Gluten Free Granola Goodness

My quest for affordable gluten free snacks has given me the push that I have been waiting for! I have been wanting to make granola bars forever now and this was my first go at it. Now here comes the disclaimer.... My goal was granola BARS, the outcome was more like crumbly granola! But tasty none the less and gobbled up no problem by the other three family members.

I started with a random collection of things I both bought, and found in my baking cupboard.

Ingredients:

Most important... Gluten free oats (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free, available at thrifty's)
shredded coconut
dried fruit (papaya, pineapple, craisins, raisins)
peanuts
almonds
sunflower seeds
(I wanted to add ground flax and a couple shakes of cinnamon as well, but I forgot!)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup earth's balance  'butter'

I mixed up all the nuts, fruit and oats. Then in a saucepan I melted the butter and stirred in the honey and sugar. Then I poured this on top and mixed it all up well. I pressed it into my pan and popped it into the oven for about 20 minutes.

In retrospect I might of tried adding an egg as it was sort of crumbly and made a big ol' granola mess of my sometimes clean floors. I also maybe would of cooked it another 5 minutes or so. The brown edges seemed to stick together better than the rest of it, but I was afraid of burnt oats, cause that is yuck!


All in all I would most definitely make these again. Much cheaper and yummier than store bought, and the bowl is always fun to lick.... ummmmm, for the kids I mean....

Vanilla Success!!

Finally a vanilla cupcake recipe that was both easy to make, and oh so delicious! Here it is folks, after months of searching this is the best one I have found. Funny thing is, it is so basic! Perhaps I followed directions a little better than normal?(I normally follow them as I choose....)

Whatever it was, they turned out fabulous!!

The only thing I altered slightly was the cooking time. I used smaller cupcake liners and my oven is pretty hot so I cooked them at the 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and that was perfect.
Hope they work for you!!

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/moist-vanilla-cupcakes/

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Baby!

So these past few days we have embarked on a totally new way of food life around our house. Well, at least for Kayleigh....

A permanently swollen set of tonsils and a variety of other symptoms led me to take Kayleigh to an Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist. I was certain if I took her to a GP, they would just want to remove her tonsils and I was going on a hunch that she may have a food allergy or sensitivity of some sort. So, after our visit to get Kayleigh checked out, the Acupuncturist was onto the same hunch! Now, we are on day 4 of a dairy free and gluten free diet to see if we cant figure out what is up with Ms. Kayleigh.

I am finding it surprisingly easy so far, the only real difference is the cost of food. A box of 5 gluten free granola bars costs almost $8!! So, I am determined to make things on my own. My first experiment was a bit of a cheat, but well, I'm a busy gal these days! I bought a mix for gluten free muffins. And here is how they turned out!



I used almond milk and vegan butter instead of regular milk and butter.

We beat up the eggs and butter.

Then we stirred in the almond milk and muffin mix and gently folded in our blackberries at the end.

We spooned them into our muffin tray and popped them into the oven. We got about 22 muffins all together, enough to freeze the extras!

 Kayleigh, and the rest of us too, loved them! And the box of mix cost me less than $5, added with the other ingredients I spent less than $7 on 22 muffins.
So this is my new challenge.... Making gluten and dairy free food at a low cost. Wish me luck!! And stay tuned, because were making some bread tonight....yummy!

Dessert!

Ok, no claim to fame on this one. I found it on the internet but I have to share it with everyone. Its chocolate banana cake and it turned out way too good! I am probably going to have to hide it on myself, or send it to work with the Husband, because there are too many calories sitting on my kitchen counter!

Here it is, I skipped the ganache on top because of lack of ingredients, but it doesn't even need it, its super moist and rich without. I also only added 1 1/2 cups of sugar, cause 2 cups seemed a bit much and I didn't want my kids bouncing off the walls! Enjoy!

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateBananaCake.html

Empty Fridge = Creative Dinner

Sometimes I stare into my fridge and all that looks back at me is an empty white void. Today was one of those days....
I took out a couple of chicken breasts from the freezer earlier in the day and hoped that sometime throughout the afternoon some wonderful idea would spring into my mind... Well, I was wrong.
Later in the afternoon though my Mom stopped by and as I was staring longingly at my chicken she said, "what about chicken with herbs? and you have that tzatziki there too?"... Thanks Mom!! An idea is born!

Here is what I am calling 'Herb Smashed Chicken'

I went out to the garden and picked some oregano, rosemary, thyme and basil. I chopped them up with some garlic, mixed with olive oil and muddled it all together. I then pounded the chicken breasts flat and rubbed the mixture all over the chicken. I then heated up my pan to about medium heat and slapped them in. They took only about 4 minutes on each side until they were a light golden brown. I served them up with tzatziki sauce for dipping and the girls and I had ourselves some yummy chicken! Although I think Kayleigh maybe ate more sauce than chicken....

Chicken with garden fresh veggies, zucchini sticks (see next) and tzatziki.

  

I also happened to pick a large zucchini from the garden today, and much like my experience with the fridge, found myself staring at it with nothing but blank thoughts coming back. Then I remembered in my empty fridge I actually had a little left over parmesan from another batch of kale salad we had the other night.( http://kristin-amateurmother.blogspot.com/2011/07/all-hail-kale.html scroll to bottom for salad recipe.... mucho yummy!) And my motto of course is 'cheese goes with everything!', so I sliced up the zucchini into wedges, tossed some bread crumbs on top, put a couple small dollops of butter around, then sprinkled the parm on top and baked at convect 375 for about 25 minutes. They kind of turned out like not deep fried zucchini sticks and were so good, I will definitely make those again!!

Zucchini and chicken before cooking





 So my uninspired night turned into a garden inspired dinner. Without my little garden I would have had no herbs, no tomato and no zucchini....  All I would of had is an empty fridge! I love that having fresh veggies teaches me new ideas and in turn our family breaks out from the norm. Another great reason to grow your own veggies I say!

Rosemary, thyme, chives

Also oregano, parsley and sage.

Garden in Bloom!

It has been such a wonderful past couple of weeks. My tomatoes are FINALLY ripening, my squash are growing and my fall veggies I planted from seed are growing at a rapid rate.

Pumpkins

Beefsteaks

I have been doing some reading on a fall garden and am experimenting with growing some seeds that I planted a few weeks ago. I am trying beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, peas and radishes. And so far they seem to be doing well, my only concern is the brussel sprouts as they usually should of been planted a few weeks before I got them in, even for a late crop.
I also popped in some spinach that you 'overwinter', so we will see how that goes!

This trial season for growing my garden has taught me so much. I am looking forward to an even bigger and better garden next season, hopefully with a little more success, especially in the bean department. Beans are one of my favourite things to have from the garden and I only was able to bag one small batch for the freezer. A lack of sun and a bug infestation left them as my worst veggie I think. Unlike my cucumbers, acorn squash, zucchini and pumpkins, they did not fight to make a miraculous comeback!

 

Acorn squash

Cucumber

For now I will bask in the glories of my wonderful garden in bloom and just take it all in. It wont be too long till the frost will come and I will be back to gazing out the window and plotting my next summers gardens.....
But I won't rush it, I have a long list of fall chores to do that include transplanting, planting spring bulbs, planting garlic and getting my Husband to dig up bushes and build more garden boxes, I can't wait!

Spoiled Squash Part 2: Return of the zucchini!!!

Well I now know to never give up! If you read my earlier post about my squash I actually almost pulled them all up because they were taunting me with their yellow leaves and puny vines. But, alas they have returned!! I have acorn squash, zucchini, and even a little cucumber!! My pumpkin is growing like its creating a magical carriage to take Cinderella to the ball, it has 3 small pumpkins on it and more coming!

pumpkin...can't even get it all in the shot!

I'm not to sure if anything will actually ripen enough before the cold sets in, but I may at least get to eat a baby zucchini or a baby cucumber. I think with the pumpkins I will pick all the new growth so the plant can put its energy into creating a couple of MONSTERS for Halloween.

baby cucumber (maybe good for one dill pickle??)

Now I'm torn for next year! I was sure the bark mulch was ruining the plants, but perhaps it was just the transplanting and then the serious lack of sun this spring? Do I put them there again next year? I think I  may have to wait to see how many garden boxes I can get out of my Husband!!

For now I will bask in the glory of my revitalized squash and worry about next year......well, next year!


One thing I know though is that I will never give up again on my little plants!! And, its amazing what a little sun can do to garden, perhaps it was a bad year for me to start experimenting with my veggies, with our serious lack of sun and warm weather. All I know is next year I am one more step ahead, and maybe one day (in the far future...) I can claim to be a pro!!



acorn squash