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Pumpkin Pie and Mexican Casserole

Despite how my stomach feels (blah), I got around to baking some. I made a pumpkin pie, which is one probable reason for why I feel like I do. I planned on having a little bit each day to stretch it out. Well, that didn't work out soo well. I ate the entire pumpkin pie in 3 days (no lecture needed, thank you). Probably the reason. But, it was pretty good. The pumpkin pie didn't solidify like it should of. For the most part, it was fine (structure wise), I ended up just eating it out of the pan when I wanted some. It wouldn't of worked out too well if I had made it and taken it to a fellowship meet though. Pumpkin pie: What would work better for me is if I could freeze some of it. Maybe, I can either retry or find a different recipe. I really liked this recipe, so may just play around with it. I ended up using an egg replacer, so that may have affected how it turned out. Still a good recipe though. Recipe for Pumpkin Pie


Today...Today, I got around to baking when feeling ill. I know it is all the fructose from the pumpkin pie (crust alone, it had fructose... Love Pillsbury's gf pie dough, just not the fructose). Anyway!

Today, I made something I have never made or eaten before. A casserole. My nephew even gave me a weird looking face when I told him what I was making. Ha.... We don't make casseroles. We just haven't...ever. The casserole: It was pretty good. I may use less sugar for the cornbread next time though. Recipe called for 1/2 cup of sugar. I didn't use cheese to make it dairy free. I would even want to touch it if it had cheese on it. I want to make it more fructose friendly though. I mean, half a cup of sugar plus corn. A little much considering corn is sweet. But, the casserole actually wasn't bad. It'd be good for a quick meal. It was even easy to fix. <3 Just want to make it more fructose friendly. Corn Bread Recipe     Casserole Recipe.

Homemade Breaded Chicken

Homemade Breaded Chicken

Prep: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serving: 1

Adapted from The Nourishing Cook.
The recipe is taken from site above. I only adapted it to make it easier to use for a single serving. Saving ingredients and time, while enjoying good food.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of bread crumbs (Glutino)
3 tablespoons of flour (GF All Purpose Flour)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 serving of Egg Replacer (or 1 egg if not egg-free)

Step by Step Process:

• Mix flour and seasoning (salt and pepper) on a paper plate
  
• Put breadcrumbs on separate paper plate
  
• Mix egg replacer in bowl, and put on paper plate (if large bowl, leave it as is)
• Coat chicken in flour/seasoning mix
• Coat in egg replacer (or an egg)
• Coat in breadcrumbs
  Be sure to cover each part of the chicken, so it is fully breaded.
  
• Put piece of chicken in small skillet with some oil added. Cook for 7 minutes per side.
• Place chicken on a plate and allow it to cool before serving

Large Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before:
Cookies as they are going into freezer.

After:
Broken into pieces with my hands.
Picture is after they have been frozen, cooked,
cooled, and put away.

Large Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Adapted from Karrie at Happy Money Saver

I tend to cut recipes into half or even a quarter. I like to save flour whenever possible. Typically, I am the one eating the gluten free goodies. This one is easily egg and dairy free. I have discovered an easier way to find dessert recipes is to search for vegan ones. This one is not specifically labelled vegan, but it is what it is--with my adaptation anyway.

Here are the way I did the ingredients when making the cookies (to make 1/4 of a batch):

1/2 C butter
8 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp brown sugar
.75 egg (1 Egg Replacer)
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1.5 cup flour
little over 1/4 tsp salt
little over 1/4 tsp soda
1 C chocolate chips

Using the instructions given in the link above.

The goal originally was to freeze the cookies. So, I put them on a baking sheet to freeze. Once in the freezer, I left them in there for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Then when I got them out and realized that it would be impossible to actually freeze them. They were supposed to roll into a ball-like shape, but instead they were runny. So, I couldn't seperate them from the paper: meaning- they were going in the oven.

Obviously, I made some mistakes along the way. . . . .
BUT, it was a blessing in disguise.

They turned out really crunchy and good.
I even shared!
Weird: In the oven, they all ran over onto another cookie-- so resembled a pan of a big cookie (cookie sheet, even). **Update** Turned out  same way when I retried the recipe (making a full batch) also, assuming it is because of the egg replacer or possibly using non-dairy butter.

Chocolate Cake Bite

New Recipe... Just something for me. It was too time consuming, but can be adjusted as I change how much I make or using a cake mix from scratch...

See how smooth and round they are.
Never underestimate a good appliance
and nonstick cooking spray. =]

I used my Baby Cakes Cake Pop appliance. I like it. It goes faster that way, or it should. It took a lot longer to make these cake bites than it would have been to make cupcakes. It would of taken much longer to use a mini-muffin pan. I am figuring it probably took 1.5 hours, easy. When you don't have energy, that is outrageous and costs more than many can imagine. My body is very sad right now, because of that great cost.

Case in point why next time I will only make a small fraction of how much I made today. They were good though. I am letting them cool, then will freeze them in a gallon size bag, and eat them slowly over next few months. A box of cake mix can make me about 24-32 smaller cupcakes, and last a few months. Making cake bites means a lot more to eat, just bite size. But also why it took so long to make them.

I have been having to be reminded of using non-stick cooking spray. I resprayed every batch or two to keep it from sticking. For the first batch, I forgot to spray the wells..things went much more smoothly as I remembered to spray it, lol.

I used Betty Crocker's gluten free chocolate cake mix and followed the directions pretty much. The only difference in preparation was using nondairy butter AND an egg replacer. I wasn't sure how well it would work considering it was a recipe calling for three eggs, but it turned out pretty well.

Because I like fast: I used the Cake Pops appliance. Each batch took maybe 3 minutes. It may have overheated. Not sure... It worked fine though. The cake bites in the picture aren't glazed or anything, just the regular cake bites.

I did try out a glaze for a couple of the cake bites. It was really simple. Some powdered sugar (1/2 teaspoon) mixed in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon of original rice milk. Then, I rolled the cake bites in the glaze mixture. It isn't enough of a glaze mixture to leave it looking different than a regular plain cake bite.

This was my first attempt at trying something more resembling a doughnut. It isn't a doughnut, but it's a start. :)

Single-Serving Rice Krispies Treat

Rice Krispies Treat.
In under 2 minutes.
Umm....YES!!

Single-Serving Rice Krispies Treat Recipe

I had found a rice krispies in a cup recipe, but I didn't have my phone when I decided to make it on the spot. So, I just used what I had: my ingredients, knowing something needed to be melted, etc..It isn't a perfect recipe, but I think it is a work in progress. It was a yummy treat that I enjoyed, which basically is what I look for in a recipe. Food goodness found inside a cute mug.

Materials:
Favorite mug (I used my Fresno Pacific University one)
GF Rice Krispies (3/4 cup..23 grams is what I used)
Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow (2 nice, fluffy, big pieces)
Butter  (2 tablespoons: I used Smart Balance-Extra Virgin Olive Oil light)

1. Grab mug
2. Put 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 marshmallows in your mug
3. Place it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. (more like 40 seconds is what I used)
4. Open pack of GF Rice Krispies.

Okay, can I be honest? I used a little single serving container of Rice Krispies that I found at the dollar store. And, it was incredibly quick. I just threw it in my mug. I didn't have to measure it out or anything. It was beautiful, and only 20 cents for a single serving container. It is love at first sight...

*ehem* anyway, back to the recipe. You want to mix in the 3/4 cup of rice krispies into the mug, and stir. You could possibly add more in if you wanted--given how much room is left in yours. I opted to not mess with it. More still could of been added.

5. Lastly I push down on the spoon, so it could come together in a cubed-like shape. Then left it sitting (not before taking a few small bites of it). Mine didn't shape or stick together particularly well, but I prefer taste to shape any day.

Enjoy!

Next time, I might play around with the recipe... Maybe either add more cereal; Add in chocolate chips; try using less butter. Possibilities for Rice Krispes Treats. are. endless.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

I didn't exactly roll some of these into a ball.
They are flatter than the other batch.

I was on a mission earlier for egg-less chocolate chip cookies. I just knew I wanted cookies. I am beginning to explore the whole "removing egg" from my diet due to possible allergy, so that kept me from consuming my Pillsbury cookie dough that is sitting idly in the fridge.

Thankfully, many have walked this road before me. It has been well traveled by many. They have experimented greatly. What do I have to gain? Good chocolate chip recipe minus the egg(s)! You gotta try it! <3 It's pretty good. In mine, I used less brown sugar (just a little bit less.. 1/3 versus 1/2) and used more chocolate chips. It wasn't planned out or anything. It just happened.

I accidentally began to burn the first batch, but the amazing thing: they still taste good. This is what I am looking for: good chocolate chip cookies where the chocolate chips literally melt and make a beautiful display of a good treat.  I probably haven't made any fresh cookies in a while. If I sound deprived, that is probably why.

The recipe: Egg-less Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Go try it!!

As opposed to past batches of cookies I have made, these were full size cookies ;). Mine are safely tucked away in a bowl. Ideally, I would wait until they have cooled to put them away. A sneaky 3 year old with gluten hands stopped that. So, they can just stick together--not like it matters. I am the only one getting into the cookies. :)

What I might change: use less chocolate chips. There were way too many. I need to settle on a specific amount to use. The recipe didn't give a certain amount. Guess I thought there was more dough than there actually was. Then my chocolate chips have been affected by the heat, so some of it just looks like a melted Hershey's candy bar. Also with some adapting, I can make the cookies into a fructose friendly cookie. IE) using dextrose versus cane sugar to help with the brown sugar.