Bisquick and My Blog Spark Giveaway

Oops, I completely forgot about the giveaway! It has been a very busy couple of weeks. I'm all tuckered out.

I finally remembered today and put the names in a coffee cup. The winner...

Yay!

I hope she enjoys her " fresh homemade gluten free bacon and egg biscuit!"

Cube Steak in the Crockpot

Last week I ended up with some cube steak in my fridge. I've never cooked cube steak and have no idea what to do with it. Thankfully, a quick google search helped me out.

I found out that cube steak is a piece of meat beat the hell up to make it tender. It's budget-friendly and it's usually used in chicken fried steak. However, I was not feeling chicken fried steak. I wanted something a little lighter. I also wanted to use the crock pot. Coming home after a long day to a hot, cooked dinner is totally underrated.

As I searched the internet for recipes involving cube steak and a crock pot, it was hard to find one that didn't call for several cans of condensed soup. Gross.
Besides, most are not gluten free.

I decided to make it up as I went along. And it turned out pretty tasty!

Crockpot Cube Steak

1 cube steak
1 c. chopped spinach
1 chopped stalk of celery
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 minced clove of garlic
1/4 c. red wine
1 T. Worcestershire sauce (Lee & Perrins is GF)
1 1/2 c. beef broth (check to make sure it's GF)
Green bell pepper strips (I wanted to add some but didn't have any. I think it would taste great with them)

Flour coating:
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1 T. oregano
1/2 t. pepper

Preheat a pan on medium high heat. While it's preheating, chop the veggies, parsley and garlic, and add them to the crock pot. Cut the cube steak into strips and dredge them in the tapioca starch/ oregano/ pepper mixture. Spray some cooking spray onto the pan to prevent sticking, and brown the meat on both sides. Throw it in the crock pot. Pour the wine into the pan to dislodge any leftovers from browning the meat, and add that liquid to the crock pot. Take a sip or two of wine for good health. Stir in the Worcestershire and beef broth. Cover and set at low heat for 4 hours. Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or quinoa.

Makes 2 servings. If you make this small amount, it will probably be done sooner but leaving it in there longer doesn't hurt it. It just makes the meat more tender.

Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise

I'm a big fan of cereal, and this is my new favorite cereal. It's really, really good.

Most gluten free cereals are fairly plain- simple flakes, puffs, or whatnot. This feels like a punched-up version of normal cereal. It has texture variation and a more complex flavor. But not too complex. It's just... good.

I know, I'm talking about cereal having a complex flavor, but you notice things like that when you eat the same simple cereals all the time! Even the name sounds good. Crunchy vanilla sunrise. Don't you just want to eat that? Well, I do. And it's amazing as far as breakfast cereals go.

If you're a cereal buff, or even if you're not, I definitely recommend that you try this. If you don't like it, you can give the rest of the box to me. :o)

My Blog Spark, Bisquick Baking Mix... and Giveaway!

I've been getting text messages, phone calls, and hearing the buzz around the blogs about it, and Bisquick (through My Blog Spark) was kind enough to send me... a box of the new Gluten Free Bisquick baking mix!! Yay! My Blog Spark is pretty awesome, take a second to join! (No, I don't have to say that; I really mean it!)

I had so many ideas for this box of awesomeness, but decided to take inspiration from... the box. I followed the 4-ingredient biscuit recipe on the back:

2 cups Bisquick Gluten Free mix
1/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. milk
3 eggs

Heat oven to 400F. Cut shortening into mix, using fork, until particles are the size of small peas. Stir in remaining ingredients until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 13-16 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 10 biscuits.

Super quick, super easy. Super yummy.

First I made 6 large biscuits, then I went down memory lane- when I was a kid I'd make these Bisquick cookie-type things with jam in the middle. Mmmm.

Next I'm going to try pancakes with the Pancake Pen. How fun does that look?? I'm also thinking it'd work fabulously for muffins- I always seem to make a mess when I fill the pan.

If anyone reads this poor deserted blog anymore, because My Blog Spark and Bisquick are so nice, one of you will receive a Gluten Free Bisquick prize pack!

Just leave a comment and share what you'd make first with the Bisquick baking mix. Biscuits? Pancakes? This amazing-looking apple pie? Mmm, chicken and dumplings ...or something totally unique? I'll pick a random winner a week from today.

Even if you don't win the prize pack, here's a link to a coupon  to save $1 when you buy a box of Bisquick GF baking mix.

Happy gluten-free-ing!

Pepperoni's gluten free pizza (!!)

!!! Oh, oh, OH. I cannot contain my excitement. Gluten free pizza- DELIVERED! No heating up my oven, no dishes, no going out or driving to a restaurant, just me in my scrubs and this effortless, amazing pizza after a really long, busy day.

Let's start at the beginning. I heard a rumor a while back that a nearby pizza place, Pepperoni's, started serving gluten free pizza. Today I thought of it, and checked the website. I completely missed the gluten free ad on the homepage, and called to ask about it. Normally when I hear rumors and call to ask about the gluten free-ness of a place, I'm met with, "Huh?" so that's what I was expecting.

The guy who answered was like, "Yeah we make gluten free pizza" and my heart leapt for joy!
I asked what they do to prevent cross contamination and he said, "We wear gloves to handle your pizza and we clean EEEVVVEEERRRRYYYYTTTTHHHIIIINNNNGGGGG" that your pizza touches. The way he said "everything" was hilarious, like it was such a huge pain in the ass to clean for gluten free pizzas. But, I thought that was good enough, and ordered myself some deliciousness. I opted to pick it up this first time, just to see where the place was. In the future, it's delivery baby.

Of course on the 1.5 mile drive home the pizza is smelling AMAZING and I get behind slow drivers and a school bus and I was thisclose to eating a piece in the car. But, I made it to the house before I devoured 2 pieces, trying really hard to savor them but they were just so amazing and I was just so hungry.

Really though, this pizza was delicious. I'm going to be buying from them from now on. Oh, I'm SO SO happy! SO Happy!

Breakfast Cookies, again

I decided to revise this breakfast cookie recipe to make it tastier, improve the texture, and give it a little more staying power. The previous version just didn't have enough calories to keep me going in the morning.

Breakfast Cookies

2 T. oil (I use light olive oil)
2 T. maple syrup
1 egg, beaten
pinch of xanthan gum
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
1 c. GF oats
1/4 c. flaxseed meal
2 T. soy flour
1/4 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and shape into densely packed cookies on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 350. (Alternatively, press into an 8x8 pan and make them as bars.) They will not spread, so flatten them to your liking before baking.

Let them cool on the pan or they might fall apart. Once they cool they'll be set.

Drizzle with icing:

1/8 t. vanilla
1/4 c. powdered sugar
dash of salt
1/2 t. water

Makes about 6 chewy cookies/ bars. Very similar to Quaker's Oatmeal To Go (Which are NOT Gluten Free).

Happy portable breakfasting!

Gluten Free Houston

As I type this I'm having a delicious grilled cheese & chicken sandwich on goooood gluten free bread. That's because my mom and I went to Gluten Free Houston's bake sale this morning and had a few delicious free samples of muffins, bread, and cake.

It was hard to decide on what to buy because it was all SO GOOD, but I came home with a loaf of bread, some carrot cake muffins that are AMAZING, a frozen pizza, and a loaf of bread that's frozen and unbaked- just thaw it and pop it in the oven for fresh bread. LOVE it.

I've also tried the chocolate chip cookies (purchased at the St. Luke's hospital cafeteria, of all random places!) and they are really good.

If you get a chance, try this place. I will definitely be going back!