Bird is the Word

Homeschooling Autism week 2 & Scholastic Photo Calendar

2011-09-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings all! I'm here to report on how the first couple weeks of Homeschooling has gone for our sweet little one on the Autism Spectrum. I would like to share with you the challenges that i've seen so far and what I've done to try to remedy them to make this learning experience the best I can for my child with special needs. My little one, being on the moderate/severe end of the Spectrum, has days filled with quite a bit of hand flapping and stimulatory behaviors so as you could imagine keeping her interest can be at times, daunting lol. She is very shy and easy to scare away from projects due to what appears to be worry of failure. So since I am lucky and she responds really well to praise, I try to provide plenty of it :). She also has many issues in the area of fine motor skills and wanting for repetitive actions/self stimulatory behavior. As you could imagine, much of what we do in preschool is involving development of age appropriate fine motor skills and ability to follow a set of directions or steps. So these are a few of the things that I've found to help her in these areas:

1. Fine Motor Skills: Here are a few items that I've found that are really helpful in development of this area. I have found that the ABA therapy approach to teaching my child to be the most beneficial. I don't do the regimented ABA approach, but more implementing the idea behind it. I give her full prompts (ie. holding her hands and doing it literally for her) and slowly remove these prompts over time based on her confidence with the activity. It takes a LOT of time and patience, but it does come and she is so proud when it does! Many children on the Autism Spectrum have Sensory Processing Disorder as do both of my children so this is also something to take into account when jumping into activities. I recommend the book "Raising A Sensory Smart Child", it has been one of my favorites on the subject.

Resources:

-Playdoh-helps with tactile sensitivity and strengthens little fingers and hands.

-little markers-my child seem to have a hard time using crayons, perhaps due to the extra pressure they take to make a "mark" and have found that she enjoys markers and even with her light touch she can still make significant marks.

-Dot a Dot markers- LOVE these and she does too, it gets them used to holding a marker and even with low fine motor skills many children can use them with success.

-Finger Paints-this is a great one for both fine motor and sensory

Activities:

-cut and paste pictures: ok many of the first pictures you do are gonna be kinda crazy looking but they are truly beneficial. I of course cut out objects, generally centered around what we are doing and have her (with glue stick) glue the back and paste it on paper. She smiles so big and feels so accomplished when she creates her Art :).

-Dot a Dot coloring pages

-stickers on paper: simple activity but it does help them to use they're little fingers. Her Grammy buys her packs of stickers and we just make pictures by getting out a piece of paper and going to town!

2. Repetitive Action and Self Stimulatory Behavior: So those of you fluent in Autism are well aware of repetitive actions and "stims". I find with my child when she is stressed and/or over stimulated, frustrated, etc. she tends to go into high gear with her self stimulatory behavior. When I sense this is going on or see it, I find stopping the activity, followed up with a fun reinforcer to help get her back on track.

Our Favorites:

-Sing "If you're happy and you know it"

-Blow Bubbles

-snacks

-Sing "ABC song"

As far as repetitive action goes, I find it difficult when teaching my child a new skill because often times she wants to fall into repetitive actions. My first line of defense here is talking to her, this quite often is not enough. I then go back to the thing I use for stims and use the fun reinforcing behaviors. Once we've done the fun activity then its back to the school work. If she continues to struggle, I complete the work "for her" and show her the end result and give her great praise as if she has done it herself. This often times helps the light bulb turn on in her and she is better able to complete the activity the next time around. I find repeating the activity (haha) a few times during that week to be most beneficial.

Many of these things i'm sure most of you have heard of before, but I wanted to reiterate them so that you know that I am also doing these with my own child and finding success. So anyways hope what I've said is helpful lol. :)

I also want to share this ADORABLE photo calendar I found on Amazon that I find to be most beneficial for children on the Autism Spectrum, due to the fact that many of these kids are photo/visual learners and it has tons of full color real pictures! It's called a Scholastic Photo Calendar Bulletin Board and It's really big so great for little hands struggling with fine motor skills. I velcroed mine to foam poster board and screwed it to the wall. I then have velcroed the backs of all the days, months, weather, etc. so my little one can put them on the calender all by herself! My child doesn't have a solid concept of days of the week and such, but with this calendar she will have no problem grasping it over time.

That's all I have for now, I'm sure to have more as we go along, Hope all of you are doing well out there on your own journeys and remember HAVE FUN!
Blessings,
Bird :)

Letter of the Week Curriculum/Confessions of a Homeschooler

2011-08-29T03:57:00.000-07:00

I always knew that whatever curriculum that I started with my child, that I would most definitely have to alter it in some way to fully meet her needs, the needs of a child with Autism. Thats fine with me, but where do I begin in the land of Homeschooling Curriculum? Well, I searched, and read, and talked to moms, and one day through my sweet friend Lisa on Facebook, I stumbled upon it: Confessions of a Homeschooler. What an absolutely adorable site! It was like I had reached some sort of Homeschooling nirvana (teehee). No but seriously this site is really awesome. Erica, who is the author of said blog, has developed this precious curriculum she calls The Letter of the Week Curriculum. She obviously focuses on a letter of the week and has created a weeks worth of themed activities covering all areas of development and she even includes bible study as well :), what a great place for a preschooler to start! The activity sheets are brightly designed, so organized, and all done for you! Her blog not only showcases this, but other stuff too, for older kids, extra curricular activities and more! Now here's the best part....you can buy her entire Letter of the Week curriculum on CD for .....wait for it....$16...O-o yep...that's right folks and she also has an option to buy it for $10 download only. I mean...for real....you cannot pass this up!! On the CD are all of the worksheets, activities, reading lists etc..and a full excel spread sheet of the weekly activities. I completely love it :) <3. So I have taken the spreadsheet and altered it some of course to meet the needs of my particular child, adding in more sensory activities, Language and Learning Skills stuff from my ABLLS for Autism, and a few other little here and theres. As for us, LOTW starts tomorrow, wish us luck! :)

Blessings,

Bird

Let the Homeschooling begin!

2011-08-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

Even before we knew our child was Autistic, Homeschooling was always something we pretty much knew we were gonna try to do. We felt that with the condition of the school system currently and our own experiences in public school we felt our child(ren) would flourish in a home based classroom much more. That being said, since we've now come to the realization that our daughter has Autism, and quite possibly the boy child too, we then had absolutely no doubt in our minds that homeschooling would be the best thing for us. It provides the essential one on one attention, in a loving environment, with familiar faces that I know my child will need. That being established we move forward to the present day in which we are now embarking on our quest to educate! With my child having special needs, I of course feel the need to start her on a personalized curriculum of my own design based on research that I have compiled. I, with the help of the wonderful internet (thank you homeschooling bloggers!!) and The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS-R) guide for IEP development (Individualized Education Program) (thanks Annie you rock!! btw go see her site, she is amazing at homeschooling her Autistic child and blogging and radio shows too !!) i feel I'm ready to begin. Since I don't see a lot of blogs out there about Homeschooling children on the Autism Spectrum, I thought I would occasionally drop in to share little tidbits. I pray that God will bless me with the tools and knowledge to give my children the best start possible. Wish me luck, I'm nervous haha ;). Let the Homeschooling Begin!

GFCF Yellow Cake (Sugar free!)

2011-08-22T01:00:00.001-07:00

Well ok ...so....It's been a while since my last post...yeah yeah..well life goes on yes? So my children, putting the veto to every attempt at baking that i've made for a while have put me in a slump of what to do, therefore nothing to write about lol. After the repititious baking of the same few favorites I had a tiny, yet worthwhile epiphany...yellow cake. I mean, what picky child doesn't like basic yellow cake? Since I've never attempted to make one from scratch, I went forth, into the depths of my recipes, cookbooks, internet blogs to find a delightful Almond Cake in my Flying Apron GF cookbook that I tweak & changed to suit my preferences and thus became 1 gluten free basic yellow cake and its sugar free (sweetened with Maple Syrup). So Enjoy, please :):

GFCF Yellow Cake (sans icing, see my past birthday blog from November for that :))

btw this makes 1 small 9" cake, double if you want a few tiers

1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour (or white is fine)

1/4 cup Almond Flour

1/2 cup Coconut Flour

1/4 cup Tapioca Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 egg (or egg replacer)

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup milk (rice, almond, cow's whatever ;))

3/4 cup Maple Syrup

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all dry ingredients together with a wire whisk in a medium bowl.

Combine all wet ingredients together with a wire whisk in a large bowl.

Throw dry into wet and stir well with a spatula until thoroughly combined.

Pour into prepared, greased pan or mini muffin tin (which I always opt for because

it bakes quicker).

It took approx 15 in the mini muffin tin soo I imagine it should be double that for a cake.

Just keep an eye on it, slightly browned, check with your toothpick, you know how to do it ;)

Blessings,

Bird

Happy Mother's Day/GFCF Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

2011-05-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

So I know that I promised some of my new tweeps on Twitter that I would blog my recently made delish GFCF Chocolate Chip Honey Buns from a new cookbook I bought recently, BabyCakes, but its gonna be more complex post than most so I've decided to do something a little easier tonight, especially with Mother's Day looming...cupcakes. My kids as you know are extremely picky, so I'm once again creating from an accepted & classic combination: Peanut Butter & Chocolate. I am a fan of box mixes when I'm busy as I'm sure many of you busy parents are too, so I enjoy altering a plain old mix to save time. So here it is and I hope everyone can enjoy it. :)

ps. Please everyone give thanks for mommies this Mother's Day, give thanks for their sacrifice, hard work, relentless caring, and for many, going through the pain of childbirth to nurture you into this world. xoxo

pps. for those that are allergic to peanuts, substituting with Almond butter or other would still make this recipe delish.

GFCF Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

(for frosting, feel free to use any you like, my kids are huge fans so we do 'naked' cupcakes)

1 cup Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

1/4 cup Almond Flour

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

Combine these dry ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl combine these following ingredients and blend with a hand mixer or stand mixer.

2 eggs or egg replacer

1/3 cup peanut butter

2 Tb. Honey

1/4 cup softened Earth Balance Spread or butter/butter substitute

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

Blend until creamy

Add 2/3 cup Almond Milk (or other milk) alternatively with the flour mixture until combined well, blending for about 1 minute.

Preheat oven at 350 and fill mini muffin tins. Bake approx 15 minutes.

(for regular size muffin tins increase baking time of course)

Cool and Enjoy!

yummmm

~Blessings,

Bird

Autism my Blessed Gift

2011-04-25T02:23:00.001-07:00

I've written this for my sweet friend Gina at Special Happens who I've met through this that and the other and who is such a wonderful presence in the Autism Community. She created this event for Autism Awareness Month called All About Autism which has brought so much personal knowledge to the community through real life stories. Her site is wonderful please pay it a visit!

This written of course from my own personal experience with Autism, primarily about my Daughter who, the light of my life, was my first & my first experience with Autism. I have also since come to learn that my baby, my son is on the Spectrum too, in all his gorgeousness, but that doesn't stop us from having great times, lots of laughs & love, and enjoying our lives. ;)

~Blessings, Bird

Autism my Blessed Gift

GFCF Better Batter Hawaiian Bread

2011-04-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

So I first discovered this amazing product Better Batter from this awesome blog by the name of Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom (Heidi rocks), I'm sure many of you know of it on the gluten free path, and her wonderfully delicious looking post on Crescent Rolls (the pictures will make your mouth water no lie). So in this post she goes into showing you how amazing this mix is and how it makes up just like regular, just awesome. I thought perhaps this was the thing missing from my gluten free arsenal, so I bought some. I found some easy to purchase and ship right to my house from Amazon.com. Better Batter has a whole line of gluten free mixes, but the one I was most interested in was the All-Purpose flour mix, in desperation to make a really, really good loaf of gluten free bread. This wonderful mix can be used in all of your regular recipes, replacing regular flour 1 for 1, how much easier does it get? Once I had said amazing item in my possession I quickly researched their website for recipes to find this one: Hawaiian Bread. Had to make this one and oh how glad I am that I did, because first shot was perfection. Get this stuff people, makes gluten free life simple again. ;)

GFCF Better Batter Hawaiian Bread

1 packet yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

1 1/4 cup warm almond milk (cow's, almond, rice, whatever ;))

1/4 cup shortening (I like Spectrum Organic Vegetable Shortening)

1/4 cup sugar (feel free to use any substitutes you like)

1 egg (or replacer)

1 tsp. salt

3 cups Better Batter All Purpose Flour

~to save me some time I'm placing the link here: Better Batter GFCF Hawaiian Bread

for the remaining instructions

Enjoy!

~Blessings,

Bird

GFCF Chocolate Chip Coconut Cake

2011-03-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

What is one to do when one's children have become the pickiest eaters on the planet? Who the hell knows..but I do know this: my kids like chocolate chips & a wee bit of coconut..so here is yet another combination of these flavors brought to you because I've become bored with the rest ;). I was quite happy with the moistness of this cake and as per the usual I don't like to add additional sugar in the form of frosting so this can be a snack cake, (i like to save the frosting for special occasions ;)). Also, I am quite fond of the convenience of the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mixes, but really feel free to use whatever you like or even your own concoction. One more note, I only use 1/2 of a box of mix for this reason: GF products are expensive and I find that if I make the whole box I end up throwing half away, so I figure why not break it up to avoid extra cost & extra waste, right? So anyways, Enjoy!

GFCF Chocolate Chip Coconut Cake

1/2 Box GF Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix (approx. 1 cup of mix or other alternative)

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour

2 Tb. finely shredded coconut

1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup Coconut Milk

2 Tb. agave nectar

1/4 cup Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

In Large bowl, blend together with a hand mixer the egg, oil, agave nectar, & vanilla until smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake mix, coconut flour, coconut, gum, & baking powder.

Slowly blend in the flour mix alternately with the milk just until combined, stir in chocolate chips, and pour into a prepared 9x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 for approx. 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Blessings ~

Bird

GFCF Pineapple Inside Cake

2011-03-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

A spin off of the traditional Pineapple Upside Down Cake, this version is one that my kids will generally tolerate due to the decreased size of said pieces of pineapple. Altogether the same flavors in a slightly different format and another way to bring the 'islands' to you during these cold winter months (which luckily are soon to come to an end, hooray).

and as per the usual..I like to use Bob's Red Mill Flours & baking extras ;)

GFCF Pineapple Inside Cake

1/2 cup Almond flour

1/2 cup Brown Rice flour

1/4 cup Coconut flour

1/2 cup Tapioca Starch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tb. finely chopped pecans or nuts of choice

2 Tb. flax meal

1/3 cup Earth Balance Spread

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg or egg replacer

1/2 mashed banana

1 cup pureed crushed pineapple with the juice (i pureed it in a food processor)

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup

Combine all dry ingredients in medium bowl, stir with a whisk.

In a large bowl combine wet ingredients (sans pineapple juice) with a mixer, then add in flour mixture alternately with the juice.

Pour into 9x9 dish and bake 350 for approx 30 minutes.

check with a toothpick for doneness...ice with your fave icing if you wish or use my

GFCF Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Enjoy!

~Blessings,

Bird

GFCF Coconut Carrot Cake Mini Muffins

2011-02-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

As per usual I'm constantly trying to reinvent myself, bored with the same old carrot cake recipe..and with my children stuck on the current three things they will eat..It's time to get creative. So here it is another variation of a classic fave..Enjoy!

(as usual I use mostly Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free products ;))

GFCF Coconut Carrot Cake Mini Muffins

1/2 cup Coconut Flour

1/2 cup Almond Flour

1/4 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/4 cup Tapioca Flour

1 Tb. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum

Whisk all of these ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

1 cup finely grated Carrot

1/3 cup Honey

1/3 cup Agave Nectar

1/3 cup Oil

2 tsp Vanilla

1 egg or egg replacer

Blend these wet ingredients together in a large bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.

2/3 cup coconut milk (or other milk alternative)

Fold in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients alternately with the milk until just combined.

Bake in Mini Muffin tin at 350 degrees for about 16 minutes.

GFCF Biscuits

2011-02-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

It's winter, we're all freezin' out butts off and well what better excuse to crank up the oven and warm the house than ...BISCUITS! Just because your on a Gluten Free and/or Dairy Free diet doesn't mean you have to go without..no way! Thanks to all the wonderful people out there making these handy dandy Gluten Free Baking Mixes you too can have biscuits again and I'm here to show ya how. :-) (ok sooooo currently i'm a bit lazy to create my own homemade biscuit, but every now and then we need a little convenience in our lives..don't judge me..LOL X-D)

GFCF Biscuits

3/4 cup GF Bisquick (or other all purpose mix like it)

1/3 cup Tapioca Starch (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1/3 cup Spectrum Vegetable Shortening

1/3 cup Almond Milk (or other milk substitute)

1 egg or egg replacer

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together Tapioca Starch and Bisquick and then cut shortening into the flour (I tend to do most of this with my hands, I feel I can incorporate it best that way. ;))

Stir in egg (egg replacer) and milk until dough forms.

Spoon dough out into balls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for approx. 14-16 minutes. Enjoy nice and warm.

~Blessings,

Bird

Happy Valentine's Day GFCF Chocolate Chocolate Chip Coconut Whoopie Pies with Coconut Vanilla "Buttercream" Frosting

2011-02-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

What is Valentine's Day without chocolate? ..well...NOT Valentine's Day in my book! The other day I got my recent issue of Family Fun magazine and in it were tons of Valentine's Day crafts and recipes, one of which was the Chocolate Whoopie Pies, which of course since my kids both can agree on chocolate cake these just had to be made! So I went the semi-lazy route and decided to spiff up a boxed mix Gluten Free chocolate cake mix, that paired with my homemade frosting, hints of coconut thoughout, and a little GFCF conversion: Voila..chocolatey naughtiness ;) mmmmm..enjoy..come on...you KNOW you want to..indulge a little..;-D

GFCF Chocolate Chocolate Chip Coconut Whoopie Pies

1 Box Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix (I use GF Betty Crocker mix)

1/2 cup Coconut Flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1/4 cup Flax Meal (Bob's too)

1 tsp Baking Soda

Combine these dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a wire whisk and set aside.

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs or egg replacer

Blend these ingredients together in a large bowl with a hand mixer on medium until smooth and creamy.

2/3 cup coconut milk

Then slowly add in flour mixture and alternate in milk.

1/4 cup finely shredded coconut

1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)

Fold these into batter and scoop out portions with an ice cream scooper onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes..check with a toothpick for doneness.

Even though this part of the recipe is last I recommend making the frosting first and putting it in the fridge to stand up a bit for easy spreading ;)

GFCF Coconut Vanilla "Buttercream" Frosting

3 cups Powdered Sugar

1/3 cup Earth Balance Spread

1/4 cup Spectrum Vegetable Shortening

2 tsp vanilla

4 or 5 Tb. Coconut Milk

2 Tb. Finely Shredded Coconut

In a medium mixing bowl blend together shortening,"butter" spread, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Alternately add sugar and milk..adding the milk to acheive the desired consistency. Add shredded coconut. Put in fridge to harden slightly for easy spreading and stickability (is that a word? LOL)

Fall under the spell of the chocolate for a moment of bliss

Blessings,

~Bird

GFCF Honey Oatmeal Banana Bread with Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats

2011-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying Cooking with Oats 2011 brought to you by Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats, with all that Gluten Free variety who won't enjoy going Gluten Free!?

So I thought where to go next with oats than my favorite Gluten Free Banana Bread, yes? Funny thing is I've never actually blogged a straight up Gluten Free Banana Bread even though I make it..i just plum have forgot (that's what children do to ya folks..haha good times). So here it is with all its moist goodness, complete with the wonderful added texture and delicious taste of Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats and what's even better for the next day?...GFCF Banana Bread French Toast...mmmmmm..I might have to blog about that one day ;)

GFCF Honey Oatmeal Banana Bread

3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour

2 Tb. Cornstarch or Arrowroot

2 Tb. Flax meal

2 tsp Bob's Red Mill Aluminum free Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

Dash of Salt

Combine these ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1 cup Mashed banana (about 3 bananas)

1/3 cup Oil

1/3 cup Honey

2/3 cup Brown Cane Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla

Combine these ingredients together in a Large Bowl with a Hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

Fold Flour mixture into wet ingredients gently with a spatula or spoon until just combined.

Pour into 9x5 bread pan and bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes checking for doneness throughout and don't over bake!

~Blessings ;)

GFCF Peanut Butter Oatmeal with Bananas~made with Bob's Red Mill Quick Cook Oats

2011-02-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love a quick, healthy, hearty breakfast?? Anyone? I didn't think so. Now i've always loved oatmeal, but felt like it was missing something. Always felt like I had to add something on the side to fulfill the meal, until now. I got this idea from reading a blog that I've recently subscribe to called Real Fit Mama. She has an adorable blog that focuses on many of my interests: Health, fitness, vegetarian, and gluten free. So the other day I ran across her blog featuring Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats and there it was: Oatmeal mixed with Peanut Butter and topped with Banana slices...OMG! Where has this been all my life? These are some of my favorite elements...I grew up on Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches..and here it was. What an amazing combination: the Peanut Butter gives the Oats this amazing creamy quality, bumps up the protein therefore increasing satiety and adding the bananas not only increases the nutritional value but adds their own natural sweetness=Divine. This is a quick, filling, yummy way to start off your morning, especially during these winter months!

GFCF Peanut Butter Oatmeal and Bananas (1 serving)

1 Serving Bob's Red Mill Quick Cook Oats~ cooked according to package directions

1 Tb. Gluten Free Peanut Butter (I love Smart Balance)

Sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon (optional)

1/2 Banana

Now as i've mentioned before Bob's Red Mill gets their oats from fields that are "oats only" to ensure their gluten free quality and they are premium. "Bob" has a variety of gluten free oats available: Quick Cooking, Rolled Oats, and Steel Cut Oats so you've got a few to choose from.

So I say enjoy and thanks so much to Real Fit Mama and Bob's Red Mill for making my mornings delightful again!

GFCF Oatmeal Cookies~plain and simple

2011-01-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Here I am with the latest installment of the I Heart Bob's Red Mill series. I have recently received a wonderful batch of Gluten Free Oats from "Bob" and I thought what better way to kick off Cooking with Oats 2011 with a basic oatmeal cookie. The ultimate purpose of this blog is of course to make things my kids will eat (even though let's face facts, that doesn't always happen) so they've been a bit funny about raisins and such so I decided to go with a barebones cookie...don't worry GFCF Oatmeal Raisin Cookies WILL appear on this blog in the near future..hahaha. I'm proud to say that my first shot out with the oats was a total winner, in that way I must say that I love Bob's Red Mill products. Their Gluten Free Quick Cooking Oats are totally premium from pedrigreed seed planted in oats-only fields, they are processed in a dedicated Gluten Free facility and the final product is well mmmmmm! Really the selection of all of their products is amazing !! Seriously Bob's Red Mill makes eating healthy and going gluten free sooo easy ;))!!

For your viewing pleasure I have included step by step pictures, but really this recipe is so easy, its almost not necessary ;D

GFCF Oatmeal Cookies

1/4 cup Earth Balance Spread (or other non-dairy spread)

1/3 cup Pure Cane Sugar (I like Florida Crystals)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tb Almond Milk (I like Silk)

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Sorghum Flour

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Quick Cook Oats

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Starch

1/2 tsp Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum

1/2 tsp Bob's Red Mill Aluminum Free Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Dash of Salt

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium bowl combine all dry ingredients (flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) with a whisk and set aside.

In large bowl blend together butter and sugar with a mixer until combined, add vanilla and milk and blend until smooth.

Fold dry ingredients into wet until thoroughly mixed.

Drop in spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet and baked for approximately 16-18 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Enjoy!

GFCF Soft & Chewy Granola Bars by Bakery on Main

2011-01-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here I am to complete the 3rd installment in the Bakery On Main series of granola reviews. I have reviewed they're granola bars as well as their loose granola (which is my fave) so now I'm onto a brand new product they're introduced: Soft & Chewy Granola Bars. These more closely resemble your typical commercial brand granola bars minus the sugar and other additives, loaded with all natural goodness (no GMOs, no Dairy, no Casein, no Wheat, no trans fat, no cholesterol) and in these awesome flavors:

1. Peanut Butter & Jelly: sure to be a hit with the kiddies..these are packed with yummy nuggets of strawberry goodness.

2. Apple Cinammon: this is by far my favorite of all of their granola bars, with little bites of apple throughout.

3. Chocolate Almond: Who doesn't love Chocolate? enough said..;)

Their made with certified Gluten Free Oats, Amaranth, & Quinoa which is a recently popularized 'super food'. They also include Flax & Chia seeds for your daily source of Omega fatty acids.

These are as the title says "Soft & Chewy" which in my opinion will be the more kid friendly of their granola bars and they come in such great flavors which are sure to please the little ones. This is a new product..so I'm sure we will be seeing more flavors in the future. Oh and by the way..they are currently offering FREE SHIPPING on this new product (and your entire order!! please check their site for details) ..so all the better reason to give it a try..here's the prices...again so reasonable!

Box of 5-$5.49!

Don't forget to check these folks out not only on their site but also on Twitter @BakeryonMain and Facebook Bakery On Main

GFCF Double Chocolate Brownies

2011-01-19T14:24:00.000-08:00

Thought I would get a headstart on chocolate recipes seeing as how the stores have gone Valentine's crazy already. I was inspired to do this based on a wonderfully candid post on Brownies by my friend at Living with Logan. I have made GFCF Brownies many times with many results..all of which were NOT good. I have since made brownie like variations of cakes & muffins but no true "brownie", until now. This is an adaptation of a few different recipes from a really great book "Cookies For Everyone" that I reviewed a while back and of course I had to tweak it to suit my tastes and perfect it (ok so I am mildly competitive tee hee). So blah blah blah anyways here it is for all to enjoy..nice lightly crisp exterior with a moist fudgy interior..chocolate heaven..and GFCF of course ;)

GFCF Double Chocolate Brownies

1/4 cup applesauce

1 Tb canola oil

1/2 cup cane sugar

dash salt

1/2 cup Enjoy Life Dairy free chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 Tb dark chocolate cocoa powder

2 Tb water

Combine all of these ingredients in a pot and heat over low heat until chips are melted and remove from heat.

3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Mix

or my flour combo:

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

3 Tb Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Starch

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine all of these ingredients in a bowl with a whisk to combine.

Stir together wet ingredients with the dry ones and pour into a greased 9x9 square baking dish.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 22 minutes, do not over bake ;)

Pour yourself a glass of your favorite milk or non dairy milk and melt into chocolate bliss. ;-D

GFCF Granola part 2~Bakery On Main

2011-01-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

Here I am once again to discuss the wonderful selection of granolas from the folks at Bakery On Main. First I want to tell you that they have recently revamped their site to include lots of new and cute graphics, all of which are adorably hand drawn, which have greatly helped in navigation around their site: http://www.bakeryonmain.com/

Next, the review:

In my first review of Bakery On Main, (check it out here: http://birdandherramblings.blogspot.com/2011/01/bakery-on-mainyour-gfcf-source-for-all.html ) I focused solely on their granola bars, so this time I thought I would showcase their granola (which by the way IS Gluten Free and Casein/Dairy Free :)), which I must say is by far my favorite of their products. There are two types of gluten free granolas that they produce : Gluten Free Granola and Fiber Power Gluten Free Granola. The regular Gluten Free Granola comes in 5 flavors and is made of nuts, dried fruits, seeds, their signature corn flakes and rice crisps..mmmm. I love milk on granola generally so I tried some first plain which was very good and then some with almond milk and whoa! The almond milk was such an enhancement of the already great nutty flavor of the granola so I highly recommend having it that way. They also recommend having it on yogurt which would be a nice option as well.

Gluten Free Granola Flavors:

1. Nutty Cranberry Maple: cranberry and maple are amazing together.

2. Apple Raisin Walnut: sooo my favorite!! apples, raisins, nuts..like healthy apple pie!

3. Cranberry Orange Cashew: cranberry and orange are friends too!

4. Rainforest: a Tropical delight with bananas, coconut, and nuts.

5. Extreme Fruit & Nut: tons of fruity, nutty goodness.

The Fiber Power granola comes in 2 flavors and is made with Gluten Free Oats, seeds, and dried fruits..it is no wimpy granola either. It is a hardcore high fiber version of their granola for the serious health nut.

Gluten Free Fiber Power Granola Flavors:

1. Triple Berry: loaded with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

2. Cinammon Raisin: for those who like it spicy!

As usual you can find these products ready to order on their site listed above in the following quantities:

2 oz. snack pack -$1.49

12 oz. bag - $5.99

12 pack snack packs- $13.99

What a deal for all that healthy goodness..Gluten Free and Casein Free!

ps. stay tuned for the next installment of the Bakery on Main series: Soft and Chewy Granola Bars...

Bakery On Main~Your GFCF source for all things Granola!

2011-01-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

There is this adorable little place in Connecticut that has dedicated itself to providing healthy granola to the gluten free community: Bakery On Main. They have grown into a 26,000 sqft facility that promises gluten free granola certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (http://www.gfco.org) and also is casein/dairy free, non GMO, Kosher and completely all natural. Their granolas are packed full of tasty, unsulfured dried fruits, healthy fats from a variety of the finest whole nuts and canola oil, an excellent vegetarian source of protein and lots of fiber. The products they offer are Granolas, Fiber Power Granolas, Granola Bars, and Soft & Chewy Granola Bars. Also in a press release it is reported that the U.S. Pro Cycling Team includes Bakery on Main Granola as part of their gluten free diet as a way to improve performance by reducing inflammation. All of their products are readily available online for order at Bakery On Main . I must say their prices are very reasonable for such a high quality gluten free product, they sometimes offer free shipping, and if you like their stuff you can join their club to receive coupons, recipes and special offers. One thing I thought was adorable is they have a gift set that includes: 1 eco -friendly reusable Bakery on Main tote bag, 1.5 oz. granola snack packs of their Apple Raisin Walnut, Nutty Cranberry Maple and Extreme Fruit & Nut flavors, 2 oz. Fiber Power Granola snacks packs in Triple Berry and Cinammon Raisin, and 1.2 oz. granola bars in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Maple Nut, and Extreme Trail Mix, plus a $.50 off coupon all for only $14.99! (http://bakeryonmain.myshopify.com/products/bakery-on-main-gift-box)

I personally have tried all three flavors of their line of Gluten Free Granola Bars (they also have an equally yummy looking line of soft & chewy bars that I have unfortunately not tried) and they are really good! They are a combination of Crisp Rice, specialized Corn flakes, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut and other yummy fruits and nuts. The great thing about their regular granola bars is they aren't annoyingly sweet like commercial granola bars can be, they are super chewy, and filling-a truly health conscious snack-you feel like you're doing something good for your body!

here's the run down on flavors I've tried:

1. Extreme Trail Mix: And it is extreme, with seemingly a million different fruits & nuts. It includes Raisins, Cranberries, and Apricots as well as Hazelnuts, Brazil Nuts, Almonds, and Pecans.

2. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: Mild peanut butter flavor with plenty of little yummy chocolate chips.

3. Cranberry Maple Nut: This is my personal favorite, I love the light maple flavor and little bites of cranberry throughout.

Get a load of these price options:

1. you can buy one at a time for only $1.49!! what a deal, I feel online everyone wants you to buy a box..

2. Box of 5-$5.49

3. Sleeve of 12- $13.99

Great deal here people..check it out!

oh and coming soon to a Bird is the Word near you...Bakery on Main Granola & Fiber Power Granola: The Review..

GFCF French Toast Stix (egg free too!)

2011-01-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago I blogged about a super easy french toast and since I have made this wonderful GFCF Cranberry Bread http://http//birdandherramblings.blogspot.com/2010/12/happy-new-years-and-gfcf-cranberry.html I thought well what better thing to do with day old bread than french toast, so I thought to redo that post...Not much more to say beyond that other than enjoy! ;-D

Bird's Super Easy GFCF French Toast Stix for One

3 Tb. All purpose Gluten Free mix/pancake mix ( i love Cherrybrook Kitchens)

Almond milk or other dairy alternative

1/2 Tb. Flax Meal

2 slices Gluten Free bread of choice (see link above for my latest recipe)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

1 Tb. Earth Balance spread (or other butter alternative)

maple syrup (or other toppings ;))

-Slice bread into 'stix' and set aside-i like to cut the crusts off for my picky eaters ;)

-in a shallow bowl combine pancake mix, flax, & cinnamon then pour in milk by the tablespoon until reached a soupy consistency (start with 1/4 cup and add on). Let mixture sit for 3 minutes.

-place sliced bread into mixture and let sit for 2 additional minutes

-In a pan over medium heat melt 'butter', then place dipped stix into pan and cook a few minutes on each side until golden.

-Top with your favorite French Toast fixin's.

-Sit back and enjoy how incredibly easy that was and how great it is to use that day old crusty bread LOL ;-)

Foodie Blogroll Contest -win copy of Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking

2011-01-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how the foodie blog nation has grown..Foodie Blogroll now features over 10,000 foodie blogs! Its a great place to go to find every type of food imaginable, made every way, by people all over the world. check it: http://www.foodieblogroll.com As a member I have access to these awesome foodie contests, with one in particular striking a chord with me: Gluten Free Sourdough Baking. Whoa! I have been struggling with, as many other Gluten Free Bloggers have, with making amazing Gluten Free bread, never have I thought of the possibility of making Sourdough bread! I could really use a copy of this book in the worst way, possibly I can write this dainty little blog in hopes of being noticed as a person with true bread baking need and perhaps a free copy might float my way...one could hope. ;)
check this book out "Art of Gluten Free Sourdough Baking" by Sharon A. Kane on facebook!
http://http://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-of-Gluten-Free-Sourdough-Baking-Sophisticated-Peasant/116205171731043?v=wall

Happy New Year's and GFCF Cranberry Cinnamon Bread

2010-12-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

We've made it through another year, triumphs, losses, all great lessons learned. I'm grateful for them all, for my family, for the love that we share and the great team that we are. I thank God for all these blessings and wish everyone out there a Happy New Year! So, onto the baking..woohoo! I have tried many (ha 'many' if that's not the understatement of the year..) recipes and this by far is my very best GFCF Bread creation to date. I must thank my many flops for helping me to sculpt this recipe as well as the Flying Apron GF & Vegan Baking Book for the inspiration. (see my blog post on the review for this book: http://birdandherramblings.blogspot.com/2010/09/flying-apron-gluten-free-vegan-baking.html )

Thought this would be a good time with the holidays coming to an end along with all things cranberry, it is a great bread and even better the next day as french toast, that blog will come later in the week ;)

GFCF Cranberry Cinnamon Bread

(as always all of my flours, starches, & baking powder are Bob's Red Mill ;))

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

3/4 cup brown rice flour

(feel free to use any favorite flour combo here ;))

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/4 flax meal

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup lukewarm water

1/2 Tb. yeast

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (or sweet potato )

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lay down parchment paper on a baking sheet, lightly dust work surface for dough with rice flour or other of your choice.

2. Combine in large bowl dry ingredients all the way through xanthan gum. In smaller bowl combine warm water, yeast, oil & maple syrup and allow yeast to proof. It will foam up, takes about 3 minutes or so. Slowly add wet mixture & pumpkin alternately to the flour mixture with a spoon, just until incorporated. I personally like to get my hands in there, so I generally forgo the spoon and lightly combine. Then I turn out onto floured surface and knead with my hands about 5 times, until the dough becomes a smooth, shape into the desired type of loaf. It can be baked immediately, but I like to let it rest and rise a little if you have the time. Sliced the top of the bread to it has room to grow and pop into oven for close to 2 hours, checking for doneness after about 1 1/2 hours. Please enjoy this loaf warm..it is divine ;)

Autism One and iTunes

2010-12-19T17:33:00.001-08:00

I have recently discovered a plethora of wonderful resources for Autism and anything else for that matter..iTunes! There are so many great podcasts on iTunes and they are for the most part FREE! One that I thoroughly enjoy is Autism One, which focuses on the use of Alternative Therapies to treat all forms of Autism. I have learned so much and it's so easy to access the shows. If you don't already have iTunes, then it is easy to download and it is free also. Just go to http://www.apple.com/iTunes and there is a link right there..in a few moments you can easily download iTunes and have every free podcast at your fingertips. I then have the ability to either listen on my iPod or just simply listen right from my computer while cooking, doing chores, or whatever. Autism One is a weekly show and the best part is ALL of their past shows are available to you whenever you want, all the way back to 2006 when the show began. Simply go to the podcast section of iTunes and run "Autism One", once you find their icon, underneath you'll find a spot to 'subscribe free', simply click and it will add it to your podcast list. There it will download the lastest show and then you can scroll down the list of past shows and click 'get' when you have found the ones that interest you. Free shows, Free knowledge, in your Free time.
Enjoy and Blessings!

GFCF Maple Banana Bread Bites & Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Mix

2010-12-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and NOT do a blog about Christmas Cookies. LOL! I've decided that there is still a place in the month of December for some good ol' Banana Bread. Also, I have recently acquired a mini muffin tin, which I adore for its quick baking time and just adorable mini-ness. So therefore you will be seeing many more 'mini' posts coming from me in the months ahead. (yes I am address all three of you out there that actually read my blog haha) Today I am also reviewing Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Mix, which is a new thing for me in that I've never used an actual GF Baking Mix before. So all in all as far as the mix goes, I was very pleased with it, its a nice hearty protein packed mix of bean and sorghum flours, and the texture of the final product, being very spongy and light, and very 'gluten' like...I give it 2 thumbs up! Of course this recipe can also be made with any other GF mix that you love and it is just super easy all together. So I challenge you, go out on that limb, live outside the Christmas cookie box and enjoy some holiday banana bread!

ps. I only had 2 bananas on hand so I scaled down this recipe to make about 10 muffins or 20 mini muffins ;)

GFCF Maple Banana Bread Bites

1 Cup Gluten Free Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Mix

2 Tb. Bob's Red Mill Flax Meal + 2 Tb. Water

1 1/2 tsp. Bob's Red Mill Aluminum Free Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

3/4 tsp. Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum

1/4 cup Cane Sugar

3 Tb. Maple Syrup

2 Bananas, mashed

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

In medium bowl combine Flax, Water, and 1/2 tsp baking powder and allow to sit for 1 minute to act as an egg replacer. In small bowl whisk together Flour, remaining baking powder, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Back in the medium bowl with flax combo, mash bananas with a fork and add in sugar, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla and blend on medium high with a hand mixer or stand mixer for a few minutes until everything is smooth. Take flour mixture and slowly/gently fold into wet ingredients just until corporated, do not over mix. Scoop into muffin tin and bake at 350 for approx 12 minutes (for mini muffins) or until golden brown. Enjoy!

GFCF "Toll House" Chocolate Chip Cookies & Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom

2010-11-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

In my book, once Thanksgiving is over...it's time to prepare for Christmas: finish shopping, blow the dust off the fake christmas tree (no I won't deal with a real tree thank you very much), decorate, get out the address book to send christmas cards, and my favorite thing of all: make COOKIES!!! Of course my favorite is always sugar cookies cut into cute shapes, but first this season I would like to showcase the beloved "Toll House" Chocolate Chip Cookie. Sure this cookie doesn't scream reindeer and sleighs, but it well deserves a place on the holiday cookie tray. I began my search making many delicious & crumbly delights, only to finally discover THE ONE. I ended my search at an awesome site called Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom (http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/) where I found a treasure trove of GFCF delights amongst a slew of other wonderful resources. I must say I was truly impressed by this site, the author Heidi has certainly worked her butt off on it, so go check it out! In my opinion what makes this recipe work so well is #1. a perfect balance of Rice Flour & Sorghum Flour, Rice giving to its light crispy nature and Sorghum giving it a little solidity, #2 The use of Earth Balance spread which perfectly mimics butter, the absolute necessary element in cookies, and #3 the very cool & unique egg replacer recipe which is another essential for holding cookies together for the right amount of chewiness. So here it is folks, one of my top 3 favorite GFCF recipes of all time:

http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/11/gluten-free-dairy-free-egg-free-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/

"The Most Delicious GFCF Chocolate Chip Cookie To Ever Pass Between Your Lips"

1 cup Rice Flour

1/2 cup Tapioca Starch

3/4 cup Sorghum Flour

2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 cup Earth Balance, softened (or coconut oil)

3/4 cup cane sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Egg Replacer for 2 eggs: 4 Tablespoons water, 2 Tablespoons oil, 1 tsp baking powder beaten until smooth-> in this mixture I also added 2 tablespoons of flax meal, cause I like it ;)

1 cup Dairy Free chocolate chips (like Enjoy Life)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine Flours, Baking soda, xanthan gum & salt, stir to combine.

In bowl of stand mixer, blend butter, sugars, & vanilla together. Add egg replacer & blend until combined.

Slowly begin adding flour mixture until combined, stir in chocolate chips.

Drop cookie dough by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (Refrigerating dough prior to baking helps reduce cookie spread ;))

Bake 10-12 minutes, allow to cool slightly and place on a cooling rack.

Now seriously take a moment and enjoy this yumminess..

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

Please everyone take time out of your busy holiday schedule for a quiet moment to truly be thankful for what you have. Be thankful that you have a bed to sleep in, food on your plate, clothes on your backs because a very large portion of the world does not have these essential things that we daily take for granted. Having a child with disability, many say, "How do you handle that?", to them I say, "First of all my child still has her health, happy times, and all the necessities that she needs, she has special abilities along with her disability and I have been blessed by God to have the patience, skills, and wonderful family unit to truly care for her, so I give thanks for that!" I know that amongst the problems of everyday life that everyone can find little nuggets of happiness, love, & blessings to be thankful for. Remember those things in your lives always and spread those tidings to all!

GFCF Chunky Monkey Birthday Cake/ I Heart Betty Crocker

2010-11-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

First of all I want to thank Betty Crocker, aka. General Mills Inc. for providing us the consumer with a wonderful Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix that gives us gluten free deliciousness as well as convenience. Second of all I want to say Happy Birthday to my sweetheart little girl who is the muse of this entire blog, I love you baby eternally and I'm proud to be your mommy. So now that we've got that taken care of lets get to the goods....

GFCF Chunky Monkey Birthday Cake (Frosting recipes follow..

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes ;-)

1 Box Gluten Free Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

4 Tb Flax meal

1 3/4 cup almond milk (or other milk alternative)

1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup oil

1 Banana, mashed

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup applesauce

In medium bowl combine first 6 ingredients with a whisk and set aside. Next add following 4 ingredients in bowl of a stand mixer and let stand for 1 minute. Then add the last 3 ingredients and blend until combined. Slowly feed in flour mixture and beat on medium for 2 minutes, follow as directed on the cake mix box. If filled the muffin tins are filled 3/4 then this should make 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350 for approx 20-22 minutes, check doneness with a toothpick. Let cool and then place in the refrigerator for at least an hour so they are nice and firm, good for icing.

GFCF Vanilla "Buttercream" frosting

(yields approx 1 1/4 cups of frosting)

1/3 cup vegetable shortening (I like Spectrum)

2 Tb Earth Balance spread (or other butter alternative)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tb almond milk (or other milk alternative)

In a medium bowl cream together shortening, butter, & vanilla with a hand or stand mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar and milk, alternately. Blend until smooth and creamy. I think it works well to put frosting in the fridge for say 15 min or so to help it firm up a little.

GFCF Chocolate "Buttercream" frosting

(yields approx 1 1/2 cups of frosting)

1/4 cup of Enjoy Life or other dairy free chocolate chips

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1 Tb. Earth Balance spread

3 Tb. milk

1 Tb. cocoa

Melt together chocolate and butter on very low heat, stir continuously. Pull off heat and let cool, stirring occasionally. In a medium bowl cream together shortening & cocoa, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy. Same as stated above, I think it works well to put this in the fridge for approximately 15 minutes or so to help it firm up and make it easier for decorating.

GFCF Cornbread #8

2010-11-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

So it's Thanksgiving again, time to give thanks for the amazing journey that we've all been on so far this year. Time to enjoy family and friends, beautiful weather and oh..FOOD!!! I am originally from the Midwest so my favorite thing to make for Thanksgiving (especially when my Dad is in town) is a traditional cornbread dressing which is a recipe passed down from my Grandma. My kids won't touch such a thing but will eat cornbread muffins, so I figure that I can make those, share the picture & share my recently revamped cornbread recipe so that you can do what you wish with it..make muffins for your big feast, cornbread for stuffing or dressing, whatever you like! So here it is in its Gluten Free/Casein Free glory....GFCF Cornbread #8 (ok so I've changed the recipe a few times ha ha).

Bird's GFCF Cornbread #8
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 Tb agave nectar
2 Tb honey (or more agave to make vegan)
1/2 cup almond milk (or favorite milk alternative)
1/4 cup melted Earth Balance spread (or other butter alternative)
2 eggs (or egg replacement-see my recipe below)
1 tsp lemon juice

First preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small dish combine milk & lemon juice let sit to create "buttermilk".
In another small dish combine this egg replacer and allow to sit for a minute:
-2 Tb flax meal
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 Tb. oil
-3 Tb. water
Next melt butter in small pan, take off heat to cool.
Finally, Combine all remaining dry ingredients and whisk together to combine well. Then add wet ingredients to dry and stir well until everything is moist. Feel free to cook anyway you like ie. cast iron skillet, muffin tins, 9x9 baking dish..your choice. For me this recipe made 8 muffins and took approx. 20 minutes to bake. :))

GFCF Apple Pie a la cake

2010-11-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

I love the fall and all the bounties it brings...pumpkins, pears, and APPLES! Now who doesn't love America's favorite Apple Pie?..well..my kids LOL. They do however love cake thus the Apple Pie a la cake came into being. All the great tastes of the apple pie, in a nice moist cake (a little easier to pick up with the hands then pie lol). Another note is my kids are not huge fans of tons of spice, so I have under done this recipe, please feel free to go crazy with the cinammon and whatever other spices you love with apples. :-D

Apple Pie a la Cake

1/3 cup Almond Flour

1/3 cup Rice flour

1/3 cup Sorghum Flour

1/4 cup Tapioca Flour

2 Tb. Flax meal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tb. Earth Balance GFCF spread, melted

2 Tb. oil

2 Tb. agave nectar

1/3 cup apple cider

1 medium apple finely chopped (I recommend one good for pies slight tart & crunchy)

In medium bowl add dry ingredients (minus sugar) and whisk to combine, set aside. In mixer bowl add together remaining moist ingredients (minus apples), mix until well combined. Slowly mix in on low the dry ingredients, until combined and turn up speed to medium for a minute. Stir in apples and pour into 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 for approx 20 min or so, using a toothpick to check doneness. Sit back and enjoy the wonderful smell ;))

Flying Apron Bakery House Bread-GFCF of course ;)

2010-11-07T18:20:00.001-08:00

Whew, what a busy week of blogging for me! I've just had lots of ideas and things i've been working on, just recently have been able to find time to blog about it. This unfortunately is not the blog where I rave about how i've found the secret to making my own recipe GFCF bread, nope not this time. This is about the wonderful bread i've had the pleasure of making from the cookbook that I purchased not to long ago called "Flying Apron's Gluten Free & Vegan Baking Book". It just came out so good and pretty that I had to share it with everyone. To me it is by no means perfection, but pretty freakin' awesome! (I'm still seeking GFCF Bread nirvana ;))

So it is called their house bread because it is a really great all purpose basic bread, great for slicing for sandwiches. This bread has a great mellow flavor and pretty crust. It is a combination of brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour & flax meal, sweetened with maple syrup and for added moistness, you mix in your choice of either yam, sweet potato or pumpkin, how innovative! I would love to give you the exact recipe, but I don't think it would be cool seeing as how this is not my cookbook ;). So all that I can tell you is to pick up the book, its super cheap on http://www.amazon.com/ and its available under their free super saver shipping policy, I just love that site for buying books! In the meantime, I will continue to research and hopefully one day have an amazing bread to share with everyone. Happy Baking!

http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Aprons-Gluten-free-Vegan-Baking/dp/1570616299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289183406&sr=8-1

I Heart Bob's Red Mill GFCF Pizza Crust

2010-11-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love Bob's Red Mill, let me count the ways...Because of their wonderful packaged pizza crust mix I thankfully do not have to make everything from scratch for my beautiful babies on the GFCF diet. Oh how wonderful is the convenience and its made with healthy ingredients too! So I have a few tricks that I'd like to share that help make the mix super yummy!

Basically I follow the instructions on the package when I'm making the dough, except I follow the no egg version, also recommended on the package. I also like to add garlic powder which makes it even better, really you could go crazy and add herbs and all kinds of stuff! One thing I do that is different is I split the package in half to save waste. I found that I was making the whole package and only using part of it and throwing the rest away, not good when buying expensive gluten free mixes. So here's what I do:

Bob's Red Mill GFCF Pizza Crust Mix

1/2 package (1 1/2 cups) pizza crust mix (store the rest in the original bag, clip & put in fridge)

1 Tb. flax meal plus 3 Tb. water (egg replacement)

3/4 cup water (room temp)

1 Tb. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 (1 1/8 tsp) package of yeast (the one that comes in the mix, put other half back in package)

In tiny bowl put flax meal and 3 Tb. water, let sit. In bowl of stand mixer put 3/4 cup water and 1/2 package of yeast, let proof for a few minutes. Next add rest of ingredients and mix on low until blended then on high for about 30 seconds. The dough will be moist, scoop out of bowl using a spatula sprayed with GFCF cooking spray (I love Pam original) and place in bowl drizzled with olive oil. I like to make it ahead of time and allow the dough to sit, I feel that it makes for a better crust. This mixture makes 4 small child size pizza crusts which I peel off what I need and store the rest in the fridge, it will keep there for several days! I use the sprayed spatula to form and shape the dough, drizzle with olive oil and bake it on parchment paper in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes or so until lightly baked and just barely browned, add toppings and bake again for 5 minutes or until toppings and pizza are done. Voila it is that simple, really ;)) Blessings!

http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free/
http://www.bobsredmill.com/gf_pizza-crust-mix.html?&cat=0

The Spunky Coconut-my bagel savior

2010-11-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Recently discovering that my son is slowly creeping his way over to the Autistic spectrum, I had been contemplating switching him to the complete GFCF diet since it has done so much good for his sister's autism. One of his naughty faves is bagels and I have yet to accomplish a good recipe for such on my own, so I've searched the web for advice and recipes trying to find a decent bagel and I've found even better..a REALLY GOOD bagel: enter The Spunky Coconut: http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/
First of all, I must say, I just love the name of Kelly's site, she's got a cookbook and adorable t-shirts to boot! Her recipes are yummy, easy to make, her site is easy to navigate, and she even has step by step videos!! Wow! So as I watched her make this recipe, I too took a stab at it, premeasured ingredients in hand, and found no problems replicating her results: Delicious Bagels! Go check her out, she's on facebook and twitter too and Bagel On!
here is the link for the bagel video:http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2010/01/gfcf-egg-free-bagel-video.html
ps..side note, for those who are shy of using coconut oil, I also used Earth Balance spread in one batch and it turned out equally delicious and a little less coconutty ;)

Happy GFCF Chex Mix Halloween from my Pumpkins to yours...

2010-10-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! OK honestly, My own little Pumpkins could care less about both Halloween and candy so I wondered what I was going to post for this weekend. Enter, Chex Mix! Since the kind folks at General Mills have so graciously reformulated several of their wonderful cereals to be now totally Gluten Free, I felt it important to dedicate this post to them. The Chex Mix that I have chosen today is the chocolatey goodness that is Chex Muddy Buddies, a peanut chocolatey concoction that is just plain powdered sugar yumminess.I figured it would go well with Halloween as a nice snack to have at a kids party, or just to have around when you get tired of all the candy. ;) Now the original recipe is not Casein/Dairy free, so I have adjusted it below..Enjoy!

Chex Muddy Buddies..casein free version
(this recipe makes 18 1/2 cup servings)
9 cups GF Chex cereal (I used Corn, or you can use Rice or Chocolate)
1 cup Enjoy Life dairy free chocolate chips
1/2 cup GF nut butter (almond, peanut, whatever you choose)(I use Smart Balance)
1/4 cup Earth Balance 'butter'
1 tsp GF vanilla (I use McCormick)
1 1/2 cups pure cane powdered sugar
you will also need 1 gallon size plastic baggie

I don't use Microwave Ovens, so my version is stove top, feel free to access the Chex website for their version ;))

1. Measure cereal and pour into large bowl.
2. In saucepan heat on low the butter, chocolate, & peanut butter until smooth and creamed together. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla
3. Pour chocolate sauce over cereal and stir until coated.
4. Put coated cereal into a large gallon size plastic baggie and add powdered sugar.
5. Seal bag and shake, shake, shake ;)
6. Pour into sealable container and place in fridge to set for 15 to 20 minutes.
Voila! Now how easy was that? ;-D

Bird's award winning GFCF Pumpkin Muffin!!

2010-10-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the story...as many of you know, I was invited to take part in the local community day in which I was asked to set up a table to display my artwork. I gladly accepted their invitation and then found out that there was a Harvest Muffin Contest taking place that day. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to make something, to introduce this country community to the world of gluten free and casein free baking. I had no thought of actually being able to compete with REAL muffins, I mean let's face it you can hardly replicate the yummy, sponginess of wheat based baked goods. To my surprise the head of the event presented me with a 2nd place ribbon in the contest and said that the professional judge was totally shocked that my muffin was GFCF, oh happy day! So of course I am eager to share this recipe with my people so here it is....

Bird's GFCF Pumpkin Muffin (egg free)

First I must say that you can feel free to use 1 cup of canned pumpkin in this recipe, but there is nothing like making the puree from a fresh pie pumpkin..

Pumpkin Puree:

1 pie pumpkin

small amount of it's cooking water

Take pumpkin and quarter it, scoop out strings & seeds, then cut those pieces in half. In a pot with about 1-2 inches of water, place steamer basket and put pumpkin pieces (skin and all) in the steamer basket and cover to steam for approximately 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on your water level and add more if needed, checking doneness of pumpkin periodically. When done scoop pumpkin from skin (this should just fall right off if pumpkin is completely done) right into a food processor, add about a Tb. of it's cooking water and puree until smooth and creamy. Done!

Muffin:

dry ingredients whisk together:

3/4 cup rice flour (brown or white)

1/4 cup garbanzo flour

1/2 cup almond flour

4 Tb. tapioca flour

2 Tb. cornstarch

1/8 cup shredded coconut

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

wet ingredients stir together:

first let 3 tb. flax meal sit in 6 Tb. water for 1 minute

add:

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 Tb. honey

1 cup cane sugar or substitute

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil

Stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined and distribute amongst muffin cups, this should make approximately 12 muffins. Bake at 350 for approx 18 minutes, or depending on your individual oven, check not to over bake. Voila!

ps. sorry I don't have a picture of the muffin, would you believe that I forgot to take one? I promise to take one of the next batch I make and replace the current photo ;-D

Pumpkin

Enjoy Life foods - GFCF Cupcakes and Sweet Treats for Everyone

2010-10-06T03:52:00.000-07:00

I've got a quick little blog for ya today...I am pleased to announce a wonderful little cookbook (which is soon to be in my possession, hopefully): enjoy life foods - Cupcakes and Sweet Treats for Everyone. This is a wonderful little baking cookbook that provides 150 delicious treats that are safe for most anyone with food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities. I Love Enjoy Life..I proudly use there wonderful gluten free, casein free chocolate chips in many recipes, most notably in my daughter's pancakes, which make them her favorite. I have not yet tried any of the recipes, but I can guarantee that there will be quite a few gems in the collection. Stay tuned for my further review of this publication...

Flying Apron Gluten Free & Vegan Baking Book

2010-09-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone! I'm here to give my first book review of a lovely little cookbook that I have run across that I would love to share with everyone. Flying Apron has created a baking book that encompasses all that I want and need in a baking book: gluten free, casein free, egg free, animal free..yay! So since then I have made several things in the book and they've all turned out very good. It is a really great resource for those of you out there: Celiacs, health nuts, vegans or on the same journey as myself, to nourish my wonderfully Autistic angel. The author, Jennifer Katzinger, owns the Flying Apron Bakery, which specializes in the unique dietary needs of its clients. Her recipes are free of artificials (color, additives, flavorings), refined flours, and refined sugars. Jennifer has managed to make cookies and cakes healthy again! In this blog I want to spotlight one recipe in particular that is a huge hit here at my house of children...Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have searched through and made several chocolate chip cookie recipes (gluten free, dairy free, egg free) without much hope for something resembling Nestle Tollhouse..well in this book..there is something pretty darn close. Above this post I have included the picture of my finished product..yummy. For the recipe to this and many more, check out this book on Amazon.com http://http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Aprons-Gluten-free-Vegan-Baking/dp/1570616299/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285202181&sr=8-1, it's really cheap too, definitely worth every penny. Blessings!

The Coffee Klatch, blog talk radio, The Girl who spoke with Pictures

2010-08-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

There is a great group on Twitter called @TheCoffeeKlatch that meets every morning and some evenings to chat about disability, quite often Autism. The most recent show took place today on Blog Talk Radio http://http//www.blogtalkradio.com/the-coffee-klatch/2010/08/26/susan-inman--author-of-after-her-brain-broke-helpi and showcased a story about an autistic little girl who was once non-verbal and learned to communicate through the pictures that drew. Today she is 22 and has a book out for children that she has illustrated. It is a very inspiring story and I recommend everyone who has had autism touch their life to check it out. http://www.thegirlwhospokewithpictures.com/art.html

GFCF Egg-free Pecan Brownie Cake mmmm oh yeah..

2010-08-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Discovering that my daughter may possibly have an issue with eggs I have taken a stab at egg-free baking..threw the ingredients together on a whim and yum-0! Enjoy!

GFCF Egg-Free Pecan Brownie Cake

1/2 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake mix

3 Tb. water + 1 1/2 Tb Flax meal

1/4 cup powdered sugar

3 Tb. dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 small mashed banana

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp baking soda

First add the initial 3 tb water to the 1 1/2 of flax meal and let sit 1 minute to act as a binder instead of the egg, set aside. Combine all ingredients as you would normally and

bake as directed on cake package, definitely do not overbake! It took me about 25 minutes in a 9x9 at 350.

Carrot Cake Gluten Free/Casein Free (finally!)

2010-08-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've researched & baked and still could not find a GFCF carrot cake that was any good. So I decided finally that I just need to create my own, so here it is: a moist & delicious way to get a little extra beta carotene into your children's (and your own) diet. I decided to leave out icing because I wanted this to be a nice healthy snack cake that I wasn't slathering a huge layer of sugar on (the recipe has plenty of sugar in it ;-D) Enjoy!

Bird's GFCF Carrot Cake

(moist ingredients combine together)

1 cup finely shredded carrots

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar (feel free to use a sub)

2 Tb. Honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

(dry ingredients, whisk in separate bowl)

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup almond flour

4 Tb. Tapioca starch

2 Tb. cornstarch

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

3 Tb. flax meal

1 tsp. baking soda

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. cinammon

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Slowly stir together wet ingredients with dry until combined well. Pour into 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish or whatever you choose..Bake at 350 for approx 18-20 minutes..I covered it with foil part of the way through to prevent over browning..do not overbake! There you have it!

Easy GFCF Black Beans & Yellow Rice

2010-07-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

This easy dish is something that has evolved from things that my friend Vanessa taught me long ago. She is of Italian and Spanish heritage so she knows a few things about this type of cuisine, now I can't remember everything she said, but I've come up with this easy version that is healthy, yummy, and Gluten Free/Casein Free!

Easy GFCF Black Beans & Yellow Rice

Rice:

1/2 cup white rice (I've been using Jasmine lately and love it!)

1 1/4 cups water

pinch of saffron (optional)

1 Tb. GFCF butter (I like Earth Balance)

salt to taste

In a medium pan bring to boil rice, water, salt, & saffron. When it reaches the boil, reduce to low & simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, covered.

Beans:

1 can black beans (drained & rinsed)

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 finely chopped large onion

1 Tb. olive oil

1 Tb. GFCF butter

salt & pepper to taste

In a small pan heat on medium olive oil, then add onions and cook until slightly translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Then add black beans & about 1/4 cup or so of water and bring to slow boil. Cook covered for about 5 minutes, at the end add the butter and turn off the heat. add salt & pepper to taste.

Depending on how you like it you can serve beans on top of rice or mixed in..your choice. Enjoy!

World's Easiest Gluten Free Casein Free Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-07-07T18:46:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm gonna have to start off by saying thanks so much to Parents Magazine for sending me the free recipe book with my latest subscription purchase that included this wonderful little recipe. I noticed that it naturally is both Gluten and Casein free so therefore of course I made it (and tweeked it just a bit..)

World's Easiest GFCF Peanut Butter Cookies

get ready..this is a tough one..

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter (gluten free of course)

yep, that's it folks! Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Scoop out and roll into 1 inch balls. The original recipe says to roll the balls in sugar, so I took it to the next level and decided to use powdered sugar and therefore it created a yummy glaze all over the cookie..mmmmm. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and press with a fork. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes until slightly brown. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Gluten Free/Casein Free Zucchini Cake-a reason to tolerate the heat of summer

2010-07-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yes folks summer is in full swing and so is my garden (thanks really to my wonderful green thumbed mother-in-law) and one of the few things that really grows well for us here in the northeast is Zucchini! Since my children won't touch it with a 10 foot pole..well as any mother would do, I must trick them into eating it..muah ha ha ha. Enter Zucchini cake..many of which are wonderful spiced cake concoctions, but my personal favorite is (of course) chocolate. Lately I have been experimenting with my wonderful Gluten Free Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake mix (more recipes to come) because I find it to be so very convenient to find at the grocery store and easy to use. So the following is such..Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Gluten Free/Casein Free Zucchini Cake

1 cup Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake mix (approx 1/2 box)
1/4 Hershey's Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup almond flour
2 Tb. Tapioca flour
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup pure cane powdered sugar

1/2 cup shredded zucchini (drained)

1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup applesauce

First soak flax meal in milk for about 1 minute, then add to the rest of the ingredients in a mixer bowl.

Mix and bake as directed on cake box. I baked mind in an 8x8 baking dish at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes..Enjoy!

Golden Gluten Free (Casein Free) French Toast

2010-06-04T14:03:00.001-07:00

This has become a favorite of my daughter, I put it in front of her, blink, and it's gone!

First thing about this recipe is that I use Schar's Gluten free/Dairy free rolls, thought it would be a creative thing to use the convenient rolls for. I like to peel off the crust of the rolls, leaving the porous bread behind to soak up my french toast batter. Feel free to use any Gluten free bread that you desire!

Golden Gluten Free (& Casein Free) French Toast:

(this recipe makes 1 healthy portion ;-D)

2 to 3 slices of Gluten free bread of your choice (see above for my choice)

3 Tb Cherrybrook GF pancake mix (or other Gluten free pancake mix)

1/2 tsp cinammon

almond milk (or rice, soy, whatever you like)

1 egg*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*the egg can be omited for those that need to be egg free and it will still be easy and delicious

Mix pancake mix & cinammon it a shallow bowl. Stir in enough of the milk to make it soupy. Stir in egg & vanilla and place bread in the mixture to soak. Allow to sit for a few minutes. Heat pan on medium with 1 Tb. of oil. Cook pieces a few minutes on both sides until golden brown.

Top with GF/CF butter (we love Earth Balance spread) & 100% pure maple syrup or jam or whatever. Enjoy!

Bird's Beautiful Blueberry GFCF Muffins

2010-05-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Last night I struck gold..seriously..by accident of course. Here's how it started: I really enjoy the convenience of Betty Crocker's Gluten Free boxed cake mixes (both chocolate & yellow). I've been experimenting with them lately, making such gems as dark chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, banana cupcakes, and the latest...blueberry muffins. The inspiration came to me when my wonderful mother-in-law brought me this adorable little carton of giant blueberries and the light bulb went on. So I dove in, of course unsure of the outcome and whoa! am I glad I did it. I didn't write down what I added of course because I am beginning to get more comfortable with gluten free baking, so much so that I am just able to throw things together and usually (I use that term very loosely) it turns out ok. Well these muffins turned out incredible and this recipe is a guestimate, but should turn out just fine and delicious..so enjoy! Note: I like to split the box mix in half because usually if I make the entire box a lot of it gets thrown out, so for economical purposes, I measure the contents of the box, split it in half, and bag the rest for another use later in the week :-)

Bird's Beautiful Blueberry GFCF Muffins

1/2 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free yellow cake mix

1/2 cup almond flour

1 Tb cornstarch

1/8 cup flax meal

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup GFCF butter (I use earth balance) melted

2 Tb oil

1/8 cup agave nectar

2 tsp pure GF vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup almond milk (or rice, soy, whatever you like!)

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other (saving the blueberries for last of course). Then combine both, without overmixing, then slowly fold in blueberries. I like to use an icecream scoop filled about 3/4 of the way to fill muffin cups. Bake as the directions say on the box of cake mix. Cool and enjoy! mmmmm ;-D

Part 2 of "My Top Ten Gluten Free (and dairy free) must haves"

2010-05-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

And i'm back...
Here to report the next installment of the series and I'd like to call it

"Ode to Bob's Red Mill"

Of the Top Ten GFCF must haves, numbers 3, 4, 6, 8, & 9 have to go to Bob's Red Mill products for their variety, quality, & yumminess..
#3. Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour: ok so it's a little pricey, but it is GFCF GOLD. I'm serious when I say that it is the magic in GFCF baking. It has turned my baked goods from crumbly to moist & buttery. Buy it and save it for special occasions if it is too pricey, but gosh darn it: BUY IT. I have many recipes which I will share in the posts to come using this very product.
#4. Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust: Hardest thing about going GFCF...switching over the 'pizza loving' child. I made crust after crust, boxed & from scratch to only find, well, mediocre. Until I discovered Bob's secret recipe mix, and whoa is it good. It is so close to regular crust you won't believe it. Turns out very wet as everyone knows from experience with GF doughs, but all that you need is a spatula sprayed with Pam (original) and it smooths down nice and easy. I prefer to bake the crust on parchment paper because when its done it slides right off! See my blog post on my tips to make the most out of a bag!
http://http//birdandherramblings.blogspot.com/2010/02/saving-on-gluten-free-pizza-dough.html
#6. Bob's Red Mill cornbread mix: This is an incredibly moist and sweet cornbread. I prefer to add a little honey or agave nectar to make it a little sweeter for my little sweeties. I also use almond milk in place of regular milk so as to make it CF as well.
#8. Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour: A very important implement for successful Gluten free baking, really smooths out and completes rice flour.
#9. Bob's Red Mill Rice Flour: All varieties are great; sweet rice, brown, etc.

So check out there stuff: http://www.bobsredmill.com/. I often like to buy in bulk on http://www.amazon.com/ which will give you the most for your money. So enjoy, and happy GFCF baking!

Part 1 of "My Top Ten Gluten Free (and dairy free) must haves"

2010-05-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the first and most important thing in my Gluten Free arsenal. I hope that others out there try this item because..well..it's awesome for one and convenient for two..do we need another reason?

#1. Schar Classic White Rolls: These majestic little rolls..oh how I love them! They are from Europe and are now sold at regular grocery stores here in the U.S. They are gluten free and dairy free and are really diverse and very tasty. The secret to them is to make sure that you heat them up, either by oven or toaster, I even have a great way to make them into french toast..(that recipe will come later..) So if you happen to see these little gems at the grocery store, for goodness sakes pick them up and try them!

While I'm at it I am going to mention the next item in my top ten as it pertains to item #1:

#2. Schar multi grain bread: This comes again from our European friends as a cute little loaf this time, sliced for your convenience. Normally I do not like premade gluten free loaves and usually end up making my own from scratch, but this one is certainly worth a try (my picky eater likes this!) It only stays fresh for a few days so I usually freeze half the loaf so there isn't any waste (very important when trying to survive the costs of a gluten free way of living). This again is a very versatile item and can be found at most grocery stores.
check out their website:
http://http://www.schar.com/us/gluten-free-products/

Part 3 of "My Top Ten Gluten Free (and dairy free) must haves.."

2010-05-15T00:50:00.001-07:00

This is the final installment of my Gluten Free faves series..its a mish-mosh of various items, hope you enjoy!

#5. Cherry Brook Kitchen (gluten free dreams) Pancake & Waffle Mix: This is a life saver. It is so convenient and easy to make. I love to add in nuts, flax, spices..whatever the day calls for..even cocoa! I also use it to make french toast. Yum-o! http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/products/gf.php

#7. Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix: What a great little convenience this is! I like to really moisten it up by add Almond milk instead of water, GFCF spread & oil instead of butter, maybe some almond flour & definitely a little flax meal..voila..chocolate kisses for mommy!

#10. Cherry Brook Kitchen (Gluten Free Dreams) Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies: Ok so I don't actually bake these, but they are these awesome little, already made, bite-sized GFCF chocolate chip cookies. These are great to hand out to little hungry mouths for snack time! Great for a chocolate fix when you can't tolerate the dairy in normal chocolate chips.

That's all folks!

Gluten Free/Casein Free Classic White Bread Recipe

2010-03-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

We all know that one of the hardest things to give up (or replace in a delicious way) when going GFCF is white bread. I have made roughly 20 loaves of crappy homemade Gluten Free bread before coming upon this gem. I was happy for a while with Gluten Free Pantry's boxed bread mix (which rocks for you GF folks out there!), but unfortunately it is made with powdered milk (which is ok if you don't need to cut out dairy). Being that I live in the farthest reaches of the West Virginia mountains, I am not within convenient reach of a decent heathfood store, so I knew that I was going to have to make do with what the regular grocery store has and bake the loaf myself. (side note: I'm pretty picky about what I give my kids, so I can't stand the crumbly weird frozen GFCF loaves that they sell at the grocery store.) So here it is , it's awesome, nice and soft, not crumbly, freezes beautifully and makes a wonderful french toast. I got this recipe from the back of a package of potato starch from Bob's Red Mill http://www.bobsredmill.com/, so I must give most of the credit to 'Bob', although I did alter the recipe to make it Casein Free. By the way, this is for the bread machine, but can easily be put into bread pans (probably would take 2) and risen in a warm place for about an hour and then baked at 350 for about 35 minutes...so anyways, Enjoy!

"Our Favorite White Bread" by Bob's Red Mill, altered by Bird (me ;-D)

Liquid Ingredients:

3 large eggs 1/4 cup Canola Oil

1 tsp. cider vinegar 3/4 cup water

3/4 cup almond milk (or rice, soy etc.)

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups Bob's Red Mill 1 Tb. xanthan gum

Rice Flour 3 Tb. Honey

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 1 tsp. salt

Potato Starch 2 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast (little packet)

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 1/3 cup cornstarch

Tapioca Flour

Put all ingredients into the bread machine in the order of the factory instructions for your machine. Set to Basic or Normal bake cycle for a

2 lb. loaf. Voila! Don't forget to take it out immediately to cool. Once it is cooled, slice and freeze!

Gluten Free-Let me see...

2010-03-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

I felt it most appropriate to write a blog post pertaining to the success that I have had putting my daughter on the gluten free diet. When I decided to begin..let's face it, I didn't want to do it. First of all, it can be expensive. Second, it would mean a total overhaul of everything that I know about baking and an end to anything that I might find to be convenient for her. Third, she is a majorly picky eater, so the thought of altering the few foods that she eats was a scary one. When I first tried, I was met with much defiance by the child, because really in her defense, the stuff I was making was total crap. I'll be the first to admit it. I wasn't ready to embark, just desperate for a remedy to her autistic symptoms fueled by success stories, you know the routine. So I took some time off, to regroup, study, and experiment with recipes. If I was going to do this, it better be good food. Meanwhile, I was being inundated with information and recipes regarding this diet, so I figured: it's time. When I had found a perfect recipe for all of her favorites, I went in full force and her diet was then 100% gluten free. Within 6 weeks, we were seeing more physical contact in the way of hugs and kisses, more awareness when we would walk in the room, total eye contact, and she was playing with more toys! Within 12 weeks she could match all of her wooden puzzles (animals, A to Z, numbers, etc.), arrange the magnetic letters on the fridge in alphabet order (she can do it backwards too!!) and she now has a handful of words that she is trying to say. Also, her understanding of speech is gone through the roof! These were all milestones that seemed very far off for her to acheive, and she's doing it! Is this the easiest diet choice? NO! But, now that i'm used to it, its not so bad, and for those results..isn't it worth the extra effort? My toddler son even likes it too!

saving on gluten free pizza dough

2010-02-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

Ok usually I make things from scratch, but we all know how wonderful some convenience items can be, right? I have made a gazillion (a whole bunch ;-D) different gluten free pizza dough batches from scratch in hopes to somehow imitate my scratch "regular" pizza dough. My daughter has a limited diet, as we all know that small children and autistics alike tend to gravitate toward, and pizza is one of the handful. So therefore it was important when switching her to the gluten free lifestyle to make an awesome dough. I in my search have come across a wonderful mix by Bob's Red Mill. But with her being the only one in the household that eat's it and the significant cost of gluten free items, I had to think of a more economical fix for the situation of making a the mix go the farthest. Now I'm sure that many have thought of this simple solution, but I thought I would share it anyway, in hopes to help others wading through the gluten free ocean. I simply have measured out the bag of mix which is 2 1/2 cups and split it. I package the second half back into a baggie and it goes back into the original bag (to save the instructions on the back, even though I make it a bunch I am also sleep deprived so you do the math lol). I also split the yeast packet, since all yeast packets are 2 1/4 tsp, that is easy to do also. Splitting the rest of the ingredients is easy too, 2 eggs goes to 1, 2 tb oil (olive prefer) goes to 1, and 1 1/2 cups of water goes to 3/4 cup. Voila! When the dough is prepared according to the package instructions, I am able to get 4 small child sized pizza crusts from the 1/2 package of mix. I peel off 1 and put the rest in an oiled bowl that I wrap up and put in the fridge. This keeps in the fridge several days, its convenient, and it becomes easier to work with after being able to sit. There you go..gluten free pizza crust, yummy and money wise!
ps. just a note for those out there not used to working with gluten free dough..a spatula sprayed with "Original" flavored Pam spray is your best friend. ;-D

Oh to be Aloof again...

2010-02-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

I used to be a much more aloof and relaxed person before my children were born. My dad used to joke with me and recite what Bill Cosby used to say in the 80s "It's the curse, you will have children just like you to deal with, ha ha ha." Well i've finally admitted to him, on many occasions, he's right. So now since motherhood has overtaken me I have been, shall I say, less than aloof. I now have a true understanding of what I put my own father through and the way that kids tug at your heart so, they change you forever and that change can be a good thing.
With my children being so much like me, I have been given the ultimate lesson of this understanding. I have realized that they are my greatest teachers. They too have given me the ultimate strength, especially faced with the fact that my oldest, my beautiful daughter, is also autistic. In that I have had to throw out the expectations of how things were going to go for her, those things as simple as birthdays, milestones, etc. Life with a child that has special needs is very unpredictable, to say the least. With this challenge comes extra resposibility and, with that, out comes from within me this want to control every situation. I want to control everything she eats, sees, feels, etc. as a way for me to feel like I am protecting her. So it is easy to see how it is that one can no longer feel aloof. What I have had to learn along the way is that life isn't like that, I can't control everything, and things will happen sometimes whether I want them to or not. Those unexpected road blocks of life will pop up; they always do, so I am going to have to just roll with it.
My daughter has taught me to live in the moment, to just be happy in the now. So again I am coming around to my old aloof self, slowly lol, and learning to just enjoy my kids and my life in this very moment, don't look too far in the future, just be in the NOW. :-)

Well here I am...

2010-02-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here I am... known to some as Mama, Mer, Mahlifiscent (lol some of you will get that one) Meredith and most importantly Bird and I have come to make my mark on this thing called the internet. I am known for my ramblings and such..constantly searching for knowledge whether important or just plain ridiculous trivia..and I have decided to share it with you all. Take from this what you will or throw it out. My ultimate hope is to bring laughter, inspiration, information, and other oddities to this blog for others to enjoy. I primarily will be blogging to share my experiences in parenting my beautifully autistic angel baby Sarah aka. Miss Bean. Peace and Blessings to you all and enjoy your life in the moment because in the words of the late great John Lennon.."Life is what happens to you while your busy making other plans" -don't miss a moment.