Baker's Challenge

I received a few emails and read some other blogs advertising the Betty Crocker Baker's Gluten Free Challenge. Justin and I brainstormed how I could turn our favorite gluten-filled recipes in to GF recipes. In the rules, you must use an entire box of Betty Crocker GF baking mix (yellow cake, chocolate cake, brownie mix, chocolate chip cookie mix) or one cup of GF Bisquick to make your favorite holiday recipe. We came up with some grand ideas, which I plan to try.

Unfortunately the recipes need to be submitted by June 30. I'll be on vacation in Michigan for two weeks, which will consume time for practicing. Since I had to go to the grocery store today, I decided to pick up the ingredients and try one of my ideas!

I chose to start with...

I decided to make a fruit pizza! I'm not going to give you all the details of how to make it yet, because I think I might submit it. 

I like how it tasted with everything I added to the mix, but I think I need to use a bigger pan next time. I used a cheese cake pan to bake it for easy removal for decorating later. I love thick cookies, and this was thick! I just want to make sure you think more cookie than cake when you eat it. 

Check out the thickness!

Yum.

Happy Easter!

This Easter was very different for several reasons.

1. Breakfast

Last Year: Monkey Bread full of gluten!

This Year: A Sugar Dumplin' sans gluten!

These were fairly simple, and included one of my favorite GF products, Bisquick. The dough was a little crumbly so I rolled them in balls. In hind sight, I should have just scooped the dough into the pan tins because I think I compacted it too much.

The original recipe calls for pecans, which I decided not to use because well...I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my food. Justin said he thought they would be delicious with the pecans. Next time, I'll make some that way for him. I will definitely make these again, thanks Marlow!

2. Easter Baskets

Last Year: We did Easter baskets and Justin hid eggs for me around the house.

This year: I'm going to get a new pair of Tom's instead of a candy basket!

 (We are each getting a new pair, but we still need to order them. As you can see, I love Tom's!) You'll have to wait to see which pair I'm getting. Here are some I already own.

I got red ones for Xmas.

Remember how dirty my navy Tom's got?

And of course, when I rocked the MJ look!

3. Church

This year we were unable to go to church. We stayed home with our sleeping beauty!

Tomorrow I'll post about dinner.

Bisquick Pizza

I'm a Bisquick fanatic for breakfast foods. We recently tried to make pizza crust from the GF Bisquick. It was fairly simple:

• 1 1/3 cups Bisquick Gluten Free mix
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of oil
• 2 eggs, beaten

I mixed all the ingredients together to get a soupy mixture. I figured it would be a little runny because that's how the waffle and pancake mixes are. I was finally able to use my brand new Pampered Chef pizza stone. I wasn't sure how thick to spread the dough. I think I should of spread it out a little more. I cooked it at 425 for 15 minutes. The dough started to crack, but the box stated it would probably do that.

After 15 minutes, I pulled it out of the oven and topped it to make a Hawaiian pizza. It had a mountain effect because it started to bake up in the middle like a cake. Like I said, next time I need to spread it out more and evenly. We topped it with ham, fresh pineapple, red onion, and bacon. Then it cooked for 10 - 15 more minutes.

The dough was a tad too thick, but not bad. I think Udi's pizza crust is better. But this was fairly simple and we always have Bisquick on hand. I would try it again, making those small changes. I loved my pizza stone!

I ate the left overs for dinner yesterday. I even warmed the pieces up in the oven. I usually don't complain about leftovers, but it was a little soggy. The crust reminded me too much of a pancake. I do not recommend leftover pizza crust from Bisquick.

Waffle Obsession

After making pancakes using the gluten free Bisquick, I was ready to try Belgian waffles. A couple of Fridays ago, we were searching for something quick for dinner. Justin agreed so I followed the directions on the box.

• 1 1/3 cups Bisquick GF mix
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used EVOO because that is all we had.)
• 1 egg

The batter was a little runny, and I was nervous it would flood out the sides of the griddle. 

I fed Justin his waffles first. He hollered from the table, "These are the best waffles we've had in a long time!" How funny! Before I was diagnosed with celiac we were on a mission to find the best waffle mix.  You know it's always a good thing when a gluten eating person thinks something GF is yummy.

The waffles were so cakey. In the picture you can see the moist, crumbliness in them. Justin said they're the best artificial Belgian waffle.

Then came the best idea ever by my husband...Take the Cake ice cream.

The ice cream was even more amazing than the waffle itself. It tasted like a waffle cone/funnel cake with ice cream. I wish I had some now!

I ended up making a double batch of the batter so we could enjoy the dessert waffles. I put the extras in the fridge. I would put two quarters in the toaster for breakfast and frost them with peanut butter and honey.

EEk Pancakes!

Pancakes were ruined for me early in my journey of eating gluten free.  Justin and I usually made big breakfasts on Saturdays and Sundays, which usually consisted of pancakes or waffles since I don't really like eggs.  We grabbed a box of gluten free pancake mix from the commissary, to make a big breakfast one Saturday.  The mix smelled like angel food cake mix.  The pancakes were a bust!  They weren't fluffy, didn't taste like pancakes, and required the whole box for 10 pancakes!  I knew it would require trying different brands to find a good one.  But in the back of my head, I thought maybe all pancake mixes taste that horrid.

I knew Bisquick came out with a gluten free mix.  I never liked pancakes from Bisquick as a kid, but wanted to give the mix a try anyways. The majority of the time we shop at the commissary to get our groceries because it's cheaper and closer. We'll make a Whole Foods, Sun Harvest, or Central Market trip about once every month to stock up on specialty items.  Since Bisquick was a newer product of course the commissary didn't carry it.  

Last weekend we went to Houston to celebrates Justin's grandpa's 79th birthday. I was ecstatic when grandma gave me some GF Bisquick that she had found at Walmart. It's an amazing thing when people think of you and get something GF for you!  I couldn't wait to get home to try it.

Yay, my own GF Bisquick to try!

In fact, Sunday when we returned home I insisted that we try pancakes for dinner made by the GF Bisquick. I added some blueberries to the mix.

Ready to eat.

When I took my first bite, I instantly fell in love.  Pancakes that taste like pancakes!  Since I've been completely gluten free for 5 months, I always wonder if my taste buds have changed.  Justin is there to keep me in check. While he eats GF with me at home, he'll occasionally have some gluten at work or if we go out somewhere. He didn't think they were amazing, but he did think they were definitely better than the other ones we tried.  

Monday night we ran to the commissary to get a few groceries for the week. What do you think they had there?  GF Bisquick! I squealed to myself in the aisle with excitement.  I threw a box in our cart, because I've seen other recipes that use Bisquick that I want to try out.