2 Tbsp ground flax seed
    6 Tbsp water
    1 tsp Vanilla Extract
    1/2 cup Vermont Sugar Free Maple Flavored Syrup (can use brown rice syrup, treacle, corn syrup or regular maple syrup)
    1/4 cup Canola Oil
    1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
    1- 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
    2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
    2 tsp Xanthan Gum
    1 tsp Baking Powder
    1 tsp Baking Soda
    1 tsp Cinnamon
    1/2 tsp Allspice, ground
    1/2 tsp Cloves, ground
    1/4 tsp Ginger, ground
    1/4 cup powdered sugar + 1 Tbsp water (optional)
    3/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
    1/2 cup Walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease or line muffin cups with paper liners and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Beat Eggs, vanilla, honey, oil, applesauce and pumpkin together until well combined. Set aside. Mix all dry ingredients together. Then, stir in egg mixture; add raisins and nuts. Mix just until blended. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Combine the powdered sugar and water to glaze if desired.

These can be slimmed down even more by increasing the applesauce by 2 Tbsp and reducing the oil by 2 Tbsp.

Makes 12 muffins.

If fruit or nuts are added, recipe will make 24 muffins.

Number of Servings: 12

Nutritional Info

  * Servings Per Recipe: 12
  * Amount Per Serving
  * Calories: 143.2

  * Total Fat: 5.7 g
  * Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  * Sodium: 170.6 mg
  * Total Carbs: 22.9 g
  * Dietary Fiber: 3.7 g
  * Protein: 2.6 g

3pts for those of you who do WW.

Gluten Free All Purpose Pizza Crust
1-½ cups Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
¾ cup Warm Water
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 egg*
2 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons Yeast, Active Dry
1 tablespoon thyme, fresh**
1 tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped**
Combine yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl and let stand about 5 minutes. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add egg and oil to wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients. Mix with a blender for a minute, adding a teaspoon of water if dough moves up beaters. Scoop onto greased pizza sheet. Wet your hands with water and spread dough over sheet and smooth. Cover with favorite sauce and toppings. Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes.

*Eggless Option: Combine 1 Tb Flaxseed Meal + 3 Tb Water. Let stand for 2 minutes, then use as egg.
** I also use dried herbs for this, mostly due to laziness. My usual blend is oregano, thyme, basil and garlic powder.

Beth’s Pancakes
¾ cup Gluten Free Flour blend
¼ cup Potato Starch
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Baking powder
1 tsp Guar gum
1 Tbsp. Flax seed
3 Tbsp. Warm water
1 cup Dari-free Milk (or whatever milk/milk replacement you prefer)
2 Tbsp. oil
2 lemons
sugar
Mix flax seed and 3 Tbsp warm water in a bowl. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, starch, guar gum, baking powder, and sugar into a bowl. Add milk, oil and the flax seed to the dry ingredients.

Heat a non stick pan up. Pour scoops of batter into the pan. Depending on the size of pancake you wish, use a 1/4 cup to a large scoop. Cook til large bubbles form in the dough, then flip. Cook for about a minute more.

Serve with lemon juice and sugar.

I found out you can make a killer sugar free “brown sugar” with Splenda and sugar free maple syrup. It’s really tasty!! Take a cup of splenda and a 1/4 cup of the sugar free maple syrup and blend.

I’ll let you know how it goes.]]> 2007-07-07T03:35:00+00:00 http://www.diosa.co.uk/index.php/foodfan/thanksgiving_part_2/ {summary} Today was the “Rejects Thanksgiving” for those of us who didn’t have family close by. I rolled out a feast previously unknown in my kitchen (sheer size). I brined my turkey for about 12 hours and roasted that, made some apple cranberry stuffing, where the dried cranberries and apples were soaked in port for a couple of hours then added to a breadless mix, made roasted potatoes, smashed potatoes with olive oil and rosemary, cranberry-orange sauce, roasted carrots, roasted brussel sprouts, sauted green beans with onions and lemon, gravy and bread rolls.  Dessert consisted of the gluten free apple pie and caramel sauce with homemade non-dairy (vegan) whipped cream, English Trifle with glutenfree dairyfree sponge cake, gluten free dairy free custard, and fruit.  I used the vegan whipped cream for myself, and had the regular whip for everyone else.  My boss’s wife, brought an Edible Arrngement (chocolate dipped fruit artisically arranged. If you aren’t familiar, look them up!! They are worth every penny.)

Everyone seemed to enjoy immensely.  My boss, who is British, took the leftover trifle home.  That’s pretty high praise I would say. So we’re all cleaned up, leftovers put away, and puggies in the lap.  I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the job I did.

Thanksgiving has always been a food holiday for me.  My mom loved to cook.  She would make this monster turkey and have all the trimmings. There were only four of us in the family, but family and friends always came by.  People loved her cooking at the holidays.  Can you tell I miss that?

I decided this year was the year to try to make my own holiday memories.  I decided to do a romantic meal for Thanksgiving for me and Paul.  All glutenfree, all really tasty.

The menu for tonight was supposed to be this:

Appetiser
Frisee Salad with Warn Bacon Vinaigrette (never got to it sadly, but it is wonderful)
Wine - Pinot Grigio
Main
Roast Duck
Port Wine Demi-glace
Herb roasted potatoes
Apple-Cranberry stuffing (done with cauliflower and sausage)
Homemade bread (glutenfree)
Roasted veggies (didn’t do)
Wine - Zinfendel
Dessert
Apple tart with homemade caramel sauce (glutenfree crust)
Wine - Muscadet

I can’t believe how good it was. I was really happy with it.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had a “normal” meal.  It was fantastic.  Especially the bread and the tart.  They were as good as the gluten counterparts. The tart, even better.  I need to play with the crust a bit more to get a rollable crust (i patted the crust into shape), but man… YUMMY!!!  The homemade caramel was made with dairyfree milk, so it made a nice creamy sauce.  That was as good as anything I could get out of a jar.

That is all

Amuse Bouche: Frisee with crab.  Frisee and celery leaves mixed with olive oil and salt topped with crab meat.
Appetiser:      Prosciutto rolls with Aurgula and Figs.  Dried figs, goat cheese and arugula with marinade rolled in prosciutto. How can this be a bad thing?
Main Course:  Herb crusted Lamb with sauted baby veggies.  I also did a Mushroom Gravy, made from a homemade veal stock.
Salad:          Frisee salad with Warm Bacon Viniagrette
Dessert:        Cava gelatin with raspberries and semi-sweet chocolate chips

It was an ambitious menu, but I pulled it off and if I may, pulled it off well. :D Go me!!  Some days I think I could do this for real.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
Combine cucumbers and juice; toss to coat. Add cucumber mixture, salt, and pepper to strawberry mixture; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
2 eggs
4 Tbsp butter, or 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil

Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch (5mm) thick and cut into 6 portions.  Set aside.

Combine cheese with oregano, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, pepper on a plate.  On another plate or in a shallow bowl, beat the eggs.  dip the chicken into the eggs, then into the cheese mixture, coating both sides evenly.

Melt butter or butter/oil mix in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat (any higher will burn the cheese) and saute for 4-5 minutes per side or until cooked through.

Cook’s note:
This is a higher fat dish due to the cheese.  the one cup is 457 calories, with 257 calories from fat, or 28.6 grams of fat. But bear in mind that this is used over 6 pieces of chicken, so per piece it’d be about 76 calories or about 42 from fat, or about 4.8 grams of fat, at most.  You can do this with cooking spray or minimal oil to lower the calorie/fat counts even more.  The eggs can be replaced with egg replacer for an egg-less version, and if tolerated, you can try a dairyfree version using soy parmesan cheese.  That will also substantially lower fat and calories.