Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread French Toast

Remember the great pumpkin bread dilemma of twenty-fourteen? Well, if you happened to have succeeded in making a batch of pumpkin bread then I got an extra little treat for ya today.

Pumpkin bread french toast guys. French toast, made with pumpkin bread. yup.

A perfect little treat for a weekend breakfast, or a for a little pre-gaming Thanksgiving morning.

Paleo "Cornbread" without any corn

That title makes sense, right?

Cornbread made Paleo, hold the corn. 

So really it's bread. But its really kind of cake.

Regardless, it's Paleo, it tastes good, and you can lather it in honey-butter and call it cornbread.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This post must be started with a disclaimer.

Every fall, women and children alike (I'm pretty sure not much of the male population is included in this) get incredibly excited for the arrival of pumpkin flavored goods.  The day Starbucks rolls out their pumpkin latte, everyone knows about it whether they care or not by the influx of social media attention. Really....I don't need to see another picture on Instagram of a Starbucks cup. Seriously. Stop it.

They get excited to buy cans of pumpkin and use it in every possible baked good they can think of, eat as many slices of pie as they can fit in their mouth, and light candles with the scent of the favorited orange squash.

The one woman-child that does not give a hoot about pumpkin flavored anything,would be this one right here. Yup. I really couldn't care any less about any of it. Actually thats not true, because saying I  couldn't care less gives the implication that I am indifferent to the whole thing, when in actuality I really quite despise it all. 

I said it, I do not like pumpkin.

I cannot stand pumpkin pie, I do not like the smell, the texture or the taste of any pumpkin goods I've come across. Maybe somethings just wrong with me, I dunno. 

Gluten Free Stuffing

Thanksgiving is coming! Only a week and a half away, and my mouth is already salivating over all of the delicious foods I will be partaking of. And as I am your favorite gluten free blogger, I am here to bring you some delicious holiday recipes.

The turkey may be the headliner of the meal, but Thanksgiving side dishes are definitely the stars of the show.

Stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie and...well that's all I really care about actually.

Growing up, I hated stuffing. To me, it was just a bunch of mushy bread mixed with other things I don't care for mixed in. And, stuffing from inside the turkey?! I would rather eat dirt. Dirt would actually probably be healthier then the unsanitary turkey juice. Really, lets not get me started on the unsanitary business of stuffing from a turkey.

But stuffing, (its not dressing, dressing is what goes on salad.) never really appealed to me, until I suddenly couldn't have it anymore. What was even the point of Thanksgiving, if all I could eat was turkey and potatoes? Even though thats all I had been eating for Thanksgiving, all my life.

Tell me I can't have something.... you know how that works out.

The first couple of years being GF, I made some delicious cornbread stuffing-that made those boxes of wheat stuffing cry. I mean, never had I enjoyed a stuffing so much.

Then, turns out that little thing called corn is my major migraine trigger, and I decided I would not like to be sick over the holidays. How could one go shopping on black friday, if they are painfully locked away in a dark room. One cannot.

So, fresh bread was baked and stuffing was born again.

You want the recipe now, don't you.

* For the bread, follow these instructions. Add in fresh herbs to batter, and cook in a 9/13 pan (larger, if you have it!) let cool, then cut into cubes. Lay cubes out flat overnight to harden.

Enjoy!!

and stay tuned for more Thanksgiving recipes this week!

Kinnikinnick Bagels and Bread Loaves

One of the biggest trials in being gluten free, seems to be bread.

When someone learns that you don't eat wheat, their mind automatically shoots to bread.

Not the zillion other products that gluten is hiding in, but the one obvious product. If only it were as simple as cutting out one product--being a Celiac would be akin to a low carb diet. 

Not quite folks.

Anyway, this one simple product, seems to also be the hardest product to get right without the wheat.

Too many gluten free breads are hard and dense, and closer to a piece of cardboard then a baked good.

Awhile back, {longer then I'd like to admit ;(} Kinnikinnick sent me a beautiful package, strait from Canada with some of their bread products. Inside the box, was two bagel flavors: plain and blueberry, and two loaves: multigrain and white.

I tested each of these products, and then tested again, and again, and...you get the point. It was some tasty stuff.

Wanna see? Here you go:

Up first, the bagels.

I love bagels. A toast warm bagel topped with strawberry cream cheese, sounds life heaven on a plate to me. Back in the day, when our local sourdough bread company made sourdough bagels-that was true heavenly bliss. I could live off of those bagels. But thats neither here nor there.

Since I could not slather my blueberry bagel in cream cheese, I turned to my closest alternative. Goat cheese chevre. And because I could, I topped in with some warm blueberry compote.

These blueberry bagels, let me tell you about these blueberry bagels. Soft, chewy, with just the righ amount of crispy exterior. A little sweetness, just the right amount of berries mixed in. I think I eat one of these bagels everyday for the rest of my life. I'm not sure how my pants would feel about that, but my tastebuds would sure be happy.

Next on the bagel train, was the plain variety. Is it gluten free? I don't know, I couldn't tell. The package says it is though, and my stomach didn't scream when I ate it, so it must be. Who woulda thought?!

With these plain bagels, I made a delicious breakfast sandwich. This sandwich is everything. I could live happily ever after with this sandwich.

This sandwich, and its images will also be forever ingrained in my mind as I learned of some tragic news while preparing it. While my fingers where snapping these photos, my mind was busy processing a family loss-and once I was done-I ate my feelings full of breakfast food.

and now you know.

{To make sandwich, toast both bagel halves, shmear with butter and top with cooked canadian bacon, a sunny side up egg, and a little spinach to call it healthy.}

Just like the blueberry bagel, it is the perfect texture inside and out. It takes on both sweet and savory flavors with ease, and toasts beautifully. A perfect golden brown, if you will.

You saw savory, lets see some sweet:

Fig butter, have you tried it? My word its good stuff. Its excellent on both the blueberry and plain bagels too :)

So that was the bagels business, now to the bread loaves.

With the multigrain, I made myself a good old fashioned Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. This BLT may seem like a simple task, as the sandwich itself is easy peasy, but if you have ever made a large beautiful sandwich, only to have its toasted ends crumble underneath the pressure of delicious toppings; you know that its not as easy as it sounds.

I made this lovely sandwich, picked it up slowly-throwing caution to a possible breakage. But my lovelies, my tasty dinner did not fall apart. It stayed perfectly crisp and whole.

Winner-winner BLT dinner!

The Kinnikinnick bread has the perfect flavor, texture and ease of normal "glutenous" bread. 

I always prefer my bread toasted, before and after being gluten free; but I did use this bread once for a super quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich un-toasted. It tasted just as delicious and smooth as it did toasted, not something that I have found to come easy with other gf breads.

With the white bread, I attempted to make a strata.

Every year for Christmas growing up, my mother would make a cheesy strata the night before, for us to eat after opening presents Christmas morning.

It is the most delicious thing, filled with cheese, cheese, and white bread. The only time ever in our lives, when white bread took residence in our home. 

So, for the first time ever, I attempted a strata without the use of cheese. Just veggies, sausage and bread, mixed and baked full of egg. It was good, but not wonderful. Not a recipe worth sharing yet. But, the bread-the bread held up beautifully. It soaked in egg all night, baked in the morning, all without turning to pasty mush. I call that a win.

Kinnikinnick breads are a wonderful addition to the gluten free world, they are fluffy, moist and wonderfully delicious. I would really like to be eating a toasty piece of cinnamon toast right now, but as I don't have any at the moment-go out and enjoy a slice for me, ok?

And check out Kinnikinnick's other products, here.
and see some of my other uses of their other products here and here.

Enjoy!

*while the products review today were provided for testing, no monetary compensation was exchanged. All opinions our mine alone, without further influence.

Gluten Free Crostini with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

I have developed a new addiction these days.

I also have several old addictions, and between the new and the old; I have created the most delicious snack on the planet.

Here it is, a marriage between my three favorite things: 

garlic (!!!), crostini (!!!) and roasted tomatoes (!!!).

The best part, it's super easy to make. 

So easy a caveman could do it, as they say.

You know how much I like easy.

How did this delicious masterpiece come to be, you might ask.

Well let me tell you:

I have been craving garlic bread for like, a month now. Between parties, and visitors and all sorts of stuff going on, I just haven't had the opportunity to eat some.

But as I was dreaming and salivating over the the very thought of that garlic-y, buttery, toasted goodness; a wonderful thought came to my mind.

A thought about bruschetta, which turned into an idea with roasted tomatoes.

And thus, the roasted tomato and garlic crostini was born.

*instead of slicing it lengthwise, like this^^^

you can slice the bread into circles, like so^^^

I say circles if you wanna get fancy, and boats if you just wanna stuff your face.

I obviously just wanted to stuff my face.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Popovers

Good afternoon, dear readers of this blog!

Did you all have a good weekend? I sure hope you did.

Did you fill it full of brunches? Waffles, eggs, crepes, popovers?

No!?

You don't know how to make gluten free popovers you say?

Well, my loves-its time to fix that.

Remember the other day, when I re-showed you how to make a delicious chocolate cupcake? 

Well, while I was deep in the loins of the blog early years, I came across this post.

Its dreadful really. I am pretty embarrassed by it.

I mean, look at those pictures. Awful.

Maybe its a bit of a blessing that my treasured computer was drowned by a glass of water. Who wants to keep and remember those photos forever, am I right?

sigh. I take that back. I'm still holding on to my hard-drive, for the day when someone somewhere can restore it former glory. Three years has not been long enough, I guess.

But, Popovers.

I did it guys. I made them pop over.

I'll be completely honest in the fact that this was only my second time ever making them.

I made them that first time, three years ago; than never again.

I feel a bit guilty about it, as I have two popover pans that have just been sitting unused for that whole time, collecting dust.

But the other day, while watching Food Network, I was reminded of those forgotten pans in my closet, and the failed baking attempt that I never redeemed.

I pulled them out right away, and made these little guys.

Let me tell you, I was glad I did.

Yum to the ee.

Popovers, if you don't know; are an egg based hollow roll, that pops over the top of the pan while cooking.

The insides, become a little bit custardy, and the outside crisp and flaky.

Popovers are a little bit harder to have gluten free, because they generally need the gluten to create shape and texture. 

Just like a baguette. Which someday, I will be able to create just right gluten free.

These puffy little babies require a good smearing of jam.

What woud be really good, and properly British would be some curd. Of the raspberry or lemon variety.

Oh my, that would be swell.

Let me share the recipe, with ya'll.

Here we go:

 *makes 6 popovers

Enjoy, my loves!

Gluten Free Veggie Pizza with Sausage // The Best Pizza Ever

Remember a few weeks ago on a week in a blink, I mentioned the best pizza I have ever tasted, and promised I would devote a whole blog post to it? (run-on sentence anyone?)

Well my loves, that day has come.

Its time for you to be introduced to the king of pizzas.

A love affair for the veggies eaters and meat lovers alike.

A crust so soft and crisp and perfect, as it should always be-gluten free or not.

This pizza. Oh this pizza. 

I am salivating over just the memory of it.

I'm going to eat it again tomorrow. You can't stop me.

 Why is it so delicious?

Well, first of all, look at it.

Its pretty obvious the amount of deliciousness that is stacked up onto that little crust.

Oh but the crust! 

Thats one of the secrets. 

Its Gluten Free Mamas Pizza Crust Mix.

Its amazing.

Its super easy to make, only needs a half an hour to rise (as opposed to some other brands, that shall not be named, that take an hour or two--and still don't taste as good.) is the perfect texture, delicious taste, and honestly--does not taste gluten free in the slightest.

It tastes like any other gluten filled thin crust pizza.

I'm really excited about it guys. What I'm not excited about: the fact that only one grocery store in town carries it, and sells it for almost ten buckeroos.

No bueno.

It does make two pizzas though....and they are super delicious...if thats any consolation.

Making this pizza is not hard at all.

First off, you just follow the instructions on the pizza mix baggy to make the crust. eee-zeee

Next, make a spinach pesto sauce. You make it the same way as you would my basil pesto, but replace the basil with spinach. I use a spinach pesto instead of basil, so the flavor is a little milder. I did try it with regular basil pesto, and it was good-its just better with spinach :)

I do add a few leaves of basil, or two of these Dorot basil squares. I love those little squares, they make life easier. (you can also use a garlic square in place of a fresh clove for the pesto)

Now that you have a crust, and pesto--smear that sauce on that crust!

Not hard at all.

Now the toppings:

You can add any vegetables you want, in any quantity. Heres what I like on mine, in the order in which they lay:

Peppers and Onions (I use TJ's frozen grilled peppers & onions, but fresh work)

Hot Italian Sausage, pre-cooked (you can use sweet as well, but the spicy kicks it up a notch)

Mushrooms, sliced

Fresh Tomatoes, Sliced

Zucchini, shredded

a little basil to top it off!

Your set! I promise, you wont miss the cheese at all.

This is actually the first pizza I've made, that I didn't miss the cheese on it.

I read somewhere one time that if dairy free, you could use shredded zucchini to replace the texture of cheese on pizza. I don't agree with that statement, it does not resemble cheese in the slightest, but I have been doing it ever since I read that article. Shredding it makes it very non-intrusive of your pizza, no matter what other toppings you have on it.

Dear friends, make this pizza. I dare you, you won't regret it.

I may have to have it tonight, because I'm not sure I can wait until tomorrow.

I just might have to have it tonight and tomorrow. Its that good, I'm telling you!

But even if you don't want to eat this vegtastic, taste popping pizza; do try Gluten Free Mamas pizza crust. It really is the best pizza crust I have found so far.

 Enjoy!

 *this is not a sponsored post. I just happen to really like the products mentioned here today.

Post edit: I did indeed make this for dinner tonight, except with a different pizza crust. ( I had a different brand already in the pantry) It was not nearly as good as last weeks. Its the crust guys, Gluten Free Mamas all the way.

Gluten and Dairy free Eggs Benedict

So I made english muffins. Besides eating half of them fresh from the oven, smeared with butter (of the dairy free variety, of course!) there is only one thing to do with them.

Eggs Benedict.

When you have english muffins, fancy brown eggs, and canadian bacon lying around, it must be made into a benedict of an egg.

As I'm trying to write this. I have been sneezing non stop for the last five minutes. Allergy season, please be over already. I'll trade you my first born child, to never have a sneezy, itchy, swollen facial situation again. You can take the food allergies too, that sounds like an even trade.

Anyway, back to the eggs benedict:

You start by toasting up some canadian bacon and english muffin halves. Muffin topped with butter, both cooked on a baking sheet until lightly browned. I think I turned the oven to like 375 or something, but it doesn't really matter, as long as they aren't burnt or raw. (you can use the broiler also, just keep a close eye out!)

Next you poach an egg. 

(or two-technically eggs benedict should be both halves of the muffin topped with treasures.)

Now I don't want to start an uproar or make anyone feel all depressed about themselves or anything, but I'm kind of a super awesome egg poacher.

Don't feel bad that you aren't as awesome as me at it.

Its just a special talent I possess. 

You know another incredibly useless special talent I have in my life? I can totally predict when people are preggo. I don't know why, but I've always been able to tell way before the news is shared. Halle Berry? Totally predicted it at the Oscars. I had witnesses, and I was right. So watch out ladies I don't know (this power usually works best with people I see often, but am not too familiar with.) if your hiding a bun in your oven right now, I'll know. There are actually a few of you out in the blogosphere I have my thoughts about....

But again, back to the eggs bendicto. (thats me talking in an accent. if you can't tell.)

I rock at making this dish.

The only time I do not rock at poaching eggs for said eggs benedict, is when I decide to abandon that poor little egg while I go butter up another muffin. and no thats not a euphemism, I was actually buttering a muffin. Of the English variety. (still not a euphemism!)

How do I make such fabulous poached eggs, you may ask?

By using to special tricks. You can just use one or the other, but making decisions is not one of my talents-so i use both.

Trick one is to add a little vinegar to your water. You fill up a pot with an inch or two of water, then you add a teaspoon or two of white vinegar. Easy right? The vinegar helps the eggs to coagulate to itself without seperating.

Trick two is to make a hurricane in your pot. Add the same amount of water as trick one, and after its boiled stir it all around quickly until a little hurricane of water forms in the middle. Plop the egg right into the hurricane, and it will spin around itself to prevent separating.

Use one or both of these tricks, and you too will impress the world with your egg poaching skills.

So you got your eggs, bacon and bread. Like so^^

Next you want to make a Hollandaise sauce. You want to make the sauce last, because it will started to harden and curdle as it cools. Thats why in these pictures its a little clumpy, it wanted to be eaten right away.

Making Hollandaise sauce dairy free, uses the same concept-but it will turn out a little different. It won't be quite as creamy, and depending on what type of non-dairy butter you use it may be a different color. I used Nucoa buttery sticks, and thats why the sauce is so bright and yellow.

Heres how you make it, using a blender method:

you need: 2 sticks of butter

        3 egg yolks

                juice of 1 lemon

                       1 tsp cayenne pepper

Start by melting the butter in a sauce pan (microwave works fine, too)

Pour the egg yolks into a blender, and mix on low speed just until combined. Next, pour the melted butter in a very thin stream while the blender is going (on low still) and until the butter is all combined.

While its still going, add in you lemon juice. If it appears thick, add a little more lemon juice and continue to blend. Add in the cayenne pepper, to your liking, and serve right away.

Pour the sauce on top of your egg, bacon, and bread.

Its ready for eating!

But wait, it looks a little bland. and there are no vegetables involved.

A little spinach on top...

Ahhhh, much better.

(you can replace the bacon with spinach to make eggs florentine. As this has both spinach and canadian bacon, we shall call it eggs benetine. floredict? whatever.)

Enjoy!

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