Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting

I love my mama.  More than anything.  My mom is not only a mom to eight crazy kids (me being her youngest), she also has 16 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren!  True story!  And at 88 years-young, she visits her friends and the sick at nursing homes, goes to church every day and always has a gluten free goodie bag waiting for the boy when he visits. 

And seriously - doesn't she look great?

My mom makes the BEST PA Dutch chicken pot pie (not the stuff in a crust BTW), has a penchant for a decent pair of white slacks, and I am about to share with you her ab-fab, super delicious, fudgy-wudgy GF Chocolate Cake recipe!  She got it from one of her friends at church, who is also GF.  And let me tell you - this recipe is one of the best I've had.

Grandma made this for her boy for our family's Memorial Day picnic.  And with a bunch of vultures family as big as ours, you can understand why I wasn't able to get a picture....

GF Chocolate Cake
1 box gluten free cake mix (she uses Betty Crocker GF chocolate cake mix)
1 large box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water

1 package, 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Put the dry, GF cake mix in a large mixing bowl .  Add the remaining ingredients (except chips) and mix together by hand - NO BEATER!  When thoroughly mixed, stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased and GF-floured (or sprayed) Bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Do not over-bake  -- this cake will be very moist.

Frost with cream-cheese icing or an icing of your choice.  Instead of the icing, my mom drizzled the boy's cake with fudge ice cream topping, because there is no such thing as too much chocolate for her grandson.

Serve with love <3  Because that's what Grandma's and Mom's do. 

I love you Mom!  Thanks for everything you do for me and for the boy!  xoxo

You say potato, I say frittata

Two of my favorite GFP2B ingredients are potatoes and eggs. Potatoes are the king of the GF starches and eggs are well, the queen of protein.

So on nights like tonight, when I need a good, quick, easy one-pan meal, I love to make a frittata.  It's the blank slate of one-pan meals because really, you can add almost anything and it will taste great.

Now a bit of nostalgia - when I was a kid, one of my favorite comfort meals was when my dad made me potatoes and eggs.  And usually this also included some cut up hot dogs. He put everything in one pan and called it "shipwreck".  Don't knock it 'til you try it.  My college roommates said "EEWWW!!!" until one morning after a hard night of "studying" they quickly changed their tune to "YUMMMM!!!!". 

So this recipe I'm about to share is in honor of you, Dad.
 I miss you and your potatoes, hot dogs and eggs more than anything.

 

 

 

 

Potato, egg and sausage frittata

3-4 red potatoes, washed and sliced thin
1/2 chopped onion
4-6 frozen pre-cooked sausage patties, cut into bite-size pieces OR 1/2 to 1 lb. bulk sausage (Italian, country-style, hot - your choice)
butter
olive oil
10 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
Feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

If you are using the bulk sausage, cook until no longer pink and set aside.
If you are using the frozen patties, start here:

On medium-low heat and in an oven safe pan, sauté the sliced potatoes and onion in about 2 tbsp. of olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter.  You want them to cook but not brown. While sautéing the potatoes, season with salt and pepper to your liking and taste.

Add the bite-size pieces of frozen sausage to the potatoes and cook until heated through.

I love Jones  All-Natural Sausages.  They are certified GF!  I get them in the freezer section in the meat department at my grocer.  You can see their awesome GF certified products here:

Jones Sausage

 

If you used the bulk sausage, add the cooked sausage once the potatoes are softened.


While the potatoes and sausage are cooking, whisk the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl. Add more salt/pepper and the red pepper flakes to season the eggs.  Then add the egg mixture to the potatoes and sausage and cook for about 1-2 minutes so eggs "set".  Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.  Then top with the feta cheese and cook for another 5 minutes. 

Cut into slices and wha-lah!  Delicious, one-pan meal and really, it doesn't take long at all.  Plus you can add any combinations you like - substitute the sausage for veggies like asparagus, broccoli or peppers.  Use ham and cheddar cheese instead of the sausage and feta.  Really - you can't screw this up! 

Boy likes his with ketchup.  The other boy (aka:  my husband) likes his with Sriracha.

 

It's nice to take those great childhood memories and make them for my family. 

 What family comfort-food recipes do you make for your GFP2B kid? 

Please share because we all can use a little comfort now and then :)



Hold onto your party hats....

So remember in last week's blog when I told you to I had a seriously amazing treat to share?  Well hold onto your party hats because check out this gluten free birthday cake for the boys laser tag party

Ahh-maaayyyyy-zing, right?  Now I am a very very lucky girl who has some seriously talented friends.  And one of them is my friend Melissa.  She does this as a hobby (seriously - can you believe that?) and every year she makes me one seriously fabulous GF birthday cake.  And it tastes as good as it looks. 

This year's theme was relatively simple compared to previous years.  There was the Civil War birthday cake, the Ireland (no, we aren't Irish) party and the Dog Birthday party.  And each year, Melissa comes up with one of the coolest and most delicious cakes I've ever had. 

She really studied up on GF baking and makes these from scratch.  She says freezing the cakes for about two days prior to icing it makes it even moister.  She also uses King Arthur GF flour in her mixes.  Her detail is amazing - really, she's an artist. 

 

Melissa first offered to make him a birthday cake back when he turned two.  I was talking about how I could never order him one of those fancy cakes from the store, decorated in a theme like Sesame Street or the Civil War...  Well she out-fancied them all.

 

For those of you who don't have a Melissa in your life, there are many GF bakeries popping up and making super fun cakes for kids.  I've even seen some beautiful GF wedding cakes!  I know here in the Camp Hill area, Betsy's Bakery whips up some really superbly decorated cakes for both.

 

Ain't it amazing what can be created and made Gluten Free and Proud 2 Be?

 

 

 

 

You say it's your birthday....

t's the boy's birthday too, yeah....little Beatles for you.  Yep, the boy turned 9 and on Mother's Day no less!  So of course we had to make cake. And a treat for school.  The boy's favorite - chocolate cake, which also happens to be my favorite cake too. And his choice for school treat - chocolate chip cookies.  Yum!

Have I told you how much I love love love me do King Arthur Flour and their GF products?  I know I've featured King Arthur GF flour in previous blogs.  Well today I'm featuring two of their GF mixes:  chocolate cake mix and cookie mix.

First the chocolate cake mix. King Arthur Flour has one of the moistest, chocolaty cake mixes I've ever used.  They are more pricey than most, but worth it.  You can find on their website:  King Arthur Gluten Free but I can find their mixes at most grocery stores.  Birthday boy wanted to shake it up baby now and add some chocolate chips to the batter and we topped it with Cool Whip Frosting in vanilla - seriously one of the best store-bought icings I've ever had.  So light and fluffy!  You can find Cool Whip Icings in the frozen food aisle near their whipped topping.  The chocolate flavor is equally fabulous.

It was a super sweet day to celebrate my mom and my boy. 



 

And the party continues with a treat to share with his class at school - chocolate chip cookies!  And once again, my main man King Arthur came through with oooey, gooey goodness.

 

 

I love their cookie mix because it's a basic cookie dough and you can pick your favorite add-ins - peanut butter chips, toffee, chips, craisins....whatever please pleases you. 

 

Buttery, golden gluten free goodness.  And unlike other mixes I've tried, these don't fall apart and crumble into oblivion. That's why King Arthur GF mixes have been crowned family favorite!  

Can't wait for the kids to enjoy them!

 

 

Now listen- do you want to know a secret?  I will have a seriously amazing treat to share with you next week when I pick up a very special, super-fab cake for the boy's birthday party.  Tune in next week to see this one!

 

In the meanwhile please please me and share your favorite GFP2B sweet treat! 

Time to fiesta!

In our household, we love to celebrate special holidays - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Cinco de Mayo....yes, that fantastica holiday filled with margaritas and delicious Mexican delights like this:

 

Taco salad.  It was so good, I had to eat half of it before I took the picture.  Sorry.

 

You know what's great about Mexican food?  Much of it is gluten free.  Taco chips, guacamole, salsa, taco shells - all filled with gluten free goodness.  

 

We love our tacos in our household, but when I saw these in the grocery store, well holy guacamole!

 

GF tostada bowls made by Rio Rancho. I couldn't wait to get toppings together and surprise mi familia with a new meal idea to celebrate May 5th!

 

I grilled some chicken with salt, pepper and chicken taco seasoning.  My favorite is from Penzey's Spices.  In fact, Penzey's is my go-to for many of my dish add-ins.  You can order online HERE.  (I also highly recommend their Spicy 4S seasoning and Fox Point. Oh and their chili powder.  And fresh ground pepper...but back to this delicioso fiesta...)

 

Mexican food many times is made with corn flour, which is gluten free. Taco chips, Tostitos - all made with corn. But, my GFP2B friends - READ YOUR LABELS!  Some "off" brands can contain wheat flour. 

 

GF MAMA TIP:  Always, always read the labels! Sometime manufacturers change ingredients, add ingredients and they may not always be gluten free!

 

 

 I also made taco meat with ground sirloin and Old El Paso taco seasoning.  Lettuce, tomato, fresh salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese and ranch dressing completed our mucho gusto taco bowls.  Had my boys shouting OLE'! and that was without the margaritas.....

What are your favorite GF Mexican dishes?