Blueberry Pie: dairy and gluten free!

My husband has always loved berry pies and I never have, mostly because of the crust. One day I decided to make him a treat, but I had to change of the crust, partly because I couldn't stand the taste and partly because shortening is terrible for your body and I refused to buy it. That pie turned out pretty good and it was the first berry pie I actually liked.

Fast forward to a couple years ago when we found our our son cannot eat any wheat or gluten, I had come up with a new pie crust which is just as amazing as the first. 

This pie only has one picture, because it never is around long enough for me to snap a shot of it!

For the pie crust:

1 1/2 c gluten free flour (I use Pamela's)

1 T sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 c coconut oil (if liquid, refrigerate a bit to firm it up)

4 T water

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Cut in the coconut oil until mixed well. Then add the water and continue cutting the dough until it is completely mixed.

2. Take a little more then 1/2 the dough and evenly press it into an 9 inch pie pan and up the sides.

3. Bake the crust at 475 for 10 minutes until browned

4. Remove from the oven and add pie filling***

5. Press the rest of the dough on a parchment paper into a circle the size of the top of the pie pan. Quickly and carefully flip the dough onto the pie and peel off the parchment paper. Pinch the edges to the pan and cut some slits in the center of the crust to vent.

For the blueberry pie:

5 c frozen organic wild blueberries (Trader Joes)

3/4 cups sugar

3 1/2 T gluten free flour blend (I use Pamela's Bread Mix)

juice of 1 lemon

Directions: 

1. Make the pie crust above, ***add the filling then the top.

2. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes

3. Reduce temp to 325 and bake for 40 more minutes

4. Broil 1-3 minutes until the top is browned

5. Remove from oven and cool a bit and eat warm and enjoy!

Kristen and Premier IFM

Gluten & Corn Free Holiday! Candied Yams

This whole world of food sensitivities has been a bit rough, but after a couple years of working on recipes, substituting things and finding what works it is starting to come together for me. If you are gluten, dairy or corn free, don't worry, you can still enjoy your holiday favorites. Today's recipe is Candied Yams. I never liked them until I tried my husband's aunt's recipe. Actually, I never liked any of the Thanksgiving meal when I was younger and now that I do, I can't eat any of it without being in pain.

I have 2 varieties of this recipe, today we are going to do the Gluten & Corn free version. Tomorrow we will go with dairy free also.

You will need:

1 c gluten free flour (I use Pamela's Artisan Gluten Free Flour)

1 c gluten free oats

1 c brown sugar, softened

2/3 c butter

2 cups cranberries

pure maple syrup

5 fresh yams

This picture is a smaller batch...

1. Peel and chop yams. 

2. Boil yams till tender but not mushy.

3. While the yams are boiling, mix gluten free flour, gluten free oats, brown sugar and butter in a bowl until crumbly.

4. When the yams are cooked, put them in a baking dish and drizzle with maple syrup. Add the cranberries and 1/2 the crumb mixture. Mix it all up. Top with remaining mixture.

5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

If you are very adventurous in the kitchen you can make some homemade marshmallows and when the yams are finished, top with marshmallows, broil them till golden and watch them closely so they don't catch fire.

Another batch without the extra crumb mixture on top.

Don't forger to check out gluten-free spiced cranberries!

***Update: Trader Joe's has some already chopped and pealed yams. If you don't mind non organic this is an easy option to make the meal a lot quicker.

Kristen and Premier IFM

Gluten Free Banana Muffins

We are getting right into our gluten free grove and finding/creating/modifying recipes that are approved by the whole family and that don't make us miss gluten at all. (I wish I could say the same for dairy).

We are making these treats on a weekly basis right now and they don't last long. Sometimes the batch is gone in about 15 mins!

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
2 C Gluten Free Flour (I use Pamela's Bread Mix)
1 t baking soda
1/4 c butter (melted) **
1/4 c coconut oil (melted)
3/4 c pure maple syrup
2 eggs
2 over ripe bananas
1/4 t cinnamon

Mash the bananas then mix with all the wet ingredients. Add the dry and beat on high till smooth. These muffins are gluten free, so don't worry about over mixing, it won't make them tough. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

If your kids don't like banana chunks, put all the ingredients in the blender, blend it up real quick and pour them in the muffin tins.

**Dairy free option: Substitute butter for coconut oil.

I hope you enjoy them as much as our family does!

Kristen

Gluten-Free Bagels

We love bagels in this house! When my dad was alive, we would meet at the bagel shop every Sunday morning from before I was pregnant with little C till after L was born. It was at least a good 4 years that we held this tradition. Even today, the workers still know us and love to see the kids growing. However, now that we know little C can not have any wheat or gluten, we can not go to our wonderful Bruggers.

I have found a bagel at Trader Joe's (of course my favorite store), but it doesn't have the texture of a "real" bagel, but, at least the kids like them and they can still have their cream cheese, unlike me.

Tonight, I tried my own recipe using the wonderful Pamela's Bread Flour. Apparently, they were "Good enough to eat," according to little C. I guess that's not bad. My dinners often are not good enough to eat and need to get choked down (according to these two).

I used a recipe I found on line for regular ol' New York Bagels. I forgot how sticky dough from this flour is and how difficult it is to work with. I ended up adding extra flour and although the shape wasn't perfect, they were pretty good and had that bagel texture. After boiling the bagels, I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the tops, then baked them.

Unfortunately, I didn't re-oil the pan after I cooked the first trial bagel. That was a bummer.

I think I will try them again using the bread recipe on the back of the Pamela's bag. Maybe the dough won't be so sticky.

Here is the bread mix I love!

Gluten Free Banana Muffins

After chronic stomach aches and sore throats without being sick, we had our son tested for food sensitivities and we found out he can't have wheat, corn and peanuts. Those are high on his list of sensitivities but, there are other things he can have only occasionally like, soy, gluten, and asparagus among others. 

Now, we have entered the world of gluten free (if you can't have wheat, just go for gluten free). The hard part is, many gluten free products have corn in them. Corn is almost an immediate reaction for my son and I. I also find soy in many products, even though soy is lower on his list, it is still there and he can not have it every day so I have to avoid products without soy. We have found gluten free breads to not be very good and I like to make my own stuff at home anyway. I am so excited to have found Pamela's Gluten free Bread Mix! I can use it as an all purpose flour and make home made bread. 

As we are preparing for school, I'm trying to come up with some different things for breakfast for my kids that is not just sugar like cereals. We can do eggs and oatmeal, but none of us want those every day. So, I'm making some healthy muffins.

I used my Pamela's Bread Mix as an all purpose flour for banana bread and added a little almond meal (not to be confused with finer almond flour) for some extra protein. Instead of white refined sugar, I used honey. This is not the honey I use for my energy balls, when we will be eating the honey raw, I always use raw local honey from our local farmers market. The cheaper honey is for baking and cooking only. 

L decided to help when it was time to fill the muffin tins.

I needed my little helper to taste test them for me because I can't have almonds. They were a success! The kids loved them and they will make a great breakfast or snack in their lunches.

Recipe:

1 1/2 c Pamela's Bread Mix
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 egg
1 c mashed bananas (3 large bananas)
1/3 c honey
1/4 c coconut oil
1/2 c almond meal (or oatmeal if you can't have nuts)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Test with a tooth pick for doneness.

Let me know what you think if you try them.

Kristen