Waffles

When I married Capt'n Awesomepants, he was a proud cereal killer. After a few years I knew I had a problem on my hands and it was time for an intervention. That intervention came in a fluffy, moist, yummy package called 'waffles'. Now, I make a batch of waffles once a week to help the Capt'n keep his desire to kill all the helpless cereals under control.

I have gained a lot of respect for waffles, they have always been the snotty kid sister to pancakes in my eyes. Since the great waffle intervention they have become so much more to me. With a good base recipe for waffles you can go crazy, get creative and make something really yummy. It also helps when you forget to buy extra stuff to make waffles, which I never do.

Banana Nut, Raspberry, Pumpkin, Apple, Zucchini, Chocolate Chip, Carrots etc. Waffles can be very versatile.

Let's start with a good base.

This normally makes 10-12 waffles (depending on your ingrediants), using a waffle maker.

3 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix

1 cup Almond milk

3 eggs

3 Tbsp Oil

1/2 cup Sour Cream

I add a tsp of cinnamon when I use banana, pumpkin, apples or zucchini.

To make Raspberry Waffles (which were a huge hit, there made the whole house smell amazing).

Add 1 cup fresh Raspberries to the base mix, as well as 3 Tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup (100%, no yucky Egg-o junk)

Mix Raspberries, eggs, almond milk, oil and sour cream together until blended well, slowly add the Pamela's mix. Add cinnamon, and a little salt if you like.

Follow your waffle maker's directions as you normally would.

If you make a large batch like this and want to freeze them. Cool the waffles on a wire rack then Layl them out on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer. Once they are frozen move then to a freezer bag and remove the air.

Pretzel Bites

I regret that I didn't eat 'normal' soft pretzels before I found out I need to be gluten free, I don't have a flavor in my memory to rate these off of. Gluten-y memories aside, these were amazing. I made a cinnamon roll dipping sauce and a honey mustard one. The texture was perfect, fluffy, moist, and easy to bite into.

I have attempted soft pretzels before, and things didn't go so hot. The dough won, I was left covered in flour and cursing the day I found the recipe. The wonderful blog I acquired the recipe for these from (Dine & Dish), had a neat idea! Use your bread maker's dough setting. I have had my bread maker for 5 years, my first thought was “Ha! Well that doesn't work, my bread maker doesn't have that setting!” 5 minutes later, I discovered that it does, in fact, have that setting...in bold font...on the front of the machine.

Not being the type of girl to let something like that get me down, or cause me to tell the bread maker it is 'stupid and mean', I followed the recipe with a few tweaks to make it gluten free. Enjoy!

Pretzel Bites

1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)

3 cups Gluten Free Flour (As always, I use Gluten Free Mama Almond Flour)

1 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 quarts water

1/2 cup baking soda

coarse salt

melted butter – for dipping, prior to baking. I used 1/2 a stick.

In bread machine pan, place the first four ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (*grumble*) (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed).

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into eight balls. Roll each into a 20-in. rope; form into pretzel shape. In a saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels into boiling water, two at a time; boil for 10-15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

Place pretzels on greased baking sheets. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt.

Now, for dipping sauce. You can be creative here! Ranch, spicy mayo, honey mustard, or sweet sauces (Like the cinnamon roll sauce).

Cinnamon Roll Dipping Sauce (Because it was just plain awesome sauce. Pun intended)

4 oz of Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar (most icing recipes call for more, but I dislike overly sweet sauces)

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1-3 teaspoons Milk (I used Almond milk, this is only to dilute the mix and take it from a frosting to a sauce)

Mix the cream cheese and sugar before adding cinnamon and milk.

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

These turned out really tasty! maybe too tasty...I swear Hubby and I kept blacking out and eating 4 or 5 without knowing it.

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients
10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups Pamela's Baking Mix (Normally I am a Gluten Free Mama girl but I love Pamela's for muffins!)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease 2 muffin pans.

Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the remaining 10 tablespoons butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love cheesecake! Seriously, I could find a reason to have it for all my meals. Add Pumpkin,a vegetable, and a lot of my guilt magically disappears! Totally healthy. I based my cheesecake off of Paula Deen's recipe.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients
Crust:
1 3/4 cups Mi-Del Gluten Free Animal Crackers (pulsed in the food processor)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.


For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Gruyere Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These were a fun experiment! Garlic mashed potatoes are considered holy food in our house, I wanted to change it up a little and try something fun. I used red potatoes, gruyere cheese, garlic, and a little parsley. The flavors blended really well and the taters turned out divine.

5 yukon gold potatoes
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons + ¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2/3 cup gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons butter

I diced the potatoes before steaming them, while they were finishing cooking I started the garlic sauce. For the sauce I cooked the garlic in a little oil before added it to the heavy cream, once that heated up I added the cheese. Let the sauce simmer til the cheese is completely melted. Blend the potatoes, butter, and ¼ cup heavy cream, then combine the sauce.

Avacado Salsa and Chicken Fajitas

I made this recipe a while back, and it is super yum! The chicken has a really great flavor and texture and the ‘salsa’ is way too good. Seriously, I doubled the recipe and we still ate all of it. It’s simple and tastes wonderfully fresh!
2 avocados diced
8 oz cherry tomatoes halved
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
A dash of lemon juice

Mix and let sit for about 20 minutes before serving
For the chicken I do 2 breasts thinly sliced, pan fried with a little olive oil and white wine. I also add in a sliced red/green bell pepper and an onion. Serve with the tortilla of your choice.

Potato Pizza

Potatoes. Pizza. Two things I love! So naturally, Potato Pizza was a huge hit. This turned out delicious, I may make a cream based sauce next time but it was great as is! My guys loved the garlic potatoes, the loads of cheese. I used a new gluten free crust, Schar brand pizza crusts. They are premade and were great! Good texture, nice flavor, my only complaint is that they run a little small.
This can be scaled for whatever size crust you are using
Yukon potatoes, thinly sliced and sautéed in garlic and olive oil til tender
Red onion, thinly sliced
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh Parsley
Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the crust, follow with the onions, potatoes and cheese. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.