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

Home-made Chicken Nuggets

Chicken Nuggets (home made)

Chicken nuggets... Ohhh, how we love them. We miss them once we cannot have them. This trial run of chicken nuggets was just an easy thing. They tasted fairly good. I am not really a big meat eater, but they are good with ketchup. Point blank: they are good. Better than any gluten free chicken nuggets I have come across, and much cheaper! What I absolutely loved about it was how crunchy it was.

I did a few things different than the recipe.

1. I wanted to cheat during the clean-up process, so I put a sheet of foil on the pan before adding the oil. The oil has a very powerful effect on how the chicken nuggets turned out. We have olive oil, but did not even think about using it... So I used canola, which is fine by me. It worked just as well.. I used their suggestion by using a paper towel to spread the oil.

2. When it pouring the Glutino bread crumbs, I used a quart size freezer bag. I put some bread crumbs in there. Also, pouring in a small amount of paprika and salt. I almost got ambitious and tried adding in a bunch of different spices. Almost... There is always next time.

I only cooked 6 chicken nuggets (1 piece of boneless, skinless chicken thigh). That way, I am not wasting chicken or bread crumbs to try a new dish. It is always a good thing when food lasts.. especially if it is gluten free food, which honestly it is not the cheapest... Only a couple ingredients used.

Ingredients used:
Glutino Bread Crumbs
Piece of boneless skinless chicken
Seasoning (Paprika and Salt)

Okay, a break down of how I did things in the chicken.

1. Heated the oven to about 375
2. Put piece of foil on the baking pan with a little bit of oil--spread through entire pan. (I used a paper towel)
3. Pour good amount of Glutino Bread Crumbs *gluten free* into a ziplock bag, along with seasonings (I used Paprika and Salt) and shook the bag (make sure it's sealed first).
4. "Whisked" two eggs (I used a fork, but accomplished same thing)
5. Cut my chicken thigh into small nugget-sized pieces.
6. Add chicken to eggs, tossing them.
7. After I picked them up, I held them for a second so the extra egg fell off
8. I put them in the seasoning bag...tossed the bag around until they were fully coated.
9. Put them on the pan, and stick it in the oven.
10. Do not forget to get them out. ;)

They cooked for about 20 minutes. I turned them half way through, so each side could get crispy. They were very crispy. Most things gluten free do not get crispy. So, that was exciting! It was not a boring food that I would toss out immediately after the first bite (has happened many times with new chicken recipes). I was able to sit there, eat, and enjoy it. Also, it is a good, quick, cheap meal that does not really require too much work to make.

To make it fructose friendly, try using something other than bbq sauce and/or ketchup. For me, that is the new challenge. The key is finding good, easy, low fructose foods to go with the nuggets. It'd probably be really good with beans and other sides to go with it.

GF Corn Dogs

Gluten Free Corn Dogs.

The purposes of this page is to just share recipes I have come across. It isn't rewriting what I have found. It is sharing different sites with a recipe that I have tried and liked. I am not the best of cook. What worked for me may not work for others... Just wanting a place to share, and talk about newfound cooking experiences as I learn to live with different food restrictions...

Recipe 1: Gluten Free Corn Dogs.

I actually really like this recipe. There are only some very slight difference in terms of what I may have done differently ingredient wise: I added a drop or two more of milk and bisquick~ not much, just slightly. Probably not much of a difference. Adding a little bit of both probably evened things out.

Also: the hot dogs. I cut them in half and cooked them in advance, so they were in the oil for less time. Heating the oil before putting in the "corn dog" works really well. Then, the corn dog isn't soaking up too much of the oil, because the hot dog was already thoroughly cooked..

Ohhh, and a bonus. My batter stretched a lot farther than it says in the recipe. Instead of using one pack of hot dogs, I used nearly two packs. Thankfully, we stock up on hot dogs when they are on sell. The corn dogs taste great. It will really cut down on my frustrations of not knowing *what* to eat. It gives me something else to choose from, so I am not eating the same thing day after day.

Freezing idea:
This came from a different site, but I tried it and really liked it. After a few of them have cooled, I put them on a baking sheet to go in the freezer. This way, they could freeze a bit before I started to bag them (using quart size freezer bags). I ended up with thirty corn dogs after eating a couple... Since they were smaller corn dogs, I was able to stick the freezer bags in the door of my small freezer without worrying about it taking up too much space.

When bagging, I added the date...so I would know when I made them. Also, put the expiration date on bags of corn meal and GF Bisquick. (Note: Best to freeze GF Bisquick... Don't be like me, and almost forget!)

The results!

Best of all: Gluten free/Nut free/ Fructose friendly. Just is not lactose free. Others without nut allergies, feel free to try using Almond milk for the recipe.