Protein Pancakes

Also Known As: Amy's "hold-the-gluten-load-up-the-protein-but-don't-pile-on-the-calories-just-the-flavor" Pancakes :-)


Alright, so I miss big breakfasts when I don't eat them. While there are certainly points for creativity on how many different ways you can dress up oatmeal and spruce up cottage cheese and reinvent eggs, I enjoy treating myself to a "real" breakfast sometimes. I've made this a Sunday morning event (or sometimes on the mornings of my day off from work). Everyone needs something to look forward to, right?!


So this recipe is about as simple as they come. And if you're still looking for creativity points...they are SOOOO available on this one too! There's a million ways you can alter this recipe to make a whole new taste. I have a lot planned and will update as I try new things. Let me know! Also, you can adjust the amounts of the different ingredients. Different people will be looking for different amounts of calories, protein, fat, etc...so make it what YOU need...have at it!

Vanilla version

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 egg whites (1/4 cup egg whites)
- 1 scoop protein powder (this is where the fun comes in..use ANY flavor. So far I have tried Vanilla and Chocolate Peanut Butter. The Choco/PB version is DEFINITELY my favorite!!)
- 1/8 cup cottage cheese
Optional:
- 1/4 banana (because I serve these with the rest of the banana on top!)
- Cinnamon (to taste)
- 1 TBL Splenda

DIRECTIONS:

- Put all the ingredients in the blender (I use my handy-dandy Magic Bullet)
- Cook like a normal pancake (I spray my pan with PAM)
- The batter is thin, so it takes some experimenting with the temperature of the burner so you don't burn the pancakes.
- Serve these topped with fresh fruit (I use bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. - whatever is on sale that week!) and some sugar free syrup (I use Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Maple Flavor Syrup)

Chocolate-Peanut Butter version

NUTRITION: (makes one serving)

(*NOTE: all nutrition information is estimated based on ingredients and is meant only as a guide)

- Pancakes:
Calories: 188, Fat: 2g, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 36g


- Meal: (Served with one 6" banana and 1/8 cup syrup)
Calories: 293, Fat: 2g, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 37g

Cottage Cheese (and fruit)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1/2 cup cottage cheese (I use HEB fat free version) - (and you can do this dairy free too! Though I haven't eaten it plain, I have baked/cooked with Lactaid brand)

- 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries

- cinnamon (to taste)

NUTRITION:

Calories: 107,  Fat: <1g,  Carbohydrates: 12g,  Protein 12.5g

(*NOTE: all nutrition information is estimated based on ingredients and is meant only as a guide)

So I made a new discovery today – and even surprised myself a bit in the process. Cottage cheese has always kind of creeped me out. Maybe it’s the fact that I remember mixing it with the food of my grandparents’ dog, Gypsy, if I ever helped take care of her growing up. Or maybe it gets to the level of creepy all on its own. I mean, come on…have you seen it?

However, in an effort to find high protein, healthy snacks, I decided to give it a fair shot. I vaguely remember trying it a few times over the years, but I think my preconceived notions took a bite out of its shot at success. So as I made out my new grocery list, I added it as the last item…reluctantly…but added it nonetheless. I went to pick out my cottage cheese and found myself at a bit of a loss with all the choices! In other words, I had a bit of a “dairy case query.” How many different types of cheese curds can there be? Yeesh! But after making my selection and returning home, I mixed the cottage cheese with a few strawberry slices. What did I end up with? A nice Valentine’s Day snack for myself and a big shock – I liked it! I mean REALLY liked it! What are the odds?!

So...even now, I keep learning new things about me...and rediscovering things I already knew. It's not that I forgot them, per se...just misplaced the knowledge of it… or maybe just set it down someplace and didn't remember to go pick it back up. For this one, though, all I had to do was lay down what I thought I already had figured out and be willing to open up (even at risk of failure). You never know what’ll happen…

I mean, look…at least I got a snack, right?! :-)

Huevos Rancheros

 A GREAT way to save a little on your grocery bill is to occasionally cook breakfast for supper. "Huevos Rancheros" enter stage left. Talk about a yummy, cheap, incredibly easy breakfast, lunch, OR supper! Right up my alley (and I know it's up yours too!). This recipe is a combination of one used by my sister-in-law with a couple of random additions of my own.

INGREDIENTS:

 - Corn tortillas
 - Oil for frying tortillas
 - Eggs
 - Shredded cheese
 - Ranchero sauce
 - Black beans, corn, or whatever else you want (optional - I did not add any of this during this go-around, but give it a whirl!)

Ranchero sauce:

- Bacon (I use turkey bacon)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 can Rotel

- 1 can tomato sauce 

- Garlic powder (to taste)

- Cumin (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

- Cook bacon. Remove from pan and place on plate (covered with paper towels to soak up grease!)

- Saute onions (in the bacon grease) - YUM! I'll admit that there is very little grease if you use turkey bacon, but a little bit of cooking spray / butter will do the trick.

- Add the Rotel and tomato sauce to the onion and cook until warm

- Crumble bacon into the sauce and VOILA! (as my sweet sister Doni says in her version of the recipe)

- Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and brown the tortillas (approximately 1 minute per side).

- Remove each tortilla as you brown it and place between paper towels

- Fry an egg/egg white

- Immediately place the egg on top of a tortilla already topped with shredded cheese (this is the sneaky way to melt the cheese!)

- Top each egg with a few tablespoons of the sauce

- Now get to work!!!

Random note from the kitchen:

This sauce is great on the eggs without the tortillas and cheese (this was breakfast for me this morning). Moreover, it makes a SPECTACULAR way to spice up a plain ol' baked potato (this was lunch for me today) *GRIN* Have at it!!

Raisin-Banana Quinoa Bread

recipe adapted from Delight Gluten Free magazine 

CLICK TO ENLARGE

You can find Amy's flour mix here or use your own GF all-purpose flour mix


DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- In a large bowl, mix the cooked quinoa, flour, sugar/Splenda, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
- In a small bowl, mash the banana(s) (a fork works really well for this!)
- Add eggs and honey to banana and mix well
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well
- Fold in the raisins and nuts
- Pour into a greased 8x4 loaf pan
- Bake for 20-25 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean)
- Cool the loaf in the pan 10-15 minutes
- Slice it up, serve it up, and eat it up!! :-)

As always with banana bread, this recipe is very versatile. You can incorporate any fruit you want (raisins, cranberries, etc), nuts, chocolate chips, WHATEVER! I will definitely have additional versions of this recipe here on the blog in the future. Have another idea of what to try?? Send me suggestions!

Light and Fluffy Drop Biscuits

Recipe adapted from Gluten Free Cooking School

Talk about something worth writing home about! Go on...get your pad and pencil, or break out your fancy stationary...it is well worth it! We'll wait....

Alright...I can't lie...I've been looking forward to trying these. I have spent quite a bit of time looking over various recipes for drop biscuits. Having tried a few others, I will say that, without a doubt, this is the best recipe I have found. I am looking forward to using this versatile recipe to try a lot of different things. Have no fear...I'll share my successes (and my failures...just so you don't have to!)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 1/2 c. brown rice flour (I did not have any brown rice flour left, so I used 1 cup of white rice flour and 1/2 cup of sweet rice flour. It worked really well!)

- 2 c. corn starch

- 1/2 c. sorghum flour (this is the trick to making these light and fluffy! I have made drop biscuits with other recipes that turn out much more dense. These are a WONDERFUL change.)

- 2 tsp. baking powder

- 2 tsp. salt

- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

- 2 tsp. xanthan gum

- 1 stick of butter (chilled in freezer)

- 1 c. milk (can use soy if you cannot use dairy, but I used 2% cow)

- 1 T cider vinegar (if you want, omit the milk and cider vinegar and substitute 1 cup buttermilk. This will serve the same role!)

- 1 c. water

- 1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- In a large mixing bowl, combine first seven ingredients (flours through xanthan gum)

- Grate the butter into the flour mix using the small-holed side of a box grater

- Mix the butter into the flour mix so that there are no large balls of grated butter

- Add the milk, cider vinegar, water, and egg to flour mix and stir until combined (How easy is this recipe?! I know..I'm excited too!)

- Drop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops start to turn golden brown

(The original recipe says that this will make 16 biscuits; however, mine made about 22. It totally depends on how big of biscuits you want!)

I could not be more pleased with how these biscuits turned out. Tonight I served them with Cowboy Beans (don't worry...that recipe is coming to you directly after this one). The meal was so good that it really kind of hurt *GRIN* Sam and I are still moving slowly around the house (if we're moving at all)!

I will definitely be using these for biscuits and gravy and all sorts of other things. Again, the light and fluffy consistency of this bread is FANTASTIC - especially since I am also allergic to yeast and just don't get that very often! Whew!

Another idea is to add garlic and shredded cheese to the dough. Once they are baked, I would brush the tops with butter and sprinkle on some garlic salt. Can we say Red Lobster-like?! I am excited!! It's the little joys in life....

Stay tuned for the Cowboy Beans and...if you're lucky...I'll even share our dessert!

Blueberry Breakfast Pound Cake

Alright folks. I need to apologize because it's been so long since I've shown my face. That's what happens when life gets hectic! ACK! Have no fear, though...I've been cooking and baking so I won't let you down!

This lil' dandy is well worth making. I can go on and admit that I'm addicted to this one (especially since, after sharing part of the cake with my aunt, she immediately sent me a text to let me know she was addicted and needed the recipe!!) *big grin* So...y'all ready?!

Originally, this is called Glazed Blueberry Pound Cake. I would LOVE to be able to tell you exactly what recipe I adapted this from, but it was copied out of a newspaper several years ago. This is the first time I have ever made it, and I adapted it to be GF. Now, that being said, I decided to make a truly more healthy version (not the "healthy" version where you add extra butter and sugar, even though I REEEEEALLY like THAT kind of healthy!) At the end of this I will include the glaze recipe. I am sure it's phenomenal (how can sugary glaze NOT be phenomenal?!) but I have not yet tried it. The healthy version was my attempt at making a delicious, enjoyable breakfast. For me, it worked out GREAT. Oh...and it makes a delicious, enjoyable brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, supper, and pre-bed snack, too *heehee*

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cup Amy's flour mix, plus 2 TBL. (or whatever GF all-purpose flour you prefer)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I'm a bit addicted to cinnamon, too, remember? So I use 1/2 tsp.)

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar (I use 1 cup of Splenda)

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup apple juice

1 1/2 cup blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (if you use a glass loaf pan as I did, decrease the temp to 325 degrees)

- Whisk 1 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon

- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (the recipe recommends an electric mixer. For those of us that don't have that sort of fancy-smancy appliance, a regular whisk and a lot of elbow grease gets the job done quite well) *grin*

- With mixer on low (or with your hands moving the whisk a little slower because now you're worn out from creaming the butter and sugar), add eggs one at a time and mix well.

- Add lemon juice and apple juice and mix well.

- Add the dry ingredients and whisk (on low if using mixer) just until mixed.

- Place blueberries in a bowl and dust with the remaining 2 TBL of flour, tossing to coat evenly.

- Add the berries to the batter and discard excess flour.

- Gently fold in blueberries.

- Bake 40 - 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then move it to cook on a wire rack (or a kitchen towel on the counter like I did!) for about an hour

And let's be honest...there's nothing better than cake/bread that is fresh out of the oven and still warm. So ask yourself....do I REALLY have to wait the entire hour?

- Cut into thick slices and enjoy (and if you'd like...drizzle with the glaze and enjoy it that way)

Glaze:

Whisk 2/3 cup powdered sugar with 2 TBL of apple juice. Drizzle over cake slices.

I will absolutely be making this again. It is incredibly moist, and, unlike a lot of GF recipes, it doesn't crumble the second you touch it! Super excited about that one! I'd like to give it a try with fresh strawberries next time, and I bet you could add some mashed banana! You could add nuts or chocolate chips or whatever in the world you want to. If you have some good ideas and think something should be tried (and maybe you don't have the time to try it yourself first), leave me a note and I'll make it soon. Sam needs to try this good stuff, so I can use the two of us as your guinea pigs!

Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is made using the crescent roll recipe I use from Delightfully Gluten Free.

I mentioned that I'd be trying to incorporate the rolls into a few other recipes so....

Round One:

Sam's sister and brother-in-law came to visit us this weekend (along with their precious dog, Penny) and so I wanted to make us a treat for Sunday morning breakfast. This was the right choice! I'm here to say that these taste just like regular cinnamon rolls! They are not big and fluffy (such as Grands Cinnamon Rolls), but they have INCREDIBLE flavor and texture. Please go make these. You won't regret it at all. In fact, you'll only be sad that they're small and the recipe only makes enough for about 8 cinnamon rolls.

I will ABSOLUTELY be making these again. I need to get family to come visit more often so I have a good excuse to make them :-D

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 batch of crescent rolls

- 3/4 cup of brown sugar

- at least 1 tsp. of cinnamon (I like cinnamon a lot so I add more)

- OPTIONAL: 1/4 - 1/2 cup of raisins/nuts/etc.

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees if using a glass pan)

- Roll out dough into a rectangle (approximately 14 inches long - give or take! You just don't want the dough too thin) Do this on a surface dusted with flour

- Sprinkle brown sugar-cinnamon mixture onto dough

- Roll dough into a log

- Cut the dough into 2 inch pieces (should make approximately 8 rolls)

- Place rolls into a greased baking dish (I use a Pyrex pie dish)

- Sprinkle remainder of brown sugar-cinnamon mixture on top of rolls

- Bake 20-30 minutes (rolls will be getting brown and crisp on the outside)

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, you can make the icing (and have time to lick the bowl)

- 1 cup confectioners sugar

- 2 TBL milk

- 1/8 tsp. vanilla

- 1 TBL honey

- Mix all the ingredients until smooth. Add or subtract confectioners sugar to meet desired consistency

- Drizzle the icing over the cinnamon rolls

"HEALTHY" VERSION (:-P)

- Melt 1 TBL butter and pour over half-cooled cinnamon rolls before topping with icing

DONUT DAY!!

So I know this is a bit of a rush....but I couldn't help but go ahead and put this post up. Seriously...How can I keep this yummy goodness for myself? That would just be down right selfish..wouldn't dream of it!

Alright...so with Celiac Disease you kinda lose out on the convenience aspect of today's world since you can't always run down the street and pick up a donut...BUT...doesn't mean you can't still partake in the yumminess of food (usually after a bit of experimentation...favorite part!)!! So because I'm home and can't drive myself around after the little surgery, I decided to step out on a limb this morning and try GF donuts. ROCK N' ROLL (well, after I realized I had no eggs and Sam had to drive to the convenience store up the road to get some...BLESS the man). They're REEEEEALLY tasty and not too bad to look at either :-) (more of a miracle than you know if you've never cooked gluten free from scratch). So just wanted to share my success story. YAAAAAAAAAAAY for DONUT DAY!! (Recipe adapted from Cannelle et Vanille)

Ingredients:

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 C milk
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBL butter, melted
1 3/4-2 C flour mix
Vegetable oil for frying

NOTE: For me, this recipe made 7 donuts and about 15 donut holes (most of which aren't in the final picture because I had to make sure the recipe was good before serving it. Otherwise, how could I call myself responsible?! )

Toppings:

I used powdered sugar for half of the donuts and cinnamon and sugar mix for the others.
Next time I make these (which will be this Saturday for company, so stay tuned!) I'm going to make glazed donuts :-)

Directions:

-Mix together egg, milk, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and butter
-Add flour and mix (you may need incorporate it with your hands at end of mixing).
-Cover and refrigerate for about an hour (to firm up dough)
(Let's have a little heart to heart for a moment, shall we? I wanted donuts. And when I say I want donuts....need I say more? I wasn't about to wait a whole hour before getting to start these morsels of heaven. You'd have to be outside your mind! So...I stuck mine in the freezer for about 15 minutes while I prepped the oil, etc. and then I got right down to it. My dough behaved just fine, and if it did get a little out of line (started to stick when I rolled it out) I just used a bit more tapioca flour on the cutting board)

-Prepare to roll out the doughnuts. I dusted a cutting board with flour and rolled out and cut out the dough there. Based on a suggestion from several other websites, I used tapioca flour for this--it won't add graininess to the dough.
-Roll out the dough to 1/2" thickness (be sure it's not too thin)



-Cut out donuts with a biscuit cutter and donut holes with smaller biscuit cutter



(Heart to heart - Take #2: I know what biscuit cutters are but I definitely do not own any, much less two different sizes of them. They're on the wish list but that may be a while, and remember...I don't wait for donuts! So...I simply floured the lip of a plastic glass and used that to cut out my donuts. I did want to make some donut holes (because when I ate donuts for the first time in MONTHS I wanted them to look like real donuts...plus donut holes have always been my favorite and they're so much fun to eat!) All I did was cut out a circle from the inside of each donut and - TAHDAH!)



- Place oil in a pan and heat to around 360 degrees. (For those of us without a candy thermometer, I put mine on just over medium heat). You need to have enough oil so that the donuts are completely submerged in the oil when you place them in the pan.
- Prepare a plate with paper towels on it as a place to put the donuts once they are done cooking.
- Before just jumping in with both feet to this thing, test the oil. Drop a small piece of extra dough into the oil to see if it fries. If it starts frying immediately, then the oil is ready.
-Carefully place donuts into the oil. I set each piece of dough in a large spoon and set them into the oil gently since I am not a big fan of splashing hot oil. They should drop into the oil and start frying.



- After cooking a couple of minutes, the donuts will rise to the surface of the oil. This is a good time to turn them to make sure they are cooking evenly.
- Once they are golden brown you are ready to rock n' roll! Take them out of the oil and place them on the paper towel covered plate you set out earlier.
- After they cool slightly, dust them with the toppings you have. I placed the powdered sugar and cinnamon/sugar mix into separate bowls the placed the donuts in the bowls and covered them completely (I mean..if you're gonna do this...you gotta commit! No simple "dusting" here!)





AND ENJOY!!!