I Love St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Yes I am one of those white people who proudly proclaim their minute percentage of Irishness!  I'm not ashamed! :P  As such I enjoy celebrating St. Patrick's Day  and I feel my dog Cocoa should celebrate as well.  This year I decided to make a bit of an Irish feast.  I started with some Irish stew.  It turned out okay.  Not great.  I didn't picture it.  To go with it I made:

Irish Soda Bread

I basically followed the recipe except I am not dairy free so I used real milk and real butter.  This stuff was so easy and tasted fabulous!  It didn't have the gluten free bread taste at all! 

Of course I can't go without dessert so I made this Irish Cream Cake.  I used a Betty Crocker gluten free cake mix.  I've heard mixed reviews about whether or not Bailey's is safe for gluten free folks but I decided if I could not have Guinness I was at least having Irish Cream! This cake was so delicious.  Easy too.   I'll be making this one again! 

As an added treat I made Irish Cream Fudge.  I used my basic fudge recipe: simmer fat free sweetened condensed milk, add a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir til melted, remove from heat add a shot of Irish Cream (or other liquor), add 1/2 cup of nuts, and 1/2 cup of coconut.  Pour into an 8x8 pan and put in the fridge til set.  Fool-proof!  

Well the holiday is officially over and I'm heading to bed!  Here's a last shot of Cocoa.  He's super happy about his green shirt! ;)  Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day!  

Weary of winter but loving chai lattes!

I'm honestly a terrible blogger.  I update this much too rarely.  I need to get more excitement in my life so I'll have more blog-worthy events!  This has been the worst winter I've ever experienced.  I've spent a lot of time indoors and bored.  So my goal for March is to do, see, and eat more exciting stuff!  Wish me luck! 

I did try something new recently.  Chia Goodness.  I first tried it mixed with hot water and it was not so fab.  Then I mixed it with plain yogurt and frozen raspberries.  Viola!  Fantastic!  I got the cranberry ginger flavor because I love anything cranberry or ginger! Plus I really like chia seeds.  

Another thing I'm in love with this month are peanut butter ginger chews.  They are 25 calories a piece and really hit the spot after lunch.  I've got this dessert mentality where I think I must have sweets after every meal.  Strangely as a child I would almost never eat dessert. I just didn't care for sweet stuff.  I'm making up for it now! :) 

I've been eating a lot of comfort foods in this snow.  This is the leftover picture of possibly the best meatloaf ever!  It's BBQ cheddar meatloaf.  Served with Parmesan mashed potatoes. I took a pound of ground bison and mixed it with 1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce, 1 egg, and a cup of Minute brown rice.  I patted it in the loaf pan and topped it with more bbq.  Then I baked it for 30 minutes at 350, covered with cheddar and baked 15 more minutes.  OMG yumtastic.  I always improvise with meat loafs and mashed potatoes.  I mix different things in everytime.

Another improv meal for me is chili.  I never make the same chili twice.  Last night I had chicken chili.  I cooked a pound of ground chicken, added 2 cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of white kidney beans, and 1 can of white corn.  Then I added one cup of  Minute yellow rice. Sprinkled liberally with cayenne and simmered while I did my exercise video. Then I topped with Daisy light sour cream and shredded cheddar.  Very tasty.  I love when my dinner cooks while I exercise!  

I have recently developed a deep love for chai tea mistos at Starbucks.  Of course I don't want to pay $4 every time I crave one.  Lucky for me my super friend Danielle gave me a milk frother for Christmas!  It is so fun!  I can make pretty drinks in like two seconds!  I've developed a method that I think is better than Starbucks!  I heat unsweetened vanilla almond milk to a slight simmer.  I pour it over a Stash Chai tea bag and a spoonful of raw honey and steep for a few minutes.  Meanwhile I heat a bit more almond milk until it's about to simmer, remove from heat and froth.  Then I spoon it on top of my chai and sprinkle with cinnamon.  It's so good.  The almond milk gives it an amazing flavor!  It's so much better than steeping it in water.

Valentine's Day Festivities!

I am aware that Valentine's Day is over by nearly a week but I've been slacking in the blogging department.  I've been feeling under the weather this week and I'm a little down because of all the snow we've been having.  It has literally snowed every day for two months straight.

At our house Valentine's Day isn't just about romance, it's also my daughter's birthday!  So of course I had to go all out. I started by making candy roses with pink candy melts.  I realized after I got home that I didn't buy any green for the leaves so I improvised with some green sugar.  I know those candy melts are full of hydrogenated oils but it's not like I use them more than a few times a year, plus they are damn pretty!

I also got the big idea to make homemade fortune cookies.  Brianna loves fortune cookies and I cannot eat them since they are not gluten free.  So I made them myself.  Ummm...much harder than it sounds.  I got the idea and recipe here.  I used Gluten Free Pantry's all purpose flour for this recipe.  Then since I had melted candy left over from the roses I dipped the cookies in candy and sprinkled them!  I should mention that these cookies did not get hard as they cooled like the recipe suggested.  I was going to throw them away but then decided to put them in a 300 degree oven for awhile and see if they'd harden.  Thank goodness they did! :)

Since those went okay I decided to make a big fortune cookie!  Not so pretty but man it was tasty.  I first brushed it with dark chocolate, let it harden, then brushed it with the pink melts and sprinkles.

For a cake Brianna requested the flourless chocolate cake.  I use this recipe.  I tried to get in the spirit with colored sugar and sprinkles.

For dinner Brianna requested shrimp caprese.  Pardon my fancy, environmentally unfriendly paper plate.  We dined at my parents and I didn't want to leave a mess.  Naturally this was gluten free pasta.  I've been using Ancient Harvest and honestly can't tell the difference!

Here is Brianna with some of her goodies!

I can't believe my baby is 15!  Wow I'm feeling elderly! lol!

Nothing new under the sun....or in the snow.

Business as usual in my world.  Snow and ice storms.  Bad roads.  Freezing cold.  Going to work, eating, and sleeping! That about covers what I've done the past month!  Except for turning 32 last week.  Birthdays cease to be exciting after age 24! The only thing I look forward to is food.  Specifically my mom's wonderful lasagna.

 I forgot to take pictures the day of, but here's my after b-day leftover lunch.  Note my sexy new Starbucks coffee mug.  I have an addiction to buying coffee mugs at Starbucks.  Seriously.

For my cake I made key lime cupcakes.The recipe is found here: http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2008/09/key_lime_cupcakes. Naturally I subbed Pamela's gluten free baking mix for the flour.  They were good, but the cake kind of had an unusual spongy texture.  Also I never add food coloring to a recipe.  Just not necessary in my opinion.

Here is my new favorite breakfast!  I go through breakfast "phases" where I eat the same thing for a month or so every weekday morning.  This month it's Lundberg Brown rice cakes with peanut butter, with a side of plain yogurt mixed with frozen raspberries (slightly thawed).  It's so good!  I swear I crave peanut butter and rice cakes all the time! I decided buying a big thing of plain yogurt and mixing it with the berries is #1 cheaper and #2 way healthier than artificial flavored yogurts.  I don't even add sweetner at all!  One bag of fruit and one tub of yogurt lasts a whole week! :)

Today culinary adventure involved using the remaining chicken from the bird I roasted for dinner a few nights back.  I decided on gluten free chicken noodle soup.  I first heated olive oil in my pan, added garlic, mushrooms, and carrots and sauteed for a few minutes.  Then I added a box of Kitchen Basics chicken broth and some cooked Ancient Harvest gluten free pasta shells. I simmered until the carrots were soft, added shredded chicken and continued simmering a few minutes.  It was really good! I also added some Bragg's seasoning blend.  It's kind of similar to Mrs. Dash.

Well now I'm off to eat some dinner and get ready for another week!

Bacon cupcakes rock!

Today was our best friend Mike's birthday!  Mike loves bacon.  He will eat an entire pound of bacon at once!  So I knew I had to make him bacon cupcakes. This recipe was adapted from All Recipes. Of course I substituted Pamela's gluten free baking mix for the flour and leavening agents.  Everything else was as written.  I used all natural, uncured, hickory smoked bacon.  I don't like all the chemicals that are in normal bacon.  For the icing I decided on a simple ganache.  I heated one cup of heavy cream and stirred in a 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth.  Then I topped the cupcakes.  Perfection!  They really are good.  My husband was totally weirded out by the bacon, it was too much for him!  Everyone else loved them.  The saltiness of the bacon accentuates the sweetness of the dark chocolate.  Really a unique and delicious cupcake!

In other news I am cooking more due to gluten restrictions.  I love deli roasted chicken for quick and easy dinners but I noticed the ones at Kroger's are not gluten free!  So the past couple of weeks I have been roasting a chicken at the start of the week and using it for a couple of quick dinners and lunches!  As you may notice I do not tie the legs.  This is because I'm too forgetful to buy the twine.  I've read it makes the chicken more moist  but I've not had any trouble without it.  I make this the simplest way possible.  I rinse and dry the chicken, rub it with olive oil and Bragg's seasoning mix plus salt and pepper.  I then put it in the oven at 350 for about an hour and forty minutes.  I let it rest for about 20 minutes and dig in!  The night I make it we will have the legs and thighs with a salad and baked potato.  Then I'll shred some and take for lunch with beans and rice or in a greek salad with lettuce, olives, and feta.   The rest I put in soups or casseroles.  Another good lunch idea is of course chicken salad!

I mix the shredded chicken with Hellman's olive oil mayo, sliced seedless grapes, and toasted pecans.  Served over greens.  Simple and delicious like most of the best things in life!

Happiness and it's causes!

First off I want everyone to know that Lori is giving away a book on her blog this week!  It's called Lose the Diet.  I think it sounds like a great book because I hate "diets" and think they are silly!  You have until Sunday to enter! 

Speaking of Lori she has passed an award on to me!  The  Happy 101!  I now must list 10 things that make me happy!  These are in no particular order by the way!   

1.  My family!   I have a great husband and daughter and we laugh together often! Plus 2 cute nephews!
2. My friends!  I have some of the best! Anytime I'm down they cheer me right up!
3. Hate to put TV shows on here but honestly The Office, Seinfeld, and the Twilight Zone make me really happy!
4. Cooking and baking.  Trying new recipes is so much fun!
5. Museums.  Seeing history and art up close is amazing!
6.Traveling.  I wish I could do more of it.  I love exploring different places!
7. Eating.  Sad as it seems this may be my favorite recreational activity! lol!
8. Reading a good book.  I prefer fiction. Favorites are Charlene Harris, Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton, and so many more.
9. A perfect cup of coffee or tea.  Especially with scones.  Except now they must be gluten free scones!
10.  Sleeping.  Yep, I love, love, love to sleep!  I'm so lazy!


I pass this award on to anyone and everyone who wants to share their happiness! :)

Rum makes everything better!

This weekend was one of my best friend's birthdays!  I invited her over for lunch.  I served shephard's pie (which I've blogged about before) along with rum cake and rum fudge! You can never have too much rum! ;)

First up the fudge!  I got the idea from Steph Chows.  She made coconut fudge with Captain Morgans last week. At the time I had banana rum so I thought I'd sub that.  Then I decided I should add macadamia nuts and make it Tropical Fudge!  So I did.  I'd never made fudge but this was soooo easy!
In a saucepan I poured 1 (14oz) can low fat Eagle brand condensed milk.  Then I added one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I simmered until the chocolate melted then added one shot of banana rum and stirred until creamy.  I removed the pan from heat and added 2 handfuls of sweetened flaked coconut and around 2 handfuls of chopped macadamias.  Then I poured it into a 8 in. pan lined with wax paper and threw in the fridge overnight.  It turned out perfect!  My friends said it was the best fudge they'd ever had so I was pretty proud of it!

For her birthday cake I made a rum cake.  I got the recipe from Recipezaar.  Naturally I had to make a few changes.  First up I used Captain Morgans rum because I'm not crazy about vanilla and I thought spiced rum would be better.  My second big change was obviously making it gluten free.  I subbed the flour in the recipe for Pamela's Baking mix and omitted the leavening agents.  I must confess though that I misplaced my non-stick cooking spray and tried to drizzle the pan with canola oil.  The cake stuck pretty bad and came out in four pieces! lol!  The taste however was out of this world!  Seriously the best cake I EVER ate. You totally couldn't tell it was gluten free!  I am making myself one for my own birthday in a couple of weeks!

Here is me with the birthday girl!  She seemed to enjoy her lunch!  I just love cooking for people! :)