Roasted Chicken Pieces w/ Veggies

4-5 potatoes, cubed
5-6 large carrots, sliced thin
EV Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

4 chicken legs
4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
EV Olive Oil
Lawry's Lemon Pepper
Lawry's Garlic Salt
Salt
Minced (dehydrated) onions

Put cubed potatoes and sliced carrots in a 15 x 10 glass baking dish. Drizzle with EVOO, salt and pepper. Toss. Roast uncovered in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place chicken pieces in a bowl and drizzle with EVOO. Toss to coat. Season, skin side down, with lemon pepper and garlic salt.

After 15 minutes, remove dish of potatoes and carrots from oven. Scoop vegetables aside and place chicken pieces, skin side up, onto surface of baking dish. Season chicken with lemon pepper and salt. Spread vegetables around chicken pieces. Bake for an additional 45 minutes at 425 degrees.

Turn the oven off and allow dish to remain in the oven with the door ajar for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest, uncovered for 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a smaller covered baking dish and toss with dehydrated onions. Place the chicken pieces, skin side down, on top of the vegetables. Allow to rest, covered, for 5 more minutes. Placing the chicken on top of the vegetables, skin-side down, gives the seasoning on the chicken more opportunity to flavor the vegetables, especially if you plan to remove the skin from the chicken before eating. Also, if you have a fat separator, drizzling the fat-free juices from the baking dish over the chicken and vegetables will also add tremendous delicious flavor to the dish.

~ This is still one of my favorite dishes of all time. I have found that it is much easier to use chicken pieces rather than a whole chicken. Live and learn. And, if I only eat one skinless thigh and one skinless leg, I don't go over my fat gram allowance for one meal. ~

New Products We Love

Happy Thanksgiving 2012 Everybody!

I wanted to let you know (if you don't already) about some new products that are on the market now. Udi's® now has pizza (not CF), more bagels, and new flavors of muffins and bread, as well as muffin tops.

Daiya now has cheddar, jack, and havarti wedges in addition to their cheddar, mozzarella and pepper jack shreds. The havarti listed on the website reads "jalapeno garlic" but our local store has plain havarti wedges in stock.

And Hail Merry Macaroons are the best I've ever tasted. (The blondies are my favorite.) Can't wait to try their strawberry and caramel sea salt macaroons next. And yes, they use organic strawberries! Yum.

We hope you are able to find some of these yummy new products in your area. xo

The Best Fried Chicken Ever

Chicken strips
water
salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Mimiccreme, unsweetened
1-2 cups GF flour mix
salt
pepper
garlic salt
safflower oil

Soak chicken pieces in salted water for 5-10 minutes. (You may skip this step but I recommend it.) Drain thoroughly. Add a beaten egg to 1 cup Mimiccreme and stir well. Add in a few chicken strips at a time and let soak while you mix the flour.

Put flour in a shallow dish or pasta plate and add two sprinklings of salt (I didn't measure), one sprinkling of garlic salt (this will not make the chicken garlicky; it will make you say, "Hmmmm. What is that yummy flavor?"), and one sprinkling of pepper. Mix well. Remove chicken from egg and cream mixture and coat chicken in flour on both sides and fry over medium heat until golden brown. Drop those chunks of flour and Mimiccreme that you have on your hands gently into the hot oil too. When they are golden brown and cooled, you won't be disappointed!

By the time I put the last batch of strips into the oil, they were falling apart.


~ This recipe is inspired by a TACA recipe Fried Chicken with Country Cream Gravy and Dr. King's Delicious Fried Chicken Recipe.

I did try to use Mimiccreme to make gravy after all the chicken was done (instead of CF milk or water) and it produced the richest, creamiest gravy ever. Thank you TACA! ~

Healthy Top GFCF Whipping Cream!!

It's here!

CLICK

Flour Mix Update

I am now using Carol Fenster's Sorghum Flour Blend mix exclusively for all recipes that call for flour: Carol's Gluten-Free Flour Blends

I use Sorghum Flour Blend (#3) and I omit the 4th ingredient.

This blend, minus the 4th ingredient, is featured in the Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes cookbook that I purchased in September 2009.

Fabulous Find - EcoFriendly Travel Cup

THIS is my new favorite travel/sippy cup for Miss B. It is also available in dark purple (in the pic - on my computer - it appears to be blue, but it is purple). It's made for runners, but I think it's just about perfect for Miss B. (I put the carabiners in the junk drawer. Ya never know when you might need a carabiner.)

You may have already read that we've gone organic? Well, for us, that also means no more juice boxes. I read recently that some of them have tested positive for lead but the fact that they are lined with aluminum is enough for me. Same thing with broth boxes! So, I went in search of new sippy cups for Miss B since we wouldn't be purchasing the oh-so-convenient juice boxes anymore. (I confess that I am in Juicy Juice Punch withdrawal.)

What I like most about these cups, other than the fact that they are BPA free, 5% of sales of the pink cups go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the fact that they are spill-proof is that the straws are Miss B proof. They are soft! The top portion of the straw is soft and the bottom portion (the portion below the lid) is hard. Twist the top of the cap and the soft portion of the straw folds over and the lid is sealed shut.

Miss B has destroyed so many sippy cup straws. It is unreal. We have so many cups with matching lids, but no tight-fitting straws for them. I don't even want to think about how many of them contained BPA!

Miss B hasn't even tried to chew on these straws. They are kinda short when fully extended, so that may have something to do with it. :) But anyway, I found these cups at Kroger in the seasonal items area. I think they were around $8. The only downside is they are NOT dishwasher safe. I purchased two of them.

Check 'em out if you see them anywhere. If you know someone who is a straw chewer/destroyer, this might be just the thing for them.

You can order these and similar products online Here and Here.

Summer Squash with Vidalia Onions

* Must be prepared in a large non-stick skillet with a lid. Please do not even attempt this recipe in a regular skillet.

2 - 2 1/2 pounds small yellow (summer) squash
1 med./large Vidalia (or sweet) onion, chopped
3 tablespoons GFCF margarine
salt
pepper

Thoroughly wash squash, trim ends, and slice into rounds just under 1/4 inch thick. Place margarine into the middle of a large non-stick skillet. Place squash rounds and chopped onions into the skillet. Generously season with salt and pepper. Cover.

- My stove dial settings range from low, 1 through 9, and high. 5 is medium. 8 is med./high. 2 is med./low. -

With skillet covered, turn heat to just above medium-low (3 on my stove) and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid and turn squash and onions over in sections. Cover, reduce heat to med./low (2 on my stove) and cook for 15 more minutes. Stir.

Now comes the part where you cannot leave the skillet unattended...

Remove lid and turn heat up to just below high (9 on my stove). Gently press squash and onions down to completely cover the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the liquids begin to evaporate and the squash and onions begin to caramelize, for approximately 4-5 minutes. Turn over squash and onions in sections, press down and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat this 2-3 minute process 2-3 more times, reducing heat to Med./high (8 on my stove), turning squash and onions over in sections each time, until the squash and onions reach the desired level of golden brown goodness - caramelization. When the desired color has been reached, remove the skillet from the heat and partially cover the skillet with the lid. (Do not completely cover the skillet with the lid - the squash and onions will dry out and become tasteless.) After 10 minutes, stir completely, being sure to scrape any bits off of the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6-8

~ This is another one of those recipes I tried for years to perfect. I was able to achieve the desired taste almost immediately, but the consistency of the squash and onions was mush. Using this technique, I am able to see portions of the squash rounds and still enjoy the caramelized deliciousness of the squash and onions. I do not recommend using a regular (non-sweet) onion in this recipe as the end result will taste very different. If you don't have a sweet onion, simply prepare the squash according to this recipe, without onions. ~

Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread

Oh my goodness! I learned about this bread a few weeks ago from MaconMom on Twitter and recently I found out that our favorite health food store carries it.

What can I say about this bread without sounding silly and ridiculous?

This bread made me cry happy tears. I just had two small ham sandwiches for the first time in months that didn't make me reconsider sandwiches as a meal option. THIS BREAD is so soft and delicious and not spongy.

Once again, our life regains a little more normalcy. First it was Carol Fenster's recipes, and now it is this bread.

I told the clerk at the store that I would see them in a month (I purchase enough food to last a month because they are quite a distance from us) unless the Udi's bread was as good as everyone said. I told him we'd be back for more if it was (I only purchased two loaves). He laughed and said, "OK then, we'll be seeing you soon."

No doubt.

Udi's Gluten Free Products

Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread

Where to Find Udi's Products in Your Area

I also purchased a package of Udi's Lemon Streusel Muffins. We will try those tomorrow and I will post a review.

This is the best GFCF sandwich bread I have ever had. God Bless Udi and MaconMom and Yvonne's.

Better Than Boullion Organic Bases

Better Than Boullion Organic Chicken Base and Organic Beef Base are so good, so full-bodied, so cooked-all-day-long delicious, I may never go back to GFCF boullion packets again!

Better Than Boullion Try them. :)

I have seen both the chicken and beef base jars at Publix and Kroger, as well as our favorite health food store.

Here is their Frequenty Asked Questions page.

Favorite Thing ~ Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread

Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread is absolutely divine. It has the buttery flavor Fleischmann's unsalted margarine does not have and it is not as concentrated as Ghee. And, unlike Ghee and Fleischmann's, Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread is delicious when spread on your favorite foods - like muffins, or GFCF bread, or biscuits, or waffles.

Review: Carol Fenster's 1,000 GF Recipes

After downloading individual recipes online for weeks and then later searching through the various GF and GFCF cookbooks available, as well as customer reviews, in September I decided to order Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes cookbook.

This book is as thick as a Family Bible and offers step by step instructions for delicious recipes as well as explanations of the hows and whys of GFCF ingredients and cooking.

While the cookbook is GF and not GFCF, Mrs. Fenster offers CF substitution suggestions in almost all of the recipes.

Last night I prepared the pepperoni pizza recipe. It was the first time I had ever tried to make a homemade pizza or pizza crust. It was out of this world delicious. Today I prepared her chicken fried steak with white gravy recipe. I am still in Heaven. Mrs. Fenster has single-handedly restored our household back to the delicious way it was before going GFCF. I feel like I used to when I first discovered how to make delicious Southern delicacies with my Grandmother -- excited about cooking for my family again. And, hold into your hats, I am going to make her white sandwich bread within the next couple of hours. I am not worried. I am not nervous. I believe this will be a success.

So, if you are thinking about buying a GFCF cookbook and you are confused as to which one to purchase, I wholeheartedly recommend Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free recipes. It will make an excellent holiday gift for someone you know who is cooking for a GFCF household, or even for yourself if you are also GFCF.

Favorite Thing ~ Pamela's CC Cookies

Pamela's Products' Gourmet GF Chocolate Chunk Cookies are soooo scrumptious. They are almost too good. I cannot eat just one. Ever!

Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Comfort food at its finest.

INGREDIENTS: Flour Base (Brown Rice Flour, White Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, Xanthan Gum); Organic Chocolate Chunks (Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Paste, Organic Cocoa Butter, Non-GMO Soy Lecithin/emulsifier, Gluten-free Organic Vanilla. Chunks may contain traces of milk protein due to manufacturing equipment.)
; Monounsaturated Safflower Oil;Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar; Eggs; Molasses; Gluten-free Natural Flavor; Non-GMO Soy Lecithin; Rice Syrup and Grape Juice; Sea Salt; Baking Soda; Xanthan Gum.

Homemade Flour Mixes ~ Totally Worth It

Since our family went gluten-free on August 1, I have been using pre-packaged GFCF flour mixes: Bob's Red Mill Baking Mix and Bob's Red Mill Biscuit mix instead of homemade GFCF flour mixes. It wasn't until I tried Pamela's Gourmet GF cookies that I realized the unique (metallic ?) taste in BRM Mixes is so unnecessary. I can only surmise that this unique taste comes from the ground beans they use. I looked at the ingredients list on Pamela's GF cookies and noticed there are no bean flours, but rather combinations that include rice flours instead.

I did more research at TACA and was surprised to see that one of the contributors for the flour mix recipes page thinks rice flours (used in Bette Hagman's Feather Light recipe and Pamela's GF cookies) are gritty.

To me, regular flour seems very "light" so I decided to make a combination of Bette Hagman's Feather Light and the recipe the Taca author preferred - GF Flour Mix II. I omit the almond flour simply because it is so expensive.

Today I made my first from scratch recipe using my combo flour mix and it is just leaps and bounds better than Bob's Red Mill mixes, in my opinion. There is no weird taste or aftertaste and I detected no grittiness at all. I remain grateful to Bob's Red Mill mixes for helping me get started on this GFCF journey, and for also giving me that nudge I needed to actually make a flour mix. For, once I tasted Pamela's cookies, there was just no going back.

I must stress the importance of adding xantham gum to your recipes that call for GFCF flour, unless you want a cake that does not rise. I also noticed that cake recipes, instead of calling for 1 teaspoon of baking powder (for example), call for 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder AND 1/2 tsp. of baking soda.

I will edit the recipes I have posted thusfar to include flour mixes.


*** Update: November 20, 2009 ***

I am now using Carol Fenster's Sorghum Blend Flour Mix recipe exclusively for all recipes that call for flour: Carol's Gluten-Free Flour Blends

I use Sorghum Flour Blend (#3) and I omit the 4th ingredient. This blend, minus the 4th ingredient, is featured in the Carol Fenster's 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes cookbook that I purchased in September.

Favorite Thing ~ Grandma's Dishes

These are two pieces from my beloved Grandmother's dishes. They are not fancy. Her "fancy" dishes were stored in cupboards in the dining room and I never saw her use them. She had no china, no crystal, and no silver that I ever saw. She used these plates every day, and lovingly washed them by hand every day with her Ivory Liquid dish detergent. I never saw her use the sugar bowl, but I think maybe she and Grandaddy did before he passed away, during their very early morning moments with their coffee. I have no idea who manufactured these. There are no marks on them anywhere. To me they are so beautiful. They remind me of my Grandmother and her kitchen and all the profoundly delicious food she made for us. If I concentrate really hard, I can still smell the way her dining room smelled on Sunday afternoons... And, when not in use, no matter the time of day ~ the aroma in her dining room was that of her pound cake. When I get the GFCF version of that recipe perfected, I'll post it.