Who doesn’t love freshly baked gluten-free biscuits?

My mother baked from scratch, so our daily bread was either biscuits, yeast rolls or corn bread.


I came from a very large family with just one brother.  So you can imagine how he got the brunt of the girl’s jokes and teasing.   He figured out at a very early age that he had apparatus that he could use, if we did not leave him alone…  I remember when he was around 2 years old, when he seized the only option he had to stop us teasing him.  He reached in his pants to get his super soaker and of course we made tracks in the opposite direction. 


It’s funny how you remember the things that happened when growing up. Back then they may not have seemed so funny, but now they are fond memories.


Of course, when I was in college, sharing an apartment with about four other young women, we bought canned biscuits.  They were never like those we baked at home.


All of the girls in my family learned to bake biscuits very early.  We learned to basically cook, because the person cooking, did not have to clean up afterwards!


Usually, I bake about 6 biscuits and warm one when I want one for breakfast.  I had none in the fridge, so I had to decide what kind to bake today.  As I was going thru my cookbook, I saw a recipe for Paula Deen’s Sour cream Butter Biscuits and decided to attempt to make them gluten free.  Well, I discovered that I did not have sour cream, so decided to just use 0% Greek yogurt instead.  The idea of the biscuits is a very good one when you have all the ingredients.  I had to add some liquid because there was no fat (liquid) in the substituted 0% yogurt.   But they came out tasty!


Paula Deen’s original recipe is here:Paula Deen's Sour Cream Butter Biscuits


This is my version made today.   I need to get the sour cream so I can make it just like Paula!  Hopefully Paula doesn’t get upset that I snagged her idea.  That Paula can cook!





My version of Paula Deen's Sour Cream Butter Biscuits - gluten free


Ingredients


3/4 cup gluten free whole grain self-rising mix
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3 tbsp butter flavored Spectrum shortening (or butter)
4 tbsp 0% Greek Yogurt 
1/4 cup water


Procedure

• Combine all ingredients. A wire whisk works fine for mixing in the shortening.  Use a wooden spoon or your food service gloved hands to work the ingredients entirely.
• Shape into biscuits on a parchment paper covered baking sheet or place into a greased muffin tin
• Preheat oven to 400F
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes

•  Serve with your favorite spread

Yield: 4 to 6


Nutrition Facts (per biscuit, based on 5 biscuits)
Nutrition (per serving): 157 calories, 7.4g total fat, 1.9g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, <1g linoleic acid, 4.4g saturated fat, 18.5mg cholesterol, 20.1g carbohydrates, 1.5g fiber, 18.6g net carbohydrates, 1.3g sugar, 0mg stigmasterol, <1g starch, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g sucrose, <1g maltose, 69.6mg sodium, 55.9mg potassium, 2.9g protein, 65.2mg calcium, 237IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin c, <1mg vitamin e, <1mcg vitamin k, <1mg iron, <1g lysine, <1mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mg zinc.

Thanksgiving Dinner sans Turkey, Dressing, Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Pie

This year, I decided that I did not want the usual Thanksgiving meal.   No Turkey, no dressing/stuffing, no candied yams, no pumpkin/sweet potato pie….

My dinner came out as a simple meal fit for any day of the week…



Originally, I planned to cook a pork roast, but never went to the store to buy one.  Finally, I decided to just cook a normal meal.   I had a couple recipes I was developing and didn’t want to spend time thinking about Thanksgiving dinner..

I had two packages of ribs in the freezer, left from when my sister, brother-in-law and brother came to visit about a month ago. They aren’t very large packages, so I took one out to be thawed.
I used the kitchen shears to cut into smaller pieces and sprinkled my usual spicy mix over them.  I love spicy food, so there is definitely some garlic and cayenne in there!

Then, my thought was ‘what should I fix to go with the ribs?’.  Lately, I haven’t been really into cooking like I used to really like doing.  I also had just bought a bag of Klondike Gold Dust potatoes, so that meant potatoes of some kind.  Well, baked potato fries won out.

 Whole Foods Market has unsalted, no additives frozen potatoes that I really like. Since I did not have any, I sliced up some of the potatoes and baked them



One thing I did not want was to have lots of left-overs, so I cooked accordingly.  Made a couple of desserts…

Well, the two recipes came out good, will make again for proofing.

Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes




Tropical Pudding Cake


I had left-over Pork n Beans Style Baked Beans in the freezer, so I thawed and microwaved those.
The day was a very relaxing, no fuss day.   I tried to get some of the year-end tasks done, like going over year-end donations and holiday cards.

I even made Banana pancakes for breakfast!  I made them on Wednesday and they were so good, made them again on Thanksgiving.  Served up with additional bananas and blueberry syrup.



I  had a pleasant uneventful day.  Hoping everyone else enjoyed their day.

When Apple met Banana, Hi-maize natural fiber observed the rendezvous

It’s apple season, but I still like bananas!.  This is the first banana bread this year… 

Amazing that I have not made any  banana bread this year at all.  Guess I have been too busy making frozen fruit smoothies using all of my bananas, that I hadn’t noticed I had not made bread.

I have a couple of banana bread recipes that I have made several times: Gluten-Free Banana Bread and Gluten-Free Banana Bread with Spices, so I decided to just modify one a bit and add in some apples.  I was also a bit surprised that I had not done a blog post for banana bread.   I decided to ‘healthify’ the Gluten-Free Banana Bread  recipe by adding more fiber.

So many gluten-free flour mixes do not have much fiber in them, so I mix my own.  I always used whole wheat flour, prior to having to go gluten-free, so I try to add as much fiber without having the result taste like straw!

I purchased Gluten-Free 101 by Carol Fenster as my first gluten-free book of any kind.  This book has great information for anyone just diagnosed with gluten-intolerance and needs to know what to eat or how to bake gluten-free.

I used Carol’s sorghum Flour Blend numerous times.  Now I add millet and brown rice to add in more fiber along with more protein. The sorghum mix is a perfect substitution for any mix needing more fiber.  KAF also has a whole-grain mix, which can  replace the flour mix in this recipe.  I ordered a package with my last order from KAF.

So often you will see a recipe listing ‘parts’, so I came up with my interpretation to make my mix, that I use for almost anything except tender cakes. I literally interpreted ‘part’ to mean ‘cup’ when making 2 cups of mix, so it works for me. This mix can be varied depending on what the final product will be or to your own taste.

This combination results in 2 cups of mix (2 parts).*
 1/2 part brown rice
1/2 part millet or teff
1/4 part sorghum
1/4 part chickpea  or garbanzo
1/4 part potato starch
1/8 part tapioca starch
-- also add -
2 tbsp non-fat milk powder  or buttermilk powder
2 tsp baking powder (non-aluminum)
1/2 tsp ginger powder (if using bean flour)

Sometimes, I add rice bran or flaxseed meal to add fiber.  I had used high maize natural fiber before becoming gluten-free, so was very happy to see King Arthur Flour now sells it, produced in a gluten-free facility. Now that I have tried it in gluten-free baking, I will increase the amount next time.
Delicious, soft and full of flavor!




Banana  Apple Bread  - Gluten Free with added fiber
(Le Pain de Pomme de banane - sans gluten avec la fibre supplémentaire)


Dry Ingredients

2 cups Whole Grain flour Mix - Self-Rising (example above*  or any self-rising mix)

2 tbsp hi-maize natural fiber ( or any other fiber or bran)

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

1/4 tsp double acting baking powder (non-aluminum low sodium)

1/2 tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients

1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for Baking ( or 1/2 c sugar)

1/4 cup Honey

1 egg

1/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt (5 tbsp+1 tsp)

1 tsp banana extract (or lemon or almond)

2 tbsp buttery spread (or 60% or more vegetable oil spread), softened

Liquids

2 tbsp milk, plus more if needed

Add Ins

1 large ripe banana, mashed and whisked (3.5 oz. peeled)

1 small apple, peeled, cored and chopped (about 1/2 cup)

Procedures


. Gather all of your ingredients together, prepared

• Whisk the Dry Ingredients together, set aside
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray with oil spray or grease three(3) small (5- inch) loaf pans

Mix the wet ingredients with a mixer until thoroughly blended. Be sure to scrape the bowl while blending

• Stir in the Add Ins using a wooden spoon.

• Add in the Dry Ingredients and milk, stirring with the wooden spoon only until mixed. If additional liquid is needed add more milk by teaspoons at a time.

• Divide the the batter among the pans.   Slightly  smooth top of each loaf.

• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Place on the 2nd rack from the bottom, spread out so each pan is evenly heated

• These are a little extra browned at 40 minutes, yet, not over cooked. Ok to remove 5 minutes earlier

• Cool completely on a wire rack, or the bread could get soggy.

• Serve plain or with a little butter or spread

Servings: approximately 16

Yield: 3  5 1/2 X 3 1/2 inch loaves


Nutrition Facts as prepared
Nutrition (per serving): 109 calories, 2.1g total fat, <1g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, <1g linoleic acid, <1g saturated fat, 13.6mg cholesterol, 20.9g carbohydrates, 2.1g fiber, 18.8g net carbohydrates, 7.4g sugar, 0mg stigmasterol, <1g starch, 3.1g fructose, <1g galactose, 2.6g glucose, <1g sucrose, <1g maltose, 119.7mg sodium, 99.7mg potassium, 2.6g protein, <1mg iron, 63mg calcium, 48.2IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, 1.9IU vitamin d, <1mcg vitamin k, 1.6mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mg zinc.

Tips
If you do not use a high fiber blend, you may need to reduce liquids