Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup

You know those nights you just need something fast and easy, not much prep, and tastes good.

Those nights for us are the "breakfast for dinner" nights.

I love them.

I made these pancakes, I got the recipe from Aubrey over at Tasty Little Morsels, and with a little modification they are great tasting pancakes with a great GF texture.

I would only make 1/2 the recipe of syrup, unless you are a major syrup eater, we have at least a cup leftover.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 eggs

3/4 c. pumpkin

1/4 c. oil

Mix together. Add in:

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 cups GF mix

1/2 t. rounded xanthan gum

1/2 t. each: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt.

Mix together with the wet ingredients and then stir in about 1 1/2 c. milk or until desired consistency. Cook on a hot griddle and serve with Apple Cider Syrup.

Apple Cider Syrup

1 c. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

2 c. apple juice or cider

2 T. lemon juice

Mix well and boil for 1 minute.

Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry

New Years Resolution: Eat more veggies.

And this recipe is loaded.

I found this little gem on the Eating Well website (which is one of my new fav. recipe sites).

It has a really nice lemon flavor. I was nervous at first because the good reviews said "love that lemon" and all the bad reviews said "too much lemon, yuck".

But my non-lemon loving husband thought it was terrific!

(I am a lemon-lover)

So if you are worried about being with bad reviewers, just half the fresh lemon juice and zest.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

{I took this pic with my iPhone, pretty good huh! Ok I know what you are thinking, welcome to 2011!}

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 10 ounces mushrooms, halved or quartered
• 1 cup diagonally sliced carrots, (1/4 inch thick)
• 2 cups snow peas, (6 ounces), stems and strings removed
• 1 bunch scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces, white and green parts divided
• • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• • 
    

1. Grate 1 teaspoon lemon zest and set aside. Juice the lemon and whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice with broth, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs. Add mushrooms and carrots to the pan and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add snow peas, scallion whites, garlic and the reserved lemon zest. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Whisk the broth mixture and add to the pan; cook, stirring, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add scallion greens and the chicken and any accumulated juices; cook, stirring, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve over rice noodles or cooked brown rice.

Noodles & Co. Restaurant

Many of us gluten-free people travel through the holidays, here is a little article that I found regarding one of my favorite restaurants, Noodles and Co. I literally dream about the Pesto Cavatappti, and like the author of the article, I have never had a problem eating there.

Like she mentions, always order rice noodles!

To get a list of the GF options at Noodles & Co. click here.

Enjoy your noodles and your holidays!

Cake Doughnuts

The secret to making these delicious doughnuts is using a heavy duty mixer and a deep-fat fryer, it keeps the oil temperature just right.

I usually made these for a Halloween party, but they are good anytime.

Cake Doughnuts

3/4 cup garbonzo bean flour

1/4 cup sorghum bean flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

(non gluten-free'ers I bet you can use 2 cups flour and omit the xanthan gum)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thick and lemon-colored. Combine the sour cream, orange juice concentrate, and melted butter. Add these alternately to the egg mixture with the dry ingredients, beating until just blended after each addition. Chill the dough for 3o minutes.

Roll the dough out on a board dusted with cornstarch, working in enough cornstarch for the dough to be easily handled. Roll to 3/8 inch thickness and cut with a doughnut cutter. ( I just use the top of a glass). Fry in deep hot fat (I use canola oil) until golden brown brown, about 1 minute per side, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 2 dozen doughnuts.

Italian Chicken

I had to make this chicken for dinner last night.

I had to.

I was craving pasta and something non-low caloric.

This recipe covers both.

It's ultimate comfort food.

It's so good, you can rationalize by using low fat cream cheese.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Italian Chicken

2 chicken breasts

1 T. butter

1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix

Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Place chicken in the crockpot and cut dabs of butter over the chicken. Sprinkle the salad dressing mix.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is cooked. (If chicken is browning too quickly, pour a little water into the bottom.)

When chicken is cooked, remove from crockpot and shred. Put aside.

Make the sauce by mixing together and bring to a boil:

1 brick cream cheese

1/2 cup liquid from the crockpot or 1/2 cup milk (I prefer the drippings)

1 recipe GF soup mix (or for you non-GF eaters, 1 can cream of chicken soup)

When thick and boiling, add in frozen green peas to your liking and the chicken. Heat throughly and serve over your favorite type of GF noodles.

Yum!

I'm Back!

First to apologize about not posting anything for the last 2 months.

(Even though I did just try to butter you up by posting the most fantastic pumpkin cheesecake I've ever had. Look at the post right below!)

Now my excuses.

Our family is expanding from 3 to 4 this coming May.

Yes, it's true, I'm having a baby and had a terrible bout of morning sickness. No scratch that, I had a terrible bout of all-day sickness.

I've actually lost weight.

But I thought, even though we are eating scrambled eggs for dinner (again, for the 3rd night in a row) what a great time to catch up on all the great GF recipes I have.

So I would sit down and start to type and what do you know, this strong, hot, nauseous feeling would come over me and I would either have to run to the bathroom, or lie down and watch a Disney movie with my toddler. Hence the lack of new and exciting recipes.

We moved.

Yes we left our home of 3.5 years so my husband can finish his clinical rotations and everyone knows when you move you eat out. A lot. Or you just eat scrambled eggs every night, like us.

But the good news is, we are settled. I am feeling better. And food is cheap here in Arizona so get ready for some delicious recipes coming your way!

I'm back, baby!

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Let's be honest here...

Pumpkin pie- delish

White Chocolate- so good

Cheesecake- is there anything better?

So let's combine them all and get one delectable holiday White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake!

I made mine for Thanksgiving dinner. It was amazing. I didn't hear one moan or groan about being GF, it was gone too fast. In fact there wasn't even time to take a picture. And the next day after an early morning and all day Black Friday shopping, I come home to find the lazys who didn't wake up at the crack-of-dawn for the amazing deals finished up what was left. Next year, I'm hiding a piece.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 box Pamela's butter shortbread cookies, made into crumbs (I just run them through my food processor)

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened (that is the secret to good cheesecake making. The cream cheese must be at room temperature.)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 t. vanilla extract

5 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate, melted

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom of a greased 9 in springform pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. (This is a very vital step, the cream cheese must have NO lumps.) Add eggs and vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted white chocolate. (Also, if you can't find baking white chocolate, I just used 5oz of white chocolate chips.)

Combine pumpkin and spices; gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over crust. Place pan on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 mins or until the center is just set.

Carefully run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, remove sides of the pan. Refrigerate any leftovers- if you have any!