Any Gluten Free Cooks?

[Sally PB]

Here's something that I like on "spaghetti night," which is every Wednesday night at our house. It's just the two of us, and DH is (emphatically!) NOT gluten free.

I almost always have some brown rice cooked and ready to go in the fridge. For spaghetti night, I put 1/2-3/4 cup of rice in a small sauce pan, pour some spaghetti sauce over, and heat it up. Parmesan cheese over the top, and then we can have a meal we both like.

Here's my home made spaghetti sauce recipe, in case anyone wants to check it out. Once I started making this, I never went back to store bought. I don't even care if Ragu is GF or not, I don't buy it. I can have this made in the time it takes the water to boil for DH's pasta.

1 quart of home canned tomatoes, or a large can from the store, drained
1 small onion, peeled
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 Tablespoon olive oil
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 scant teaspoon oregano
1 slightly rounded teaspoon basil

Drain the tomatoes well through a strainer. Put everything into a blender, and blend at high speed for about 30 seconds. Done! Heat it if you want to; DH likes it just like that on hot vermicelli.

 

[Sally PB]

Here's something else I really like. I call them Grownies. The story behind the name: I wanted to make granola bars, but when I baked them long enough to be crunchy, they just tasted burned. So I baked them more like a brownie, and came up with the name "grownie."

This recipe is rather vague, as to the ingredients. That's intentional. I have made this so many different ways, and only once did I think, "Eh, not so good."

Grownies

2 cups old fashioned oats
½ to 1 cup quinoa, depending on how much you like quinoa
2 cups liquid of some kind (see below)
Cocoa, 2 T to ½ cup
Cinnamon, 1 t to 2 T
2 eggs
Raisins
1 or 2 very ripe bananas
Honey
¾ - 1 cup peanut butter, any style

Other things

Mix the oats, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. (I’m vague about the cocoa and cinnamon; if you like a lot, use a lot.) Add the liquid and combine. Cook the quinoa in twice its volume of water, and mix into the oats. Cover and let sit for a few hours to overnight. At least for a nice long dog walk or chicken visit.

Mix in the peanut butter. Beat the eggs, add. Mash the bananas, add.

Add as much honey as you like. I don’t measure honey for this; I just guesstimate about 1/3 cup. You need some, since cocoa isn't sweet.

Stir in a bunch of raisins. Like a cup, more or less. Leave them out if you don’t like raisins. (I actually know someone who doesn’t like raisins. I love her anyway.)

This is when you would add in the Other Things. Nuts, if you like them. The pulp from juicing, if you do that. I’ve used carrot, cranberry, and blueberry. Other dried fruit. Ok, chocolate chips, if you must. The consistency is like a wet cookie dough.

Now… the liquid part. I’ve used: applesauce, whey, regular yogurt, pureed apples, mashed canned peaches, and I’m probably forgetting some. My usual one is a pint of homemade applesauce, which is about 1 3/4 cup.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Scoop/pour the mix into the pan and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Check at 25: use the toothpick test. When it’s done, the edges will pull away from the pan, and the top surface will have a few cracks in it.

Set it out to cool until you can put your hand on the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours.

When you take it out, there will be a LOT of condensation on the plastic wrap. Peel it off as fast as you can; blot up the drips that fall on the grownies.

Chilling them in the fridge is what makes them moist all the way through. Cut into however many pieces you want to, and store, covered, in the fridge.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Here's something else I really like. I call them Grownies. The story behind the name: I wanted to make granola bars, but when I baked them long enough to be crunchy, they just tasted burned. So I baked them more like a brownie, and came up with the name "grownie."

This recipe is rather vague, as to the ingredients. That's intentional. I have made this so many different ways, and only once did I think, "Eh, not so good."

Grownies

2 cups old fashioned oats
½ to 1 cup quinoa, depending on how much you like quinoa
2 cups liquid of some kind (see below)
Cocoa, 2 T to ½ cup
Cinnamon, 1 t to 2 T
2 eggs
Raisins
1 or 2 very ripe bananas
Honey
¾ - 1 cup peanut butter, any style

Other things

Mix the oats, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. (I’m vague about the cocoa and cinnamon; if you like a lot, use a lot.) Add the liquid and combine. Cook the quinoa in twice its volume of water, and mix into the oats. Cover and let sit for a few hours to overnight. At least for a nice long dog walk or chicken visit.

Mix in the peanut butter. Beat the eggs, add. Mash the bananas, add.

Add as much honey as you like. I don’t measure honey for this; I just guesstimate about 1/3 cup. You need some, since cocoa isn't sweet.

Stir in a bunch of raisins. Like a cup, more or less. Leave them out if you don’t like raisins. (I actually know someone who doesn’t like raisins. I love her anyway.)

This is when you would add in the Other Things. Nuts, if you like them. The pulp from juicing, if you do that. I’ve used carrot, cranberry, and blueberry. Other dried fruit. Ok, chocolate chips, if you must. The consistency is like a wet cookie dough.

Now… the liquid part. I’ve used: applesauce, whey, regular yogurt, pureed apples, mashed canned peaches, and I’m probably forgetting some. My usual one is a pint of homemade applesauce, which is about 1 3/4 cup.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Scoop/pour the mix into the pan and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Check at 25: use the toothpick test. When it’s done, the edges will pull away from the pan, and the top surface will have a few cracks in it.

Set it out to cool until you can put your hand on the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours.

When you take it out, there will be a LOT of condensation on the plastic wrap. Peel it off as fast as you can; blot up the drips that fall on the grownies.

Chilling them in the fridge is what makes them moist all the way through. Cut into however many pieces you want to, and store, covered, in the fridge.

Both of your recipes sound amazing!

 

[Sally PB]

Thank you!

 

[Boppo]

Sally PB, we have had good success using Bob's Red Mill one to one baking flour mix for gluten free pizzas. My son needs to eat gluten free, but the rest of my household not so. But it's been a great thing to experiment and learn how to produce some nice meals that meat everybody's needs and still taste great. Some really helpful GF recipe sites out there, too if you google.

 

[Boppo]

Here's something else I really like. I call them Grownies. The story behind the name: I wanted to make granola bars, but when I baked them long enough to be crunchy, they just tasted burned. So I baked them more like a brownie, and came up with the name "grownie."

This recipe is rather vague, as to the ingredients. That's intentional. I have made this so many different ways, and only once did I think, "Eh, not so good."

Grownies

2 cups old fashioned oats
½ to 1 cup quinoa, depending on how much you like quinoa
2 cups liquid of some kind (see below)
Cocoa, 2 T to ½ cup
Cinnamon, 1 t to 2 T
2 eggs
Raisins
1 or 2 very ripe bananas
Honey
¾ - 1 cup peanut butter, any style

Other things

Mix the oats, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. (I’m vague about the cocoa and cinnamon; if you like a lot, use a lot.) Add the liquid and combine. Cook the quinoa in twice its volume of water, and mix into the oats. Cover and let sit for a few hours to overnight. At least for a nice long dog walk or chicken visit.

Mix in the peanut butter. Beat the eggs, add. Mash the bananas, add.

Add as much honey as you like. I don’t measure honey for this; I just guesstimate about 1/3 cup. You need some, since cocoa isn't sweet.

Stir in a bunch of raisins. Like a cup, more or less. Leave them out if you don’t like raisins. (I actually know someone who doesn’t like raisins. I love her anyway.)

This is when you would add in the Other Things. Nuts, if you like them. The pulp from juicing, if you do that. I’ve used carrot, cranberry, and blueberry. Other dried fruit. Ok, chocolate chips, if you must. The consistency is like a wet cookie dough.

Now… the liquid part. I’ve used: applesauce, whey, regular yogurt, pureed apples, mashed canned peaches, and I’m probably forgetting some. My usual one is a pint of homemade applesauce, which is about 1 3/4 cup.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Scoop/pour the mix into the pan and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Check at 25: use the toothpick test. When it’s done, the edges will pull away from the pan, and the top surface will have a few cracks in it.

Set it out to cool until you can put your hand on the bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours.

When you take it out, there will be a LOT of condensation on the plastic wrap. Peel it off as fast as you can; blot up the drips that fall on the grownies.

Chilling them in the fridge is what makes them moist all the way through. Cut into however many pieces you want to, and store, covered, in the fridge.

I love your way of doing a recipe! It's actually very helpful.

 

[Sally PB]

I love your way of doing a recipe! It's actually very helpful.

Thank you! I like to explain the why behind the how, if I have something that works for me. That recipe is so easy to customize to what you like/don't like.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

Ok! VERY hungry now! Scratch & sniff just doesn’t cut it anymore!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Gluten Free pancakes from scratch tonight! I tried to get a picture to show the texture.

 

[Isadora]

Gluten Free pancakes from scratch tonight! I tried to get a picture to show the texture.
View attachment 3290502View attachment 3290503

Those are impressive!