GF Yellow Cake

Here is the cake recipe that I tried the other day.  We thought it turned out great!

1 1/2 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t xanthan gum
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
2 t vanilla extract (make sure it's GF)

Preheat oven to 350
Mix flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and xanthan gum, then set aside.
Mix eggs, sugar and mayo until fluffy.
Add flour mixture, milk, and vanilla, mix well.
Bake for 25 minutes.

A few tips I've learned:
*mix batter for 10-12 minutes
*mix milk and rice flour first, set aside while preparing other ingredients
*add a bowl of water to oven to help with moisture

For chocolate cake, add 1/3 cup more sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa powder.

GF Biscuits

YUMMY!!!  I actually prefer these to some of the regular biscuits I've made in the past.  Here ya go!

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t xanthan gum
1 1/4 t kosher salt
4 T butter
1 egg white
3/4 cup buttermilk

preheat oven to 450

combine flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt, and sift.

add small pieces of butter, mix with 2 forks until it looks like peas.

froth egg white

pour egg white and buttermilk into flour mixture

slowly mix together, do not over work, then finish with your hands.

drop small balls onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Gluten Free Pancakes

These pancakes taste just as good as regular pancakes, but we're still trying to figure out a consistency we love.  This most recent blend of flours seemed to be good, although a little dry.  I think we'll use this one again though.  Everyone ate and enjoyed these, kids didn't know the difference (although, the youngest hasn't had anything other than this, lol)

1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
4 T buttermilk
1 t sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t xanthan gum
2 eggs
3 T canola oil

We also add chocolate chips to some of them because we love chocolate!  Enjoy :)

PF Chang's recipe

Due to my youngest baby's reflux, my family (the M family) has decided to try a gluten free diet.  My husband comes from a family full of gluten intolerance.  His dad has Celiac's disease and the rest of them have tested positive for the intolerance.  He refuses to get tested, but feels fine regardless.  All that to say that there's a good chance my kids have issues with gluten.  My first had terrible reflux too, but the doctors insisted it couldn't possibly be from the wheat.  Turns out they're wrong.  A lot of kids react to gluten the way mine do.  They haven't been tested, but we're cutting gluten out anyway!  This recipe was handed down to me by my wonderful mother-in-law, and I have to say, I was skeptical.  Gluten free just sounds terrible to me.  BUT, this dish was A-Mazing! 

2 t veg. oil
1/2 t minced ginger
1 T chopped garlic
1/2 c soy sauce (if you're going gluten free, make sure you read the labels!  Some soy sauces have gluten)
1/2 c water
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c veg. oil
1 lb flank steak
1/2 c cornstarch
2 large green onions (which we left out because I forgot to buy them)

1. Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of oil in medium saucepan over med/low heat.

Don't get the oil too hot or you'll get spatter when adding the other liquids.

Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.

Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Remove it from heat.

2. Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch thick bite-size slices.

Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

3. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch and apply a thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.

Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

4. As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (or skillet).

Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.

Add the beef to the oil and saute for 2 minutes or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.

You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef will go back on the heat later.

Stir the meat around a little so it cooks evenly.

After a couple of minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and place it on paper towels.

Then pour the oil out of the wok.

Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.

Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.

Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

You can also substitute chicken for the beef, if you prefer it.

Garlic Butter Steak

Ok, folks, I'm a fan of steak, though I'm still trying to find the secret to picking the perfect cut (when you figure it out, let me know!) I'm also a fan of garlic! So this terribly simple recipe is wonderful.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 pounds beef top sirloin steaks
• salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:

1. Grill steaks like normal (for me, that's on the George Foreman Grill. Especially in the winter!)
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat with garlic powder and minced garlic (Fresh is always best!).
3. Pour delicious garlic butter over delicious steak. Let sit for a few minutes.
4. Enjoy!

Hamburger Heaven

I made this for the first time last week and we really enjoyed it.  A few things that I did differently were (1) I used less meat, (2) I left out the mushroom soup because we don't like it and the cheese because I'm nursing a lactose intolerant baby, and (3) because I used less meat, I used less of everything else too (except the cream of celery soup, because I wanted it to make up for the cream of mushroom).

Ingredients:
2 lbs hamburger
1 sm onion, sliced (I chopped into tiny pieces)
1 can mushroom soup
1 can celery soup
1/4 c milk
1 bag frozen peas
cheese, shredded
tater tots

Brown meat and onion.  Drain.  Place in casserole dish.  Mix the two soups with the milk and spread over meat mixture.  Cover with peas.  Top with cheese.  As a final layer add Tater Tots.  Bake in 350* oven for 1 hour.

First of all, please note that I copied this word for word, comma for comma, from a cook book my grandma's group of friends put together.  I take no credit for the way it's written (in fact, it bothers me).  Now that I've made that disclaimer, I feel better :)  Anyway, back to the meal.  Everyone, even the picky toddler, loved this.  My hubby ate seconds... and thirds... and leftovers!  That says a LOT!

We did not have any sides with this meal because the peas are already in it.  Same with the Tater Tots.  I figured it didn't need anything else.

J gave this meal an 8
I give it an 8.5

Yum Yum!

Once again, I will add the picture when I get it uploaded to the computer... hopefully later today!

Garlic and Herb Pork

My sister actually found this recipe, but since she hasn't posted it yet, I'm going to :)  She found it on Allrecipes.com.  My sister and I have both cooked this pork many times and we each had the same problem...it takes MUCH longer to cook that this recipe calls for.  We generally cook it for an hour, or until it's 160 (this recipe says 150, but I like my meat well done)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless center-cut pork loin
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Pat pork dry with paper towels, place in shallow roasting pan. In small bowl, stir together garlic, salt, sage, rosemary, pepper and olive oil to make a paste. Rub garlic paste over all surfaces of pork loin; place in oven, roast for 15 minutes.
2. Turn oven temperature down to 300 degrees F., roast for 15-20 minutes, take internal temperature using an instant-read thermometer. When internal temperature of roast is 150 degrees F., remove from oven, tent loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

I would rate this meal an 8, maybe even 8.5.  The little guy eats it without any fight...usually.  Although, we do have to scrape off all of the seasoning.  My sister recommended Green Beans with this meal, and we like to add the garlic potatoes found in the Steam Fresh bags.  The picture added is of my gorgeous sister making this pork for the very first time a few months ago.