This won't be a long post. I just HAVE to share this corn bread recipe.
Pumpkin Corn Bread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Flour)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of ground white pepper
2 eggs
1 cup puréed fresh or canned pumpkin
1 cup sour cream
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square cake pan. (I use this pan with my gluten-free breads or cakes to get more even heating.)
2. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and white pepper in a mixing bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the pumpkin, sour cream, and 7 tablespoons of the melted butter until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes (possibly up to 25 minutes for high altitude). Serve warm, cut into pieces.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Oh The Food!
The past several weeks have been a very busy time, but during it, we've learned a lot and had some truly great experiences with new foods. We've also had a few setbacks.
We've had a few instances where we believe Willow got some gluten in her system, though we're not quite sure how; once at daycare and the other time at a sleep-over at her Aunt Lisha's house. As far as we can tell, it must have been either cross-contaminated food, or one of the children shared something with her that they shouldn't have.
One fight that we've constantly had is over lip gloss. Willow loves to wear it and I find her sneaking some of mine from time to time. Her best friend left some over at our house one day too, and I found Willow sneaking it up to her room.
Then, in March, our whole family started getting sick with a cough and sore throat. Without thinking, I gave Willow some Delsym cough syrup one night as she was going to bed, hoping it would help. She spent the next few days with tummy cramps and diarrhea. I could have kicked myself...several times.
For the most part, though, things have gone pretty well. At daycare, Tina has been a dream to work with. She can't always come up with a gluten-free lunch for Willow, but she tries to at least a few times a week. She's even purchased GF snacks for Willow so that I don't have to constantly supply them.
Also, again, I cannot recommend Harmons grocery store enough. We've found some fantastic gluten-free foods there. They're carrying a new local brand of GF flour called Tree Street Grains. We tried their pancake mix and found that it can be used in any pancake recipe we have, not just the one they provide on the bag. The flour tastes a lot like whole-wheat flour and has a great texture if you're a fan of whole-grain foods. I'm going to try it in some chocolate chip cookies next.
Willow also wanted me to find her a GF hot cereal, so we bought Quinoa flakes and we flavor it with cinnamon, allspice and brown sugar. She devours every bowl.
Also, thanks to Harmons, we now have a fantastic pulled pork recipe. They were demo-ing it in the store and Jer and I fell in love with it. The recipe is extremely simple:
Buy a Spoon Roast, some Stubbs Spicy BBQ Sauce, some Pepperlane Raz-Pepper Preserves and some raspberries.
Put the spoon roast in a crock pot and cook for half a day at medium heat. Pour out the fat. Add several spoon fulls of the BBQ sauce, a heaping spoon full of the preserves and a handful of crushed raspberries. Turn the heat up to high and cook for another few hours. (Make sure you stir it or it will burn to the side of your crock pot.) When it's done, the meat will just fall apart.
The next recipe is VERY fattening, but if done right, you just won't care.
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
3 Tbsp butter or gluten-free margarine.
1 lb smoked sausage cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used Harmons breakfast sausages instead of smoked sausage and cooked them on the side first)
1 medium onion, halved crosswise and cut into thin wedges
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced (I recommend a tart green apple)
1/4 cup real maple syrup (not the type you put on your pancakes)
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground red pepper or cayenne (we left this out since I have a gringo tongue)
We also had to come up with an alternative to Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup because we had a favorite recipe that called for it. I found a recipe online and modified it to make it gluten-free. This was my first home-made soup, so I was pretty nervous, but it ended up tasting fantastic. We used it as the sauce for a pork and pineapple stir-fry as well as for a chicken and rice casserole.
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup white wine
1 lb mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 Tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp white pepper
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup gluten free beef stock
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
These are the best of the best that I've found so far, but I'll share some others later. It's been fun watching Willow get used to the new requirements of her diet. She has become very conscientious about asking me if things are gluten-free (now if only she'd be so conscientious with her friends). Some of my favorites questions so far have been, "Are those eggs gluten-free?", "Do those apples have gluten in them?" and the one I almost laughed aloud at, "Mommy, is your water gluten-free?"
She has also successfully attended two birthday parties. For those, I've made her some gluten-free brownies and I sent her to each party with one so she could share in the cake. I even frosted them for her.
The rest of us have simply been enjoying experimenting with the new foods. Our twins, especially, have been enthusiastic taste-testers.
On other topics, we recently got all of the girls library cards. They adore books and trips to the library are quite a treat for them. I haven't had a library card since I was in junior high or high school, so it was nice for me as well. It'll allow me to read all those short-stories or graphic novels my favorite authors put out but I don't want to purchase. Kim Harrison's are first on my list. Speaking of Kim Harrison, I just read her newest novel, Pale Demon, and it was amazing. I then went straight to J.R. Ward's newest, Lover Unleashed. I just finished that one tonight and I'm honestly not sure which of the two authors has me clamoring for the next novel the most.
Baby Erik has started walking and boy is he getting good at it. We bought his first pair of shoes recently and let him wander around outside at Jordan Landing for a while. He loved every second of it. He has also learned to say “Hey Budda Boo” which is one of his nicknames.
On the movie front, I recommend RED with Bruce Willis and Hellen Mirren in it. It's a grand romp of an action movie and I actually liked John Malkovich in it. He's not an actor I usually enjoy watching, but he was perfect for this role. It's definitely a fun one for a late night with the honey, after the kids are in bed.
We've had a few instances where we believe Willow got some gluten in her system, though we're not quite sure how; once at daycare and the other time at a sleep-over at her Aunt Lisha's house. As far as we can tell, it must have been either cross-contaminated food, or one of the children shared something with her that they shouldn't have.
One fight that we've constantly had is over lip gloss. Willow loves to wear it and I find her sneaking some of mine from time to time. Her best friend left some over at our house one day too, and I found Willow sneaking it up to her room.
Then, in March, our whole family started getting sick with a cough and sore throat. Without thinking, I gave Willow some Delsym cough syrup one night as she was going to bed, hoping it would help. She spent the next few days with tummy cramps and diarrhea. I could have kicked myself...several times.
For the most part, though, things have gone pretty well. At daycare, Tina has been a dream to work with. She can't always come up with a gluten-free lunch for Willow, but she tries to at least a few times a week. She's even purchased GF snacks for Willow so that I don't have to constantly supply them.
Also, again, I cannot recommend Harmons grocery store enough. We've found some fantastic gluten-free foods there. They're carrying a new local brand of GF flour called Tree Street Grains. We tried their pancake mix and found that it can be used in any pancake recipe we have, not just the one they provide on the bag. The flour tastes a lot like whole-wheat flour and has a great texture if you're a fan of whole-grain foods. I'm going to try it in some chocolate chip cookies next.
Willow also wanted me to find her a GF hot cereal, so we bought Quinoa flakes and we flavor it with cinnamon, allspice and brown sugar. She devours every bowl.
Also, thanks to Harmons, we now have a fantastic pulled pork recipe. They were demo-ing it in the store and Jer and I fell in love with it. The recipe is extremely simple:
Pulled Pork
Buy a Spoon Roast, some Stubbs Spicy BBQ Sauce, some Pepperlane Raz-Pepper Preserves and some raspberries.
Put the spoon roast in a crock pot and cook for half a day at medium heat. Pour out the fat. Add several spoon fulls of the BBQ sauce, a heaping spoon full of the preserves and a handful of crushed raspberries. Turn the heat up to high and cook for another few hours. (Make sure you stir it or it will burn to the side of your crock pot.) When it's done, the meat will just fall apart.
The next recipe is VERY fattening, but if done right, you just won't care.
Maple Glazed Sweet Potato and Sausage
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes
3 Tbsp butter or gluten-free margarine.
1 lb smoked sausage cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used Harmons breakfast sausages instead of smoked sausage and cooked them on the side first)
1 medium onion, halved crosswise and cut into thin wedges
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced (I recommend a tart green apple)
1/4 cup real maple syrup (not the type you put on your pancakes)
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground red pepper or cayenne (we left this out since I have a gringo tongue)
- Bring 1 inch water and 1/2 tsp salt to boiling in a large saucepan. Add potatoes; return to boiling. Cover and cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, onion and apple. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and red pepper, mixing well.
- Stir in sweet potatoes, stirring to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly glazed.
We also had to come up with an alternative to Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup because we had a favorite recipe that called for it. I found a recipe online and modified it to make it gluten-free. This was my first home-made soup, so I was pretty nervous, but it ended up tasting fantastic. We used it as the sauce for a pork and pineapple stir-fry as well as for a chicken and rice casserole.
Golden Mushroom Soup
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup white wine
1 lb mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 Tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp white pepper
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup gluten free beef stock
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
- Heat butter in a large pot and add the onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the onions are soft and just beginning to brown; about 7-8 minutes.
- Add white wine to pot. Add the mushrooms and spices. Slightly lower the heat, cover, and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the soy sauce and stock. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
- In a separate small pan, mix the 1 tbsp butter and corn starch to form a thick paste. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until steamy and slightly thickened.
- Add the milk mixture to the soup; add the lemon juice to the soup. Stir well; serve.
These are the best of the best that I've found so far, but I'll share some others later. It's been fun watching Willow get used to the new requirements of her diet. She has become very conscientious about asking me if things are gluten-free (now if only she'd be so conscientious with her friends). Some of my favorites questions so far have been, "Are those eggs gluten-free?", "Do those apples have gluten in them?" and the one I almost laughed aloud at, "Mommy, is your water gluten-free?"
She has also successfully attended two birthday parties. For those, I've made her some gluten-free brownies and I sent her to each party with one so she could share in the cake. I even frosted them for her.
The rest of us have simply been enjoying experimenting with the new foods. Our twins, especially, have been enthusiastic taste-testers.
On other topics, we recently got all of the girls library cards. They adore books and trips to the library are quite a treat for them. I haven't had a library card since I was in junior high or high school, so it was nice for me as well. It'll allow me to read all those short-stories or graphic novels my favorite authors put out but I don't want to purchase. Kim Harrison's are first on my list. Speaking of Kim Harrison, I just read her newest novel, Pale Demon, and it was amazing. I then went straight to J.R. Ward's newest, Lover Unleashed. I just finished that one tonight and I'm honestly not sure which of the two authors has me clamoring for the next novel the most.
Baby Erik has started walking and boy is he getting good at it. We bought his first pair of shoes recently and let him wander around outside at Jordan Landing for a while. He loved every second of it. He has also learned to say “Hey Budda Boo” which is one of his nicknames.
On the movie front, I recommend RED with Bruce Willis and Hellen Mirren in it. It's a grand romp of an action movie and I actually liked John Malkovich in it. He's not an actor I usually enjoy watching, but he was perfect for this role. It's definitely a fun one for a late night with the honey, after the kids are in bed.
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