Gluten Free Snowball Cookies

Something I realized ON Christmas Day this year was the fact that I hadn't made a single Christmas cookie this holiday season! I think it is the first time ever in my life this has happened. I started thinking how this catastrophe could have happened- was I busy with work? Had I lost interest? Then it hit me- being gluten free! All my Christmas cookies are typically chock-full of good old white flour so it didn't dawn on me to alter my recipes. So, last night I decided to alter a recipe to gluten free status and see how it turned out. (They came out deliciously if I may jump the gun and say so!)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour ( I used bobs red mill)
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup softened butter ( I left mine out of the fridge for about 4-5 hours)
Powdered sugar (1/4-1/2 cup)

How To:

Preheat oven to 325.  Get out your handy-dandy kitchen aid mixer and remove the bowl so you can add in ingredients. Add all ingredients to bowl except powdered sugar. Attached bowl to mixer and beat on low- medium low until well combined, scrap sides of bowl as necessary. Dough should come together into a ball when done.  Once dough is mixed well, form one-inch round balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet one-inch apart. Bake for approximately 18-22 minutes.

Once cookies are cookies, remove from oven. Let cool on sheet for about 5 minutes. Then, sift powdered sugar over the top of them. Roll cookies in powdered sugar. Let cool completely. Once cooled, sprinkle again with powdered sugar. Viola! Complete! The easiest gluten free cookie recipe is complete. Now, dig in. This recipe yields approximately 30-40 cookies. ( I got 39 out of this recipe).

Delicious Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 Cup Cooked and Cooled Quinoa
1/3 Vanilla Almond Milk
4 Eggs
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/4 Cup  Coconut Oil, Melted (Extra Virgin Coconut Oil Organic - 32 fl oz (Google Affiliate Ad)
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter, Melted
1 Cup All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour (Bobs Red Mill 21192 All Purpose Baking Flour Gluten Free (Google Affiliate Ad)
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1 Cup Blueberries (a few extra never hurt!)
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2, 12-count cupcake tins with cooking spray. Then, combine eggs, vanilla and almond milk in a food processor. Add in quinoa, blended until well combined. Finally, add melted coconut oil and butter and blend well.

In a separate bowl (preferably the one connected to your stand mixer), combine gluten free flour, baking powder and salt. Once combined, pour in food processor mixture. Mix on a low setting until well combined. Finally, very carefully fold in blueberries with a spatula. Scoop batter into cupcake tins. (You will probably yield 15-24 muffins depending on how large you make them).

Place in oven and cook for 16-18 minutes. They are done when they slightly bounce back when you poke them. Remove from oven and cook for about 5-10 minutes in the pan, after remove and cool on a wire rack.

They store very well and although I recommend eating as many as possible right away (because they are SO delicious), you should wrap the ones you do not plan to consume within the next 2 days and putting them in the freezer. Definitely take the time to wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap, it makes a difference!


Original recipe from http://groovyfoody.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/moist-and-fluffy-blueberry-muffins-gluten-free/ - I made a couple alterations in my version though.

Swiss Chard With Egg and Cheese

Delicious and even decadent (and gluten free) breakfast below! (However, I may have had it for dinner last night!!)

Recipe for a single serving:

Ingredients:

5 Leaves of Swiss Chard (stems and leaves chopped separately and left in 2 piles)
1/4 Cup Onion, Chopped (approx)
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
1 Tsp. Olive Oil (Academia Barilla 100% Italian Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 750ml.)
1/4 Cup Cheese, Shredded (I used cheddar)
1 Whole Egg
1 Tsp. Butter

How To:

Preheat oven to 350. Rub butter on the inside (sides and bottom) of an individual sized ramekin ( "7-Ounce Stackable Ramekin in Cherry" ) to coat and keep dish from sticking. Next, sautee onions and swiss chard stems in olive oil over medium heat until they start to soften but not brown. Add in garlic then swiss chard leaves. Mix and turn until well combined. Let cook for a few minutes, flipped and mixing ingredients every 30 seconds or so until the swiss chard leaves have cooked down. Then, turn off stove and immediately add (almost all of) the cheese to the vegetable mixture. Stir till combined. Place vegetable and cheese mixture into the buttered ramekin, spread evenly in the dish. Crack the egg on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook in preheated oven for somewhere between 14-20 minutes (depending on how you want your egg yoke done). For example: I cook mine 18-20 minutes because I like my yoke cooked well. Carefully remove from oven and serve immediately right in the ramekin, perhaps with a piece of buttered (gluten free if you are me) toast! Delicious!

Enjoy!!!

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

Recently Rob and I have been trying to broaden the types of fish we eat. Typically we just eat cod but we have trying to add in salmon as of late. I am not a picky eater, in fact, I cannot think of many foods I despise. However, in the past I have steered clear of salmon. I tended to find it too "fishy" tasting. Now I realize, it is all in the type of salmon you buy and how it is prepared. Tonight we had salmon burgers with homemade cilantro mayo, corn on the cob and zucchini (well, I had zucchini, Rob had the guacamole I made earlier today). Below I will tell you how the burgers with cilantro mayo were made.

Ingredients:

Burger-
2 Salmon Burgers (we used frozen from Whole Foods)
2 Slices gluten free bread (or regular bread or bun)
Cooking Spray (Spectrum Naturals 23460 Canola Oil Spray With Butter Flavor)

Cilantro Mayo-
1/3 Cup Mayo (I used light)
1 Cup Cilantro (fresh and chopped, stems & leaves)
1 Clove Garlic (fresh, minced)
2 Tsp. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper (Simply Organic 28644 Organic Black Pepper)

How To Make the Cilantro Mayo:

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap until burgers are ready.

How To Make Burgers:

Remove frozen burgers from freezer. Cook in a skillet on medium heat, cooking 5 minutes on each side.

Assembly:

Spread one (or both!!) sides of the bread with the cilantro mayo, place burger on top and enjoy! You can obviously add other toppings to the burger. I had mine with chopped red onion & a little yellow mustard (in addition to the cilantro mayo), Rob has his with lettuce, red onion & yellow mustard. Whatever tickles your fancy!

As always, leave comments or questions if you have them. Enjoy!!!

The Sabbatical is Over

Okay, so I was not really on sabbatical, just got lazy and sidetracked planning my wedding. Now that the event is over and there is no more crazy planning to do- I intend to start writing my cooking adventures in this blog again! Although I did not actually need to write a post for this, I figured if I did, I would hold myself accountable.

Updates since I last posted (what feels like forever ago)--- I am now gluten free. Imagine that, the girl who loves beer, pizza and dessert can no longer eat wheat/gluten. So, from here on out, all recipes coming from me will be glutenus minimus. (Unless Rob sneaks in a post of course...)