GF pumpkin cheesecake bites.

Not kidding. These things are to die for! I adapted this recipe from Our Best Bites, so hope on over there and give them a cyber hug for me! Trust me, you'll want to after you eat one of these babies!

Crumb Crust/Topping

2 c. Pamela's gluten free pancake and baking mix

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. uncooked gluten-free oats

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

3/4 c. butter, melted

Combine flour, sugar, oats, salt, and nuts in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and combine with hands until mixture is coarse and crumbly.

For mini tarts, drop a generous teaspoon of mixture into each hole; for cupcake-sized tarts, line a tin with foil cupcake liners and drop a generous tablespoon into each liner. Press down.

Use leftover mixture to sprinkle on tarts before baking.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling

1 small can pumpkin

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese (light works great), softened

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Sweetened whipped cream

Combine pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and seasoning and mix completely. Spoon into prepared crust (1 Tbsp. for minis, 2 generous Tbsp. for regulars) and sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake at 350; for mini tarts, bake for about 15 minutes. For the regular tarts, bake closer to 20. If you'd like the crumb topping a little darker, you can turn the broiler on for a few minutes, but you have to keep a close eye on them because they will literally burn in a few seconds.

GLUTEN FREE NOTE: I would suggest preparing the filling before mixing the crust. When I made these, it seemed like the crust dried out a bit while I made the filling. If you make the filling first, you can just remix it when you want to spoon it in.

*Did you know that making your whipped cream with powdered sugar instead of normal sugar makes it softer and sweeter? Try it!

GF pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust

I just found this delicious Thanksgiving recipe that can be easily turned into a gluten-free delicacy.

I was actually going to make something similar to this (without a recipe), but finding it here saved me loads of time!

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Crust:
4 cups finely crushed gingersnaps *
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 T grated fresh ginger
1 LB cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh cooked/pureed or canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. To make the crust, combine the gingersnap crumbs with the melted butter and toss together until the mixture holds together when pressed. Add an additional tablespoon of melted butter if necessary. Pat evenly over the bottom and halfway up the sides of 8 ( 4 1/2-inch) tart pans. Bake about 7 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

Make filling: put the grated ginger in a fine sieve set over a small bowl and press against it to extract the juice. Toss pulp, save juice. In mixer, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, spices and salt. (Note: it is essential you scrape sides with a rubber spatula, to incorporate the cream cheese). Beat until creamy and well combined. Mix in ginger juice and the pumpkin puree. Add the eggs one at a time, combining after each until blended but don’t over beat. Pour the filling into the tart or tartlette pans and bake 25 to 35 minutes—until the center is just firm to the touch. Cool to room temperature then chill at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

Note: consider serving with dollops of cinnamon whipped cream.

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*To make this recipe gluten-free, try these products:

Mary's Gone Crackers

Mi-Del

Glow Gluten Free

GF Ultra Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

I just made these cookies and they are absolutely delicious!  I made them with Guittard mint chips instead of chocolate chips, but they are even better that way!

ULTRA CHOCOLATE CHIP MINT COOKIES

2 1/4 cups GF flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chocolate chips, 2 Hershey's chocolate bars, chopped or M&M'S
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda.

3. In another large bowl. stir together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa.

4. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix until combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips (and walnuts) until they are evenly distributed.

6. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.

7. Bake about 10 minutes.

8. Cool on a baking rack.

Argentina is GF-Friendly

Hey friends. I just got back from a fantastic trip to Argentina and am sad to be home. I just thought I would mention, however, that Argentina is GF-friendly - more friendly than the blessed US of A (as is every other foreign country I've been to) - so if you randomly decide you want to visit this beautiful place, don't let your diet hold you back (say, "soy celiaco(a)" and most people know what you are talking about). The association that facilitates food labeling there has come up with a very handy little "stamp" that goes on all products that are gluten-free. This makes reading labels pretty easy, although I tend to be OCD so I still checked to make sure they were right (paranoid much?) All products with this stamp are free of wheat, barley, oats, and rye (el trigo, la avena, la cebada, y el centeno). There is a pretty great gluten-free blog in Spanish that I have decided to link to - I figure that a good number of people will be able to understand it. It has recipes and lots of good information, so check it out. Anyway, I'm hoping to update this more...I guess I have been pretty negligent. Nos vemos.

Vegetarian Chili

I have a favorite chili recipe that I like to make early on in the week and snack on until it's gone. This recipe was given to me by a coworker a few years ago and I love that I don't have to tweak it to make it gluten free! Of course I still have to read the labels carefully, but it's a pretty safe recipe that would be hard to contaminate.

VEGETARIAN CHILI

1 can kidney beans
1 can great northern beans
1 can black beans
1 large can stewed chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. cumin
1 cup water

I don't use sugar in the recipe and I usually add more or less of something depending on how good it looks to me at the moment. Oh and I like lots of cumin...I usually use 3/4 tsp instead of 1/2 tsp.

Enjoy!

A Successful Experiment: GF Oreos

So tonight Rachel and I decided that we were going to conquer one of our gluten-free woes. We have a favorite treat that we used to make using chocolate cake mix, and we finally decided that we have had enough homemade oreo deprivation and were going to eat a gluten-free version by the end of the night. We used a gluten-free cake mix and kind of did the rest improv...but it worked! Hizzah! I will now share the successful experiment with you.

Cookies:
1 bag Kinnikinnick chocolate cake mix
2 tbs GF flour
3 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
Preaheat the oven to 350*.

Mix the "cookie" ingredients in a bowl.
Round them into little balls (tbs size?) on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Sprinkle them with powder sugar (it makes them pretty) and let them harden and cool off before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Cream:
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powder sugar

The cream cheese and butter MUST be softened to room temperature.
Mash them together.
Add vanilla.
Add about one cup of powder sugar, then slowly add the rest until the frosting is somewhat firm but isn't grainy from too much sugar. You don't want it too soft because it won't stay put between the cookies very well. Honestly, just do it to taste. You'll decide when you like it.

After the cookies are hardened, remove them from the cookie sheet and spoon frosting between two of them. It makes a tasty homemade oreo. And...it's gluten free! Sigh.

Introduction

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in April of 2007 after too many years of pointless doctors appointments and having "nothing wrong" with me. While I was grateful to know what was going on, I was still somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that my eating habits had to change overnight. I have now been gluten-free for almost one year and am still discovering new things about the lifestyle every day. This blog will just be a record of discoveries I make and new products I find.