Scones.

I've been craving biscuits lately, and so I searched and searched for a recipe that wasn't such a hassle. I didn't want to have to make the dough, wait an hour, let it do it's thing for another hour. etc you know what I'm talking about.

Alas I found a Scone recipe fitting my criteria and I thought what the heck. Let me tell you something, these things tasted like BISCUITS! So good that I made them about a half hour ago and I have to write this blog immediately and divulge all the delicious details.

I strayed from the recipe a bit due to not having enough of the ingredients, so bear with me on this one.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. Rice Flour (I fell short and only had 1 3/4 c., so I hesitantly added Bob's Red Mill Baking mix to compensate for the rice flour shortage.)
1/2 c Tapioca Flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp xanthan gum
4 tbsp super fine sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick butter (I softened this with my hands, not the microwave. I think that works better, so you have not an ounce of melted butter in there)
3/4 c raisins (I used dried raspberries, a bit expensive, but oh so delicious.)
2 eggs
1/2 - 3/4 c plain yogurt (I used FF plain yogurt we had in the fridge and had a little less than 3/4 c. I also added a spoonful of sour cream to up the fat content and add moisture when mixing the dough together.)
Egg wash

Preheat the oven to 475F

Get a pan ready with a piece of Parchment Paper on top of it, so your scones won't stick to the pan while baking. Take out a board to roll the dough out on and dust it with Rice Flour.

Take all dry ingredients and sift them together in a large bowl. Then take your softened butter and gently incorporate it into the dry ingredients. You won't have enough moisture yet to get a ball together so don't fret. Add your raspberries at this point also.

In a small bowl whisk together your yogurt and eggs. Create a well in the dry mixture and pour the egg and yogurt into the center. Mix all the ingredients and form a ball. At this point I added the sour cream and it helped create the ball.

Take the dough and bring it over to your dusted board and roll out to about an inch in thickness and just cut away. Place the scones on the baking pan and put a little egg wash on top. Bake for 10 minutes. And you've got scones!

These are your scones prior to being baked, so you can get an idea of how the start off.



And here's the finished product:

Cooking with Eggplant

I LOVE EGGPLANT!

This past Sunday I cooked dinner for my family and brought back an old favorite of mine Eggplant Parmesan. Best part is no breadcrumbs, no frying. Let me tell you how I cook one of my favorite meals!

Depending on how many people I cook for, I buy between two or three pretty big eggplants. I was cooking for four, so for this recipe I bought 3. I enjoy leftovers. The recipe yielded 8 servings.

You will need:
3 eggplants
EVOO
Salt and Pepper
Jar of Tomato Sauce, I used a Tomato Basil
- While looking for sauces I noticed the Il Classico labels whether it's sauces are gluten free, so I prefer to buy theirs.
Pint of Ricotta Cheese
- Buyer beware, some ricotta cheeses aren't gluten free, I had trouble figuring out what brands are gluten free and what are not. I used Frigo Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese and was fine, so I recommend it.
1 egg
1/2 c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Sargento gives a list on it's website of cheeses that are gluten free. For this recipe I used Sargento shredded Mozzarella and Provolone.

I take the eggplants and wash the outside. Then cut them into 1/4 to 1/2 slices, width wise. So they are thick circles. After I cut them, I soak them in cold water for about a half hour, up to an hours length of time. I then take the eggplant and pat each slice dry and place them onto baking sheets. Be sure to preheat the oven to the broil setting at this point. NOTE: Never put gluten free food on the same cooking sheet you use to bake non-gluten free items such as cookies. I always cover my baking sheets with Reynolds Wrap, so I know I will not have any chance of cross-contamination. And this way I don't need to buy separate baking pan, because that can get expensive. I pour EVOO onto the baking sheet and use a pastry brush (gluten free one) and spread it along the surface, this is to maker sure that the eggplant does not stick. I place the eggplant on the baking sheet and put some more EVOO on top of the eggplant and then sprinkle salt and pepper. I place the sheets in the oven under the broiler and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Depending on the sheets location in the oven it may take longer for the eggplant to cook. You want the eggplant to shrink in size and be almost black on top. When you go to touch the eggplant it should feel mushy, if it's still hard, it's not done.

Let the eggplant sit out and cool. While it's cooling, or while the eggplant is cooking in the oven you can get your ricotta mixture ready. Take about 1/2 c to 1 c of ricotta and put it in a small bowl. Crack and egg and mix together. Add about 2 Tbsp of Oregano and mix. Put to the side until you're ready to use.

Your eggplant is cooled, and now you are ready to rock and roll! Preheat the oven to 350. Get a baking dish and use EVOO to coat the bottom ( this is so nothing sticks, use as much as you'd like, I try to not use a lot.) Lay down your first layer of eggplant, it's okay if there are spaces between them, in the end no one will notice. Take a spoonful of sauce and put it on top of each eggplant slice. Then put your ricotta mixture on top of that. I use the pastry brush to combine the two and spread it evenly across the surface. Now take less then a handful of cheese and spread it. Note: If you use a higher fat content ricotta and shredded cheese, you won't need a whole lot. The flavor is enough with just a little bit of each. Repeat the layering steps: Eggplant, Sauce, Ricotta, and Cheese. Put aluminum foil on the top of the dish and put it in the oven for 15-25 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Corn Chowder!

Okay, so I've been craving this corn chowder for a while. My friend Genevieve made this soup a couple of years ago when I wasn't gluten free and it's one of those meals that linger on your tongue long after the meals over. So I contacted her to get the recipe and try it gluten free! To my joy, the soup was already gluten free, so I didn't have to do anything to change the ingredients. Isn't that the BEST!

















It's real simple and it is as follows:
Chop one med onion, start to sautee in olive oil.
Add chopped ham and diced red potatoes. Let that brown with the onions.
Keep stirring so it doesn't stick. You can also add a little chopped red bell pepper if you want to ( sweetens it a little bit).
Cover with water- enough to just cover the onions, ham and potatoes. Let it simmer and add two-three chicken boullion cubes OR you can add chicken broth instead of water and boullion cubes. Just depends on how much flavor you want.
Let that simmer until the potatoes are soft and cooked.
Then add one can of cream-style corn, one can regular corn and one can evaporated milk.
Let it simmer a little more, then you're ready to serve!!!
Season it with Tony Cacheries, garlic salt pepper and paprika- use whatever you like.

Grocery List:
Medium Onion
Olive Oil
1 cup Diced Ham
4 small Red Potatoes
1 small Red Bell Pepper (optional)
3 Bouillion cubes or Chicken Stock
1 can Cream-style Corn
1 can Regular Corn
1 can Evaporated Milk
Season to taste

Review: DELICIOUS. My family said it was better than restaurant corn chowder. Just have fun with the recipe, don't take it too seriously. Cook as long as you want. If you cook with love you'll be able to taste it!

Gluten free tip: Make sure your chicken stock and bouillion cubes are gluten free. I used Rachel Rays' Chicken Stock because I knew it was gluten free. Also when buying the canned corn check beforehand which companies will guarantee you a gluten free corn. If a label says modified food starch, but doesn't say what kind I DON'T BUY IT. Unless I know for a fact it is gluten free. Walmart is excellent for labeling all their gluten free products gluten free. So if it's Great Value Brand and it doesn't say gluten free, I don't buy it.

FIRST POST!

My name is Erica and I've been gluten free for one whole year!! Time has just flown by. I hope that I can help others with the transition to a gluten free lifestyle. It's a hard transition, but once you step forward, you'll never want to take a step back.

Gluten is a protein found in rye, barley, and wheat. It is also found in sooo many other things, but those are your basics you should really avoid. Walk away! If you're reading this and trying to figure out whether gluten free is right for you or not, I'd like to let you know how much I've changed in the past year.

A year ago I decided to go gluten free because I got real ill. I was experiencing the most intense acid reflux and indigestion. ANYTHING I ate made me sick. It was extremely frustrating. Food would go down and then come back up. Sorry to be graphic. My best friend had been gluten free for half a year and feeling amazing, so I gave it a try.

At first it felt like it wasn't working. There was no difference in my symptoms, but I started to lose a little weight, and who is going to object to that!? So I decided to continue. Now I am year into this, not only is my acid reflux gone, but I feel like a new person. I feel so happy, I'm not tired anymore, my anxiety has decreased dramatically, and lastly my body feels amazing. I feel like I was bloated my whole life and just didn't know it! So a year later I am 25 pounds thinner and loving my life.

I am hoping to use this blog to help others, and provide recipes I have tweaked to be gluten free. My goal is to have gluten containing recipes, and remake them to be gluten free. I will tweak until you can't tell there's not an ounce of gluten.

Please join me on my journey!
Do not hesitate to ask any questions!