Owl Spotting

Walking up the driveway with Ehric I happened to look up into a tree and spotted a Barred Owl. The tree is located right near our chicken coop so I think the owl was on the lookout for dinner. When I spotted it I immediately pointed it out to Ehric, and then ran in the house and grabbed my camera. I was able to snap this picture of the owl looking at us. I have seen owls close up at the local wild life park but never in my own backyard before. I am so excited!! Next time I see it I will be sure to call out "Who Cooks for you? Who Cooks for you all?" Maybe it will hoot back.

GF Waffles

Aiden said he wanted Maple Syrup for dinner. I said, "Would you like to dip something into the Maple Syrup?" We worked out a compromise...Waffles! Then I looked in the fridge and realized we didn't have any eggs! I decided to look online for some ideas and also looked over my usual recipe. I decide to take a stab at making up my own gluten free waffles (without eggs) with what I had one hand. I am happy to report that they came out great!

Gluten Free Waffles

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1.5 tsp Sucanat w/some Cinnamon mixed in

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup applesauce

1 cup Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Milk

1 tblsp Canola Oil

Preheat waffle maker. Combine dry ingredients. Then add wet ingredients. Whisk or stir to form a batter. Spray waffle maker with cooking spray. Add batter and cook until no longer steaming.

Note: Be diligent about spraying between batches. I found that these stuck easily when I forgot to spray.

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

The boys asked if I could make Chocolate Chip cookies today. I decided to try this Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe but I made a few changes:

In place of the Gluten Flour mix I used 2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour; and for the chocolate I used 2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. I added to the recipe 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp Almond Extract and 1 tsp cider vinegar.

Since the boys were impatient for cookies I made a small batch up first without refrigerating the dough first. The cookies took a little longer to cook than the original recipe said, but they still came out great. I have the rest of the dough setting up in the fridge for later.

The boys and I really liked these cookies. If you like your Chocolate Chip Cookies hard vs soft you will really like these! I can't tell that these are Gluten Free. I love that!

Ehric asked, "Can you make these again sometime?" Both boys enjoyed their cookies with some farm fresh milk (pictured above is Aiden). I guess these passed muster!

GF Crepes

This morning I was in the mood for crepes. I decided to forgo my usual recipe and make some gluten free ones; since I am experimenting with Gluten Free recipes lately. I found a recipe from Gluten Free Mom and let me just say these were really good! I have been eating crepes since I was a little girl and I thought these tasted and looked just like my regular crepes. Ehric had at least 3 or 4 of them, and when I asked how they were he said, "Amazing as always!" That just melted my heart! I will definitely make these again!

Notes: For the milk I used Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Milk and for the flour I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour. I cooked my crepes in my cast iron crepe pan. This batch made 12 crepes.

GF Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie but don't eat it very often because it is a little time consuming to make the traditional way (with a full pie crust). I found this recipe the other day for a Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie that looked really easy to make and only has a top crust. So yesterday, I cooked up some chicken and today I made my version of the recipe since I didn't have some of the ingredients in the original recipe. I've included my notes and prep instructions below.

This recipe was not as quick to make as I hoped, but it was worth the time to make. I enjoyed the filling tremendously and the topping was kind of like corn bread. I would make this dish again. It was so good on this cold Winter day!

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

**Precook 1 lb of Chicken ahead of time.

For the Chicken-Vegetable Filling

First I prepped my vegetables.

2 cups of Broccoli florets (chopped)

25 Baby Carrots (thinly sliced)

1 small yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

In a Dutch Oven I added 2 tblsp of Olive Oil and cooked the onions over medium heat until they were soft. Then I poured the onions into a bowl.

I combined the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisked well:

2 tblsp rice flour, 1/2 tsp dried mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

In the Dutch oven I add 2-3 tblsp of Olive Oil then poured in the dry ingredients. I cooked the mixture over medium heat for a few minutes.

I slowly added a 14.5 oz can of Chicken stock to the dutch oven and whisked well. Once the mixture was boiling I added in dried basil (a few shakes) and my prepped vegetables. I turned the heat down to low and cooked the ingredients covered for 12 minutes.

While the mixture was cooking I shredded my 1 lb of previously cooked of chicken. Since I didn't have sour cream I whipped up some cream (from our raw milk) with some lemon juice. I made about 3 tblsp of sour cream. I also preheated my oven to 425 degrees.

When the vegetables were done cooking I turned off the stove top. I added the chicken and sour cream to the dutch oven and stirred up the ingredients. Then I poured the vegetable mixture into a 9 x 13.

For the topping

In a small bowl I combined :

1/2 cup of cornmeal, 1/4 cup rice flour plus 2 tblsp, 2 tblsp tapioca flour, 3/4 tsp xanthan gum,

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt,

In another small bowl I combined:

1 tblsp honey, 3/4 cup raw milk, 2 tblsp olive oil

Then I combined the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I poured the batter onto the Chicken -Vegetable Mixture in the 9 X 13 and then carefully spread the mixture across the top.

I baked the dish for 30 minutes. Then let it cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Serves about 6.

Notes: I accidentally set my temp to 450* so my topping was a little darker than it should have been. Oops! So I pulled my Pot Pie out of the oven about five minutes sooner. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Since both boys are home today due to the snow I decided to bake a special treat this afternoon. I made Black Bottom Cupcakes*. Wow, I think I died and went to chocolate heaven! These are so rich and delicious; and I love that they have a cream cheese topping. The boys and I enjoyed these with a glass of milk.

*Note: In place of the sorghum, tapioca and rice flour I used 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour. I also ran out of Baking cocoa so I used an 1/8 cup of hot cocoa mix. LOL! I cooked my cupcakes a little longer than I should have because I couldn't tell if they were cooked through since they are super chocolately. But they tasted awesome in my opinion! Once they cool I plan on putting a few in the freezer for another day.

Happy Groundhog Day!

I don't know what it is about Tuesdays and Wednesdays being the "official" snow days but that is the reality the past few storms. Since we didn't have to worry about our school routine this morning we all slept in a little later than usual. Well I at least layed down in bed later than usual. I am hopeful that we won't have too many more storms in our future since Punxsatawney Phil didn't see his shadow today. Supposedly we will have an early spring!

Lately, I have been running across a lot of Raw recipes and Gluten Free recipes. I've bookmarked a few that I want to try and have purchased a few pantry items so I can try my hand at them. This morning was the perfect opportunity to try Gluten Free Pancakes. I found a recipe and then tweaked it a bit to use what I had on hand. They tasted just like regular buttermilk pancakes to me, and the boys were oblivious to the fact they were not our usual mix and ate up a bunch. Here is the recipe I made:

Gluten Free Pancakes

Makes 20 4" Pancakes

1 1/3 + 3 tblsp Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Powder

4 tblsp Dry Buttermilk Powder

1 tblsp Organic Sucanat and Cinnamon Mixed

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum

2 eggs

3 tblsp Canola Oil

2 Cups of Water

Combine Dry Ingredients, then add Wet Ingredients. Stir to get rid of lumps. Cook on a hot griddle on medium heat. Flip when the first side bubbles.

Note: This recipe makes a lot of batter. It is also a thick batter. Next time I am going to halve the recipe.

Ehric and Aiden happily enjoying Gluten Free Pancakes!