Wednesday, December 26, 2012

GF Banana Bread

This is my FAVORITE GF banana bread recipe. Probably not the healthiest, but it is by far the yummiest!

1 box GF yellow cake mix (Betty Crocker is my favorite)
1 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2 medium bananas, although sometimes I will use three if they are smaller)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray loaf pan (I use 9x5, but you can also use 8x4) with vegetable spray.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, mashed bananas, butter and eggs with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour 5 min. to 1 hour 15 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Place sheet of foil over loaf about half way through cooking to prevent over browning on top of bread.
4. Cool 10 min on cooling rack before removing from pan.  Loosen sides of loaf pan with butter knife, remove from pan to cooling rack and continue cooling for an additional hour before slicing.

Nutritional Information per slice:

Calories: 180
Carbohydrates: 26g
Protein: 2g
Sodium: 200 mg

GF Macaroni and Cheese

3 cups of uncooked GF elbow macaroni (I use the Tinkyada Pasta Joy brand)

White sauce:
3 tbs butter
3 tbs corn flour
1 can of milk (evaporated)
1 can of water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Cheese:
4 cups of shredded cheeses. I use a cheddar jack mix and mozzarella for the layers and then a thin layer of shredded parmesan for the top. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add macaroni and some salt, cook until just tender. Don't over cook, it will continue to cook when you bake it. This is especially important with GF macaroni. I found it is better to under cook than over because it gets mushy.
While the macaroni is cooking, make the white sauce. In a small sauce pan, melt butter, using a whisk, stir in the flour and let it cook for a minute or two. Pour in the milk, then fill the can with water and pour in sauce. Let it cook for a few minutes to blend the milk and flour/butter)

Drain the macaroni. Rinse well. Use a large casserole dish, place 1/2 macaroni, 1/2 cheese, then repeat. Pour sauce over the top, it will be very soupy, but the macaroni will soak it up. I then place a thin layer of shredded parmesan to the top and bake at 350 degree for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown on top.

I have found that this is always better the next day, so I have begun baking it the night before we want to eat it then re-heating it.

GF Pumpkin Cheesecake

The original recipe calls for crushed up Cinnamon Chex as the crust, but they always seemed so mushy to me, so this year I tried the Kinnikinnick GF Graham Style Crumbs.  SOOO much better!

Crust:
1 1/2 cups packed Graham Style Crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp. butter melted

Combine ingredients and mix well. Grease bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 inches up side of prepared pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour. This was a very thin crust, if you prefer it to be thicker you may want to mix more, maybe even double the above.

Filling:
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
3 (8oz) pkgs. Cream Cheese
3/8 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. whipping cream
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. GF Vanilla Extract

Optional one can of Dulce de Leche to apply to the top of the cheesecake after it is cooled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Combine 3/4 cup white sugar, pumpkin, 3 egg yolks, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside
2. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually add 3/8 cup white sugar and mix well. Add the whole egg, remaining egg yolk and the whipping cream beating well. Add cornstarch and vanilla beat batter until smooth. Add pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour batter into prepared springform pan with crust.
3. I placed my springform pan on a cookie sheet because some of the butter will leak out of the crust. Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 min. Do not overbake. Center may be soft but it will firm up when chilled. At this point, turn off the oven and open the oven door. allow the cake to remain in the oven for the next hour. This just prevents cracks in the top of the cake. 
4. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. I remove from the springform pan and then apply the Dulce de Leche to the top.

Great information about Celiac Disease!

http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/12/15/six-facts-everyone-should-know-about-celiac-disease/

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

GF Lasagna

This recipe was actually developed by my mother-in-law.

1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 pkg GF lasagna noodles (I use Tinkyada Pasta Joy)
1 24 oz can Hunts four cheese pasta sauce (you can use your favorite)
1 8oz pkg. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 8oz pkg. shredded Italian five cheese blend

1. Brown meat until fully cooked. Drain excess fat.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions. I have found with rice noodles it is better to under cook than over cook. It is also important to rinse the noodles well after cooking. GF pastas tend to have more residual starch that will cause the noodles to stick together.
3. Layer as you would a normal lasagna.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.

GF Heath Bar Cake

1 box GF chocolate cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1 stick of butter softened
3 eggs
1 cup of water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar caramel dessert topping (Smucker's is GF)
1 8 oz container whipped topping
1 bag snack sized Heath Bar candy

1. Prepare cake according to directions on box.
2. Immediately upon removing cake from oven poke holes over entire cake.  This will help the condensed milk mixture to absorb well into the cake.
3. Combine condensed milk and caramel topping in small sauce pan. Heat until well blended. Pour immediately over top of cake. I like to allow my cake to soak overnight. After the cake has cooled you can cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until morning.
4. Unwrap Heath candies and place into plastic bag. Smash until broke into small pieces.
5. Layer cake with a portion of smashed Heath candies.
6. Layer with entire whipped topping
7. Layer with remaining smashed Heath candies.

This cake is VERY rich, enjoy in small portions :-)


Gluten-Free Soft Dinner Rolls

•2 table spoons of dry active yeast
•2 teaspoons of sugar
•2 cups of warm unflavored milk of choice
•1 and a half cups of super fine or Asian white rice flour
•Half a cup of Asian sweet rice flower (also called glutinous rice flour)
•3/4 cup potato starch (not flour)
•1/2 tapioca starch/flour
•3 teaspoons xanthan gum
•1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
•1 table spoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
•1/4 cup butter
•1/4 cup of honey
•1 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

*1. Combine yeast, sugar, and warm milk in a small bowl and whisk. Let sit for 6-8 min.
*2. Combine flower, starches, xanthan gun, salt and baking powder in the bowl and mix for 30 minutes.
*3. Add the yeast mixture, 2 eggs, melted butter, honey and vinegar and mix for 3 minutes.
*4. Preheat oven to 375'F. Spray muffin pans with non stick spray. Scoop out into the muffin pans and cover with a towel and place in a warm place, let rise for 35 minutes.
*5. Beat one egg in with a teaspoon of water and brush on top of dough
*6. Bake for 17 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

(125 calories, 3G total fat, 2g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 33mg cholesterol, 227mg sodium, 22g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 3G protein.)