing about fall (in my  mind, since it leads directly to winter!) is the ready availability of pumpkins!
This is when I try out all the pumpkin recipes I can find or think of!
I was surfing around Budget Bytes website after making Crockpot Taco Chicken and came across Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal! It sounded so good I had to try it right away!!

Very simple, very tasty and very filling!

Ingredients
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 Tsp. Salt
3/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
1.5 Cups Milk (any type of milk will work if you are a dairy free house)
2.5 Cups Rolled Oats (Do not be tempted to use Steel Cut Oats...it turns out awful, trust me!)
Optional: Add 1/2 Cup Yogurt (leaving milk at 1.5 cups), or reduce milk to 1 cup and add 1 Cup  Yogurt. I added 1/2 Cup of Greek Yogurt for some extra protein :)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the first 7 ingredients. Add the milk (and yogurt if using) and whisk until smooth. 
Mix the dry oats into the mixture. Grease an 8x10 pan. Pour the mixture in. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-30 minutes. It is cooked when it starts to crack on top and the edges start to brown.
Eat hot right out of the oven, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be eaten cold or reheated. Top with milk, maple syrup, whipped cream or nuts. I like mine heated up with cold milk on top. Sooo good on a cold, damp fall day! 

Instant Oatmeal Packs

***Recipe edited to correct the amount of oats from 8 cups to 3 cups. Sorry everyone! Thanks Lindsay for pointing that out :)***
Much more economical then buying the boxed packs in the store, and you can make them bigger and with whatever flavour you want!! And as a bonus they taste better! You can make them healthy, unhealthy, organic, non organic...the choice is yours :)

Ingredients
3 Cups Quick Oats
Flavourings: Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Dried Apples, Milk Powder, Wheat Germ, Raisins etc.

Need: Ziptop bags

Process 1 Cup of oats in a food processor (you can use a blender, just process less at a time), on high until powdery.

Place the following into each baggie:

PLAIN Oatmeal
1/4 Cup Oats
2 Tbsp. Powdered Oats

Seal and store. To serve empty packet into bowl, add 3/4 cup of boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. Or add milk or water and pop into the microwave until cooked, add additional milk/water to thin.

Variations:
Sweetened: Add 1 Tbsp. Sugar
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon: Add 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar and 1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
Raisins & Brown Sugar: Add 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar and 1 Tbsp. Raisins
Apple-Cinnamon: Add 1 Tbsp. Sugar, 1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon and 2 Tbsp. Chopped Dried Apples
Fruit & Milk: Add 1 Tbsp. Milk Powder and 2 Tbsp. Dried Fruit
Health Nut: Add 2 Tbsp. any kind of wheat germ & 1 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed
Raisins & Walnut: Add 1 Tbsp. Raisins and 1/2 Tbsp. Walnut Pieces

Use your imagination! Whatever combination you can think of, you can have :)




Note: I double the recipe above for each baggie because my husband and son are never happy with one pack!

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Yogurt Biscuits

My kids love these for breakfast, snack, lunch...pretty much anytime they are available! The best part is that you can make them with whatever yogurt you have on hand :) A good way to use up ready to expire yogurt.They have a refreshing 'cool' taste to them and go well with butter, jam, peanut butter or just plain.

Ingredients
2 Cups of Biscuit Mix (Recipe)
1 Cup Yogurt

Preheat oven to 450 F
Mix together and drop portions on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until bottoms are brown and tops are starting to brown. Enjoy!

Hollandaise Sauce

For the longest time I thought hollandaise sauce was some fancy hard to make sauce. I was craving it the other day so I decided to figure out how to make it. Its pretty straight forward and so tasty!!

Ingredients
4 Egg Yolks
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Butter, Melted
A Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Use a metal bowl that can rest on a pot or the top of a double boiler.
Whisk the egg yolks and the lemon juice until they are a bit foamy and have a greater volume.
Bring a small amount of water in a pot to a slow boil. Place your bowl over top.
Make sure you dont let the water touch the bottom of the bowl and dont let it get too hot or you will end up with scrambled eggs!
Whisk continually.
Drizzle in melted butter.
Whisk until the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat and add cayenne pepper.
Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
If it thickens too much while sitting just add a few drops of warm water.
This is wonderful over poached eggs and toast!
We ate it 2 days in a row after I found the recipe.

Tip: Save the egg whites and add them to whatever type of egg you are making!

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What's On The Table?

Happy Canada Day!!
A wonderful, tasty breakfast of poached eggs on toast with homemade hollandaise sauce to start our weekend!
Have a great long weekend :)

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Spinach Mookshake

Or at least that's what my 2 year old calls it. Mookshake, milkshake, smoothie or green milk....however you label it, it's delicious and it's chalk full of nutrition!! Made with slight modifications from Weelicious.

Ingredients
4 cups (packed) fresh spinach
2 Large Bananas
2 Cups Milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp. Honey

Put it all into the blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerates well for a day or two if there is any left over. There's not usually! Sometimes I blend it up before adding the honey and take some out, mix it with some plain yogurt and xanthan gum (you could use other thickening agents) and feed it to my not quite 1 year old as pudding! She loves it!


It's definitely a vegetarian snack, and could easily be made vegan and or milk free. Maple syrup would be a good substitute for the honey, and you could use soy, rice or even almond milk!

Lately anytime I ask my son what he wants for a snack he asks for a spinach mookshake. He loves them that much. I tested it out on some other children this morning, and they were actually fighting over it...fighting over spinach!! Imagine that!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

These are good...honestly! At first glance, the thought of cottage cheese invading my pancakes, I kind of gagged, but thought well I'll give it a try...and I'm glad I did! The cottage cheese melts and provides a wonderful texture and flavour. This recipe is originally from Weelicious, but I have modified it. I'm sure the recipe worked well for her, but for me it turned out like fried eggs with cottage cheese in it :( A couple of modifications later and here we are :) Cottage cheese is full of protein and that's what makes these pancakes great for kids who don't really like to eat much meat (aka my 2 year old!). Normally the rule in our house is everyone eats the same, but if we are eating something I know he can't chew etc. I make up some of these (or take some out of the freezer) and he gets to have a pretty good meal...and one that he enjoys!

Ingredients
3 Eggs
1 Cup Cottage Cheese
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp. Honey
1/8 Cup Milk
1 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt

Mix the first 5 ingredients together first, then add the next 3 ingredients. If you batter seems too thick (as it can get if left in the fridge), then just add a little more milk.
Heat frying pan over low heat - medium heat (these can overcook quickly), and lightly coat with oil or butter. Depending on the size of pancake you want, pour 1 Tbsp. - 1/4 Cup of batter for each pancake. 
Cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are set and golden.

To freeze, let cool  completely and place in a freezer bag/container. They reheat wonderfully :)

Creamy Rice Pudding

I have never liked rice pudding...until now! Once again, Weelicious to the rescue! This is so creamy and so yummy and yet so healthy! I made it last night for a late night snack and I even let my 2 year old have it for breakfast :) I think it will become a regular around here. I looked up several other recipes before deciding on this one, and they all included at least 1/3 of a cup of sugar...not exactly great. What I love about this recipe is that it's so creamy that you don't even miss all that sweetness!

Ingredients
3 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Rice
1/2 Vanilla Bean or 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp. Honey


In a pot, bring the rice and milk to a boil. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape both sides with the edge of a knife to remove the vanilla seeds. Place the seeds and the vanilla bean in the pot with the milk and rice. If you are using extract add it at the very end of the cooking time. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the honey and stir to combine. Remove the vanilla bean casing and serve warm or chilled. And of course raisins mixed in make everything better!

Breakfast Cupcakes

This recipe is from Weelicious. The only thing I change is that I add raisins because...well, why not!?
These are really easy and well loved by kids. What kid doesn't love cupcakes?...especially for breakfast!
Cupcake Ingredients
1 1/4 Cup Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter (you can substitute almond, cashew or even sunflower butter instead)
1 Egg
2Tbsp. Sugar
1 1/4 Cup Milk
Raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 350F and heavily grease mini or regular muffin pans. If you are using muffin papers you will still need to grease them. Otherwise they will stick horribly!
Mix dry ingredients together. Mix peanut butter, egg and sugar until smooth. Add milk and mix until blended. Pour into dry ingredients and stir just enough to moisten. Dont overmix! I added the raisins at this point :)                                     
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting Ingredients
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese Softened
1/4 Cup Jam/Jelly/Preserves
Blend together until smooth (like icing!). Spread on top of cooled cupcakes. Or on warm ones but remember it will run :)

I make 1 tray of mini cupcakes (12) and 6 big cupcakes from this recipe. My 2 year old loves having these for breakfast...or lunch...or snacktime...you get the idea :)

Waffles

These are wonderful! I make a big batch and I freeze them and use them as 'Eggos'. Use directly from frozen or let thaw on the counter. If frozen they usually need twice through the toaster or 15 seconds in the microwave and once through the toaster.
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups Oats
2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
1 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Sugar
Dried Fruit Powder (Optional)

Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine. In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients (and fruit powder if using). In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, and mix until smooth.
Stir the wet into the dry just until mixed. Don't overmix!
Cook in your waffle iron.

**If you want these as pancakes instead, leave out 1/2 cup of flour**

I get dried fruit powder from Just Tomatoes. I love their products! They don't add anything to their dried fruits, vegetables or powders. My 2 year old loves to snack on dried fruit, especially in the winter when fruit selection is limited at the store. I love to keep the powders on hand for mixing in with smoothies, pancakes, waffles and muffins. The dried fruit is also great for baking with. I haven't tried any of the dried vegetables yet, but I'm assuming they would be just as good as the fruit! 

Granola Bars

For my first real post I thought I would start with what seems to be a very popular favourite recipe. Granola Bars that will make you gag at the thought of a prepackaged foil wrapped cardboard bar!
This originally started as a completely different recipe and I broke it down to the oats and flour and rebuilt it. So I feel like I can call it my own personal recipe :)

41/2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (Substitute flour if you don't have this)
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (not packed)
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Molasses (Scant)
1/3 Cup Applesauce (Heaping)
2 Cups Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Seeds, Berries etc.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl and then mix into the dry. Add the 2 cups of extras. I usually do a mix of raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But mix it up! Dried cranberries, dates, almonds etc. they will all taste wonderful!
Pour into pan, and press down or if you have a small rolling pin roll it down. Bake for 10 minutes, re-roll it down (or push it down), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into bars with a sharp knife. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and pull them out one at a time for lunches.

Enjoy! And beware that once you make these you may find yourself becoming quite snobby towards store bought granola bars!