Product Review: Catelli Gluten Free Lasagna Sheets

I was asked by my mother to take care of dinner last night as the whole family was going to be together and we needed to find a kid friendly dinner for the little ones. So we thought that lasagna would be a good choice since it consists of noodles, meat and cheese. Normally I would make my own noodles when I am making lasagna, as it is so easy and fun, but my pasta maker was at my house in another town and so that was out of the question. Instead we headed to the grocery store looking for gluten free lasagna noodles. I stopped buying them when I started making my own and was not particularily enthused about having to use brown rice flour noodles, but that seemed my only option in the gluten free section. Upon browsing the normal aisles I noticed that the Catelli gluten free pasta was with the normal pasta and they had lasagna sheets. I thought I would try these instead of the brown rice ones and see how they worked. They seemed small, so we bought several boxes just in case. 

                                                   

This lasagna was one of the best I have had in a long time. The noodles are no boil, but I soaked them in hot water for a couple minutes just so they did not soak too much of the sauce. I used my normal meat/veggie sauce and cheese combinations and used almost 2 boxes of noodles for 3 layers in an 8x13" pan. It cooked for an hour at 350, and came out perfectly browned. 

All of us enjoyed it, (gluten and non gluten eaters) including my picky eating nieces. It was a perfectly saucy, cheesy lasagna. It was more like the gluten filled lasagna my mom made when we were kids, as I find most gluten free noodles soak up too much sauce and become soggy. These held their shape and did not fall apart. They easily held the whole lasagna together and when cooled slightly cut into perfect pieces. It was a wonderful family dinner. 

I will keep these noodles in the cupboard for days when I am away from my pasta machine, or just feeling too lazy to make my own noodles. 

Product Review: Full of Beans Spicy Carrot Cake Mix

                                                   

Going through my cupboard today trying to find something to make to take to an afternoon tea and came across the package of Carrot Cake Mix from Full Of Beans. I had all of the ingredients on hand so I decided to make these as mini muffins instead of a full carrot cake to make it easier for people to eat. 

I was worried as I was mixing the first ingredients together as it was very dry looking and was not coming together as a cake mix should. But once I added the grated carrots and crushed pineapple it miraculously came together into a sticky, gooey batter. I sprayed my mini muffin tin with cooking spray rather than use liners and filled the cups to just below the top. I baked them for approximately 18-20 minutes or until the toothpick came out clean and the top was golden brown. The whole mix made more than 48 mini muffins.

I tried one hot out of the oven as a quality control before I continued baking the rest of the batter. IT WAS AMAZING! These were the first muffins that tasted exactly like the regular ones. They were sweet, without being too sweet, and did not even need the traditional cream cheese icing. They have a good combination of spice and carrot flavour and the pineapple is not a noticeable, just adds sweetness.  The top of the muffin was even crunchy like a muffin top should be. Since making them this afternoon I have eaten more of them than I care to admit and I am not sure they will make it to the tea. 

I will definitely be buying this one again, in fact I think this will be a staple in my pantry from now on.

Product Review: Mi-Del Premade Crumb Crusts

Last week I found a new product in my local Loblaws and got very excited.

                             

I saw this and immediately thought Banana Cream Pie. So tonights dessert was a wonderful Banana Cream Pie. 

                                                                        

   

This crust stayed crisp, even though the pie filling was hot when it went into the crust and had a nice chocolate flavor. It was nice and thin, but held together and did not fall apart when taking the pieces out of the pan. A little sweet, but most crumb crusts are. I balanced the sweetness out with a thick layer of fresh bananas on the bottom of the pie. This crust also comes in graham and ginger cookie flavours. I will definitely buy this one again!

Strange Paleo Muffins

Today I had a visit with a wonderful friend of mine who has been totally stressed out lately. I wanted to do something nice for her and thought I would bring some muffins. I have not had much success with gluten free muffins, they usually turn out hard and dry. Since my friend is following a Paleo diet I had the added challenge of making them completely grain free so it would be a nice treat for her. I searched for recipes online and found the recipe for Paleo, Gluten Free and Grain Free Mini Muffins Made With Bananas on Whole Lifestyle Nutrition's website. It is a recipe that I realized later I had previously pinned to my gluten free board on Pinterest. I was not sure exactly how it was going to turn out as there is no flour in it what so ever. But I was determined to try.

Surprisingly they are really great. Hot out of the oven they raise up just like regular muffins and have the texture similar to a souffle or egg dish. But they actually taste like banana chocolate muffins. Even once they have cooled they were still great. Cooler the texture is closer to an actual fluffy muffin. They did take 5 minutes longer cooking time than stated in the recipe, make sure you use toothpick to test for doneness. But when cooked they look exactly like a muffin.

Since taking these to my friends this afternoon I have been told they were devoured and am posting this recipe with her in mind so they can make these muffins for themselves. Mine are mostly gone as well.

Ingredients

~ 1 cup nut butter, any variety. I used smooth almond butter.

~ 2 medium sized bananas, approximately 2/3 cup smashed banana. The riper the banana the sweeter. 

~ 2 lg eggs

~ 1 tsp vanilla

~ 2 Tbsp raw honey, or other natural sweetener such as maple syrup or stevia

~ 1/2 tsp baking soda

~ 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

~ toppings: dehydrated unsweetened coconut flakes, raisins, flaxseed, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, or anything else you can think of

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. 

2. Place all ingredients into food processor. You can also use a stick blender if you have one. 

3. Blend until well mixed. If using fresh bananas I would suggest blending those first before adding other ingredients as they tend to lump up and not blend smoothly. Previously frozen and defrosted bananas would blend nicely (but might need a little more cooking time as they would make the batter more liquid).

4. Pour batter into greased muffin tin. You can also use a mini muffin pan to make 24 mini muffins. I used paper muffin liners instead of greasing the pan as I was unsure just how Paleo cooking spray is. 

5. Add additional toppings of your choice to each muffin and lightly stir to incorporate into each cup. I sprinkled finely chopped dark chocolate over the muffins, stirred it in and then sprinkled more on top.

6. Cook time: 15 minutes for full size muffins, 10 minutes for mini muffins. Mine took a total of 20 minutes to cook completely, rotating the pan halfway through cooking. 

You can reheat these by placing in a toaster oven for 4 minutes at 350F to warm them slightly. But they are great at room temperature.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins, or 24 mini muffins.

                                            

Product Review: XO Baking Co. Banana Bread Mix

                  

                                                             

I don't normally write about products that I do not like as I do not want to be negative. But part of why I started this journey was to share my experiences with products so no one else will waste their money, or at least be aware of what they are purchasing. I know that everybody has different tastes and what one person likes another will not, but I had to share my thoughts about the XO Baking Co. Banana Bread Mix that I purchased recently. I read a review that was posted on another blog that I follow. She loved the mix and when I saw it in the store I wanted to try it too. I normally make things from scratch, but like to keep a few mixes on hand for those times I do not have the ingrediebts or patience for scratch. Today was one of those times. I really wanted something comforting and so I brought out the mix. 

It was super easy to make and use a little more banana than most recipes. I liked this aspect as I thought this would give it more banana flavor. I was wrong. It had no flavour what so ever. The loaf was very spongy, stretchy, and dry instead of being tender and moist like most banana breads I have made. I could tell when I took it out of the oven that it was a little too light in colour and the texture was different than what I am used to. When I tasted it, I was very disappointed. There was no banana flavour even though there were 3 very ripe bananas in it. 

I think I will keep making my banana bread from scratch.

This is one mix I will not buy again.  

Christmas Baking Traditions

I was a little behind in my Christmas baking this year, in fact I was a little behind in all things Christmas this year. It dawned on me a week before Christmas that I had not done any baking for the holidays to give to my friends as gifts. So I proceeded to bake up a storm the whole week prior to Christmas. Dough was made in the evenings and put in the fridge so that it could be baked and decorated on my next day off. The Friday before Christmas I had bins stacked on the dining room table of gingerbread people, snowflake and tree sugar cookies, maple pecan bars and peppermint meringues . My sister asked me one day who they were for, and although I responded that some were going to work and some were going to friends the answer that came to me in my head was that it was just tradition. I make Christmas cookies because my mother made christmas cookies and her mother made them before her. This tradition was passed down to me and I plan on sharing it with my children eventually. At this time of year I feel a need to bake. I really do not care who ends up getting them as long as I share them around and even if I had no one to share them with I would still feel the need to bake. 

                                                     

One tradition I started with my mother when I was in college was baking one new recipe each year just to try something different. In the month leading up to our baking day I would scour magazines at the grocery store checkouts looking for the perfect cookie or bar. Now I search Pinterest and the internet for new and what I hope to be exciting recipes. 

This year the new recipe I tried was Maple Pecan Bars. I found the recipe in the Everyday Gluten Free Cookbook, by Robert M. Landolphi that I had borrowed from the library this summer when I was looking for new recipes to try. It popped up again when I was searching my recipes for Christmas baking inspiration. It looked perfect to try and ended up being so easy and delicious. When I took the box of goodies to work, one of my coworkers commented that they were so good they were like crack. These became known at work as crack bars because they are so delicious they are addictive. I found that these bars are best enjoyed within a few days of baking (not that they will last much longer than that anyway). Over time the sugar starts to crystallize again and they get a little gritty, but still taste good. 

Maple Pecan Bars

From Everyday Gluten Free Cookbook by Robert M. Landolphi

Pastry Crust:

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup pecans

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar (I omitted this as I found there is enough sugar in the rest of the recipe you don't really need this)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp salt (I omitted as I use salted butter)

6 Tbsp cold butter cut into small pieces

Filling:

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup lt brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups pecans coarsely chopped 

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper.

For the crust: in a food processor combine flours, starches, pecans, the 1/2 cup brown sugar, xanthan gum and salt. Whirl to blend (until pecans are finely chopped). Add the butter and blend until a fine meal forms. Press the crust mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to brown. 

Meanwhile, make the filling: in medium saucepan combine the maple syrup, the 1/3 cup brown sugar, heavy cream and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour onto the hot crust and bake for 10 minutes or until the filling bubbles in the centre.

Remove from oven and let cool completely in the pan. Unmold the cake and remove the parchment. Place the bars on a cutting board and cut into squares. 

                                               

The Maple Pecan Bars are the ones in the middle of the box in the picture above. The recipes for the other cookies in the box can be found on last years Christmas Cookies posting. 

Happy Thanksgiving: Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays as I loved the family gathering and also the food. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and of course pumpkin pie. And while two of the previous items were not gluten free I would suffer all the pains just to have a taste of my mom's stuffing with gravy and pie for dessert. I have since forgone the stuffing as I have tried to make gluten free stuffings and they are just not the same, so I now unhappily decline the stuffing as it is just not worth it. But I knew this year that I could do a gluten free pumpkin pie as I have the perfect gluten free pie crust down pat. See my previous posting for the crust recipe and step by step instructions. 

                                               

All I needed was the perfect pumpkin pie filling, the one I remembered from childhood. Thankfully I have my grandmothers copy of the Women of Unifarm Cookbook (Alberta Farm Women) from 1972, which my mother also has. I remember making last years crustless pumpkin pie from this recipe and it tasted the same as mom's, well with one slight difference that will remain a secret between her and I. So I set out to make my first gluten free pumpkin pie today. Boy was it ever easy and the results are wonderful. I think it will be even better after a night in the fridge to completely set, if it makes it that far. 

                                               

Sometimes the older the recipe the less you have to change to make it wonderful. It was so simple. Just pumpkin, spices and the egg/milk custard for the filling. The only thing I changed was I omitted the flour from the original filling recipe as my mom had mentioned last year that she doesn't put it in. It did take considerably longer for the pie to bake so that the centre was set, 10-15 minutes more. And I rotated the pie a couple times for the crust to bake evenly. 

I loved the technique of starting at a higher temperature then lowering it. The crust was nice and crisp all the way to the bottom and not burnt around the edges. I will try this again.

                                               

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie (submitted to cookbook by Mrs. Jean Leskow)

Crust: 

recipe found on the posting The Perfect Gluten Free Pastry

Filling:

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg (or 1/3 freshly ground whole nutmeg)

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

Line 9" pie plate with pastry. Make hugh standing rim, flute. Chill in freezer while preparing filling. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Melt butter, stir into pumpkin with spices. Beat eggs till light, stir in sugar and salt with milk. Add pumpkin mixture, beat until smooth. Pour into pie shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 30-40 minutes longer, or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean.