My plan to sneak fruit into food has been detected by my oh-so-clever son, Jon. Last night after I was done cleaning up dinner from Hannah and I, Jon comes home and announces that he is hungry. I told him that I would make him some GF Pancakes; that way I could make and freeze extras for the rest of the week while I was at it. As I was getting ready to mix up the pancakes, I saw a banana that needed to be used and decided to add some applesauce to the mixture as well. To try to distract from the healthy things I added, I balanced it out with a few chocolate chips per pancake. I was hoping that since he wasn’t going to be having any veggies with dinner, the added fruit to the pancakes would make a somewhat healthy meal. I also made him a bowl of homemade applesauce to have on the side. I put his plate down in front of him and go back to making the other pancakes to freeze for the week. He calls me over to the table to show me that he doesn’t think that the pancakes are cooked all the way through. I told him that yes, it was cooked all the way through, what he was seeing was a small chunk of banana. He was not pleased with me at all. LOL! He asked me why I had to ruin his pancakes. I reminded him that he loves, not just likes, my banana bread that I make that not only has banana, but chocolate chips in it. There really isn’t much difference with the pancakes, and he can put syrup on these, what is better than that?!?! Aaron pointed out to him that I was right and he should just suck it up and eat the pancakes. He grumbled about them the whole time he was eating, but he finished them. Oh, he had them for breakfast today too. I think he may have forgotten all about that added fruit today. 🙂 I win. Oh, and BTW, I tasted the pancakes and they were awesome!

Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 cup of Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
2 eggs
1 TBSP Oil
1 TBSP Applesauce (I used sweetened, homemade)
1 mushed up banana
1 1/2 cups milk or water (I used water, but usually use milk)
Chocolate Chips to sprinkle on each pancake as they cook

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Heat griddle or pan.
3. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto each pancake as they cook, before you flip.

Makes approximately 12 4-inch pancakes. These freeze very well.

So when I look back at my menu plan for this week, I see that last night was supposed to be homemade pizza (oops…I went out to Red Robin with a friend) and tonight was supposed to be Breakfast for Dinner. When this happens I typically just move what was supposed to be for dinner the night I missed to the next night. Well, Jon spent the night at a friend’s house last night and is still there, so there was no point in my making a large GF pizza for just Hannah and I (DH wasn’t interested). I opted to go ahead with breakfast for dinner (at least for myself). We had received a large gift basket from Harry & David the other day that had some smoked salmon in it. I knew that I was the only one who would eat it, so I incorporated it into my dinner tonight. I ended up making an omlette (2 eggs & 2 egg whites) that had smoked salmon and cream cheese inside and slice grape tomatoes outside. Oh. My. God. It was amazing! I seasoned with salt & pepper only. I intended to put some Frank’s Red Hot on it, but forgot b/c I was so lost in the taste. Along side I made some sauteed spinach with S & P and nutmeg and some pan-fried sweet potato hashbrowns (seasoned with S & P & cinnamon). I also had a half of a Kinnikinnick plain bagel left in my freezer, so I toasted that puppy up and topped with a little buttery spread. Finished off with a couple of glasses of Cabernet and I had the perfect meal. I hope that we get some more of that smoked salmon soon…I have never had smoked salmon before, only grilled or baked salmon here. It was perfect with the cream cheese in the omlette.

Oh, I almost forgot, I finished off my meal with some Edy’s Slow Churned Pumpkin Ice Cream topped with some Nestle Chocolate Chips. YUM!! Perfect end to a perfect fall day.

I just got a call that Jon is on his way home. What do you want to be that he hasn’t eaten dinner and now I need to make him something. I think that he will be having some Pamela’s Pancakes and I will make extras to freeze for later in the week.

I thought this might be fun to post here on my blog. I get these in my email every now and then. I have modified it slightly, so the numbers may be off. Still lots of fun!

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your Friends. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!

My answers for Saturday, October 4, 1008

1.What time did you get up this morning? 6:30 to eat and go to the gym by 8:00 AM

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Mamma Mia with Hannah…LOVED IT!

4. What is your favorite TV show? Private Practice, CSI (all), Bones, Biggest Loser, Grey’s Anatomy, 24, Law & Order SVU, Lipstick Jungle, Desperate Housewives (watch much TV?)

5. What did you have for breakfast? Brown Rice Cakes with PB or Almond Butter & Fruit Spread, Egg Whites with tomatoes (usually grape tomatoes), Laughing Cow Cheese triangle (light swiss) & Fresh Basil

6. What is your middle name? Lynn

7. What food do you dislike? Can’t really think of one other than Beef Jerky

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? No cds, but a lot of great songs on my iPod

9. What kind of car do you drive? Honda Odyssey

10. Favorite sandwich? Hmm…turkey, spinach & swiss on my yummy GF bread!

11.What characteristic do you despise? Fakeness and disloyalty

12. Favorite item of clothing? PJs

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Anywhere with my family

14. Favorite brand of clothing? Gap and Old Navy & Ann Taylor Loft

15. Where would you retire to? Hoschton, GA

16.What was your most recent memorable birthday? The last b/c I had the stomach flu. Not a good reason to remember, huh?

17. Favorite sport to watch? Hockey

20. When is your birthday? 1/9

21. Are you a morning person or a night person? Definitely AM

22. What is your shoe size? 7.5

23. Pets? Do my kids count?

24. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us? No, not really

25. What did you want to be when you were little? A doctor

26. How are you today? Better than 2 days ago

27. What is your favorite candy? Oh, you had to go there. Heath Bar since being GF; Pre-GF, Whatchamacallit Bar.

28. What is your favorite flower? Stargazer Lily

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Christmas will be extra special this year

31. What are you listening to right now? Aaron channel surfing

32. What was the last thing you ate? Trade Joe’s Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies & Coffee from Caribou

33. Do you wish on stars? Depends

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Persimmon

35. How is the weather right now? Sunny & fally (crispy & cool fall day)

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Kelly or Mom

37. Favorite soft drink? Coke in a bottle! Oooh….yes AND Diet Dr. Pepper

38. Favorite restaurant? Aqua Terra (in Buford) ~ The Chef’s Wife has Celiac and I had a fabulous meal there when we visited my sister over Spring Break.

39. Real hair color? Who really knows these days??? If you do, you are lying to yourself and everyone else too. 😉

40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies

41. Summer or winter? Fall

42. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

44. Coffee or tea? Love my coffee!

46. When was the last time you cried? The other day

47. What is under your bed? Don’t ask. I don’t.

48. What did you do last night? Went out to eat with my best friend, Amanda and her daughter, Emma. We went to Red Robin (had turkey burger w/cheese, protein wrap style, salad & steamed broccoli)…YUM!

49. What are you afraid of ? Illness in my family

50. Salty or sweet? Ooh….depends. I love food in general.

51. How many keys on your key ring? Too many

52. How many years at your current job? Since May of 2002.

53. Favorite day of the week? Monday. It is like a fresh start.

54. How many towns have you lived in? I don’t think I can count that high…let me try: Newport, RI; Parma, OH; Cambridge, OH; Stoney Lake, OH; Warrensville Heights, OH; Arlington, TX; Bridgewater, NJ; Dublin, OH; Centerville, OH, Westerville, OH, Dublin, OH, Lewis Center, OH.

55. Do you make friends easily? Yes – you have to when you move around like I have!

Now, either copy & paste to your own blog or answer here in the comments. FUN! 🙂

Often when I make dinner I find myself making alternate side dishes because my kids (or husband 😉 ) won’t eat one of the sides I have made. I love my veggies and eat a wide variety of them. The kids (and Aaron) do eat a nice variety (broccoli, green beans, corn, peas, carrots, salad and potoatoes), but not nearly as many different ones as I do. One of my fall favorites is sweet potatoes/yams. In the baked or mashed state, no one will touch these in my house aside from me. Don’t ask me why, they are all crazy. However, I know from buying the Alexia Frozen Sweet Potato Fries, they will eat them in the French Fry form. Hmmm. So, for dinner last night I took 3 sweet potatoes/yams (I am not really sure which they were, they taste the same to me) and sliced them into thin rounds and placed on a baking sheet to make “fries”. The kids loved them! I was shocked! I sprinkled them with some cinnammon after baking, so that may have helped. Our meal last night was filet mignon for Jon & I (strips/pieces of beef tenderloin in a pan for Hannah ~ she won’t eat it in steak form), sweet potato “fries” and steamed broccoli. Hannah even asked for seconds of the fries!

Sweet Potato “Fries”

3 or 4 medium size sweet potatoes or yams
Pam
sea salt
pepper
cinnamon

1. Scrub & peel sweet potatoes. Slice into thin rounds.
2. Spray baking sheet with Pam. Lay potatoes in a single layer on the pan. Spray the potatoes with Pam. Sprinkle with sea salt & pepper.
3. Place baking sheet into oven (375 or 400; I started at 375 and upped it to 400 half way through). Total baking time is about 30 minutes. I flipped & checked on them every 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon when they come out.

Pre-baking:

After baking:

So now I have another side to add to my rotation. I hope they continue to enjoy these. It is really important to me to make sure they get a balanced diet that is full of fruits & veggies and low in fat and processed foods. I have also cut back on foods that contain HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). I would love to say that I have cut it out completely, but there are a few things (Heinz ketchup is the big one) that I can’t (won’t) part with and I believe that in moderation, it won’t hurt us. I have made sure that the bread that I am buying for Hannah & Aaron has no HFCS. Why is it necessary in bread? I mean, come on! The kids do have “treats” after their meals, but only when they put in a good effort and eat their fruits & veggies. Their “treats” and snacks are usually home-baked goodies, Slow-Churned Ice Cream (lower in fat & calories than the full fat versions), fruit, cheese (usually 2% milk varieties), crackers, peanut butter on fruit or veggies, nuts or popcorn. I also make sure to incoroporate whole grains into our meals. This is really important for Jon and I, as GF bread options are not usually rich in whole grains. We eat a lot of whole grain brown rice, whole grain brown rice pasta and I am working on introducing quinoa to the fam. Not sure how that will go over. I may just fib and tell them it is a different kind of brown rice. 🙂 I also bought some flax seed meal to start adding to my home baked goods and foods. Sneaky, sneaky!

Wow. Sunshine Burgers ROCK! Have you tried these yet? They really make me feel “sunny”! They are veggie burgers that are soy & gluten-free. They are made from sunflower seeds, brown rice, carrots, herbs and sea salt. I bought the original and the Garden Herb yesterday at Whole Foods . They were $3.69/box. There are 3 in a box. I had one for lunch yesterday on a Trader Joe’s GF French Roll with some cheese, lettuce and Frank’s Red Hot. YUM! I was very impressed with the taste and size of the burger. I had it along with some veggies and a salad and it kept me full all afternoon. It is really nice to have a wonderful GF product also be soy free, as there are many people who also have to stay clear of soy. There are several yummy looking recipes on their website that I am going to have to try, including the Simply Southwest Black Bean Burger Pizza. So, if you get a chance to give these a try, go for it! 🙂

I am referring to the teenage years with my daughter. She turned 6 this past August and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she turned 13. She certainly acts like it. The emotions, oh, the emotions. The littlest tasks bring out all of the emotions. Crying, whining, complaining (she must have been listening to her 12 year old brother too much), screaming…you get the picture. Getting dressed. You would think I was asking her to perform brain surgery. We have tried picking out the clothes the night before, that just moves the argument to the night instead of in the morning. The only consolation there is that it is more appropriate for Mommy to have had a glass of wine at night then first thing in the morning. 😉 The arguments are about what type of outfit, skirst, pants, dresses, skorts. Does she have gym the next day? If so, no dresses unless she is wearing tights or leggings. Then you have what kind of shoes. Which color/type. Again, gym days require gym shoes. That can send us all the way back to the beginning of the whole darn procedure. Then, how is she going to wear her hair? Up, down? Pony tail or Pig Tails? Braid, no braid? All the way up or partially up? Just clips? This whole process takes WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too long. I really need to set a timer and let her know that if the decisions aren’t finished by the time the timer rings, I pick it all. So, we have it all set at night and then she wants to change her mind in the AM. She wants to wear off season clothing (sweaters when it is 90 outside, shorts when it is freezing). **Note to self, put away summer clothes this weekend. So, if this is starting now, does it mean that she is getting it out of her system now so that she can be a polite, respectful, sweet teenage girl? Not likely, but one can always dream. My Mother always told me that I would get mine when I had kids. She is referring to the payback I deserve for being such a hell raiser during my teen years. Yes, I deserve some payback, but how much is enough? We also have arguments over what she is having for breakfast. This is probably partially my doing as she has too many choices. I like variety, so have several things to choose from for breakfast. Cold cereal (4 or 5 different kinds), French Toast Sticks, Nutri-Grain Bars, fresh fruit, cheese and PB toast. I don’t recite this all off to her every day, she knows what is there. This whole decision process can take 20 minutes or so. As soon as I see her smiling face come downstairs I let her know that she needs to start thinking about what she wants for breakfast. It generally takes her a while to wake up and decide. I am fine with that. Once 7:30 rolls around, I start reminding her that she needs to make a choice. Once a choice has been made, she sits down to eat. This can take a while too. She will chatter more than she eats. Then she gets mad and emotional that I am nagging her to eat. Ay yi yi! I really can’t wait until she is 13. That is going to be so much fun! NOT!

I have to say that she does get a lot of this from Jon. He is certainly not a teenage girl, but he has got the attitude of one. I think a certain little girl needs to quit taking lessons from her big bro on behavior!

I am still swimming in applesauce over here, so what better to make than an applesauce cake. If this doesn’t say “Fall”, then I don’t know what does. The cake is moist and is paired with a maple frosting that totally makes the cake.

Here is a picture of the cake, frosted, a little messy. I almost forgot to take a picture I was so excited to eat it! LOL!

This cake is very easy to make. I used Pamela’s Baking Mix, but you could use any combo of GF flours or even regular, all-purpose flour if you don’t have to eat GF. I think the most time consuming part is the frosting. The frosting is very sticky and wanted to create a bunch of crumbs on my cake. I had a long, stressful day and was not feeling the love when I frosted the cake, so I really didn’t care. I just wanted to eat it! LOL! Maybe a tsp or 2 of milk or water in the frosting will help smooth it out. I also left the nuts out b/c I ran out and my kids aren’t wild about them.

Applesauce Cake

Applesauce Cake

2 1/2cups all-purpose flour (I used Pamela’s. Don’t forget to add Xanthan Gum if you are making this GF and your mix doesn’t have Xanthan gum or guar gum in it).
1 ½ cups applesauce (unsweetened, but I am using sweetened)
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup stick butter, softened
½ cup water
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you don’t have this, use this site for subs)
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins (I leave these out b/c my kids won’t touch the cake with them in it; may add chocolate chips instead)
2/3 cup chopped nuts
Maple-Nut Buttercream Frosting or Cream Cheese Frosting if you want instead.

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms & sides of 13 x 9 x 2 pan or 2 round pans, with shortening; lightly flour.
2. Beat all ingredients except raisins, nuts and Frosting in a large bowl with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in raisins & nuts. Pour into pan(s).
3. Bake rectangle for 45 – 50 minutes, rounds 40 to 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool rectangle pan on wire rack. Cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
4. Frost rectangle or fill and frost layers with Maple Nut Frosting.

Maple Nut Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup stick butter, softened
½ cup maple flavored syrup
¼ cup finely chopped nuts

1. Mix sugar and butter in medium bowl. Stir in syrup.
2. Beat until smooth & spreadable. Stir in nuts.
3. Frosts one rectangle cake or fills and frosts one 8 or 9 inch layer cake.

So, last week I had posted about baking being a stress reliever for me. I think I may want to revise that statment. The baking itself is relaxing for me. The clean-up, not so much. Since my baking spree began a few weeks back, I have done more loads of dishes than I care to count. Last night was the final straw. I just simply couldn’t do any more. I am taking a hiatus from baking at least through the weekend so that I can concentrate on some other stresses that I have going on right now. Yes, I will still cook our meals, but the added disasters I was creating need to come to an end for the short time being. I think my new goal will be to aim for only 1 baked good per week. That doesn’t count our bread b/c it goes in the breadmaker and really doesn’t make much of a mess. Also, Jon and I go through a loaf in a week, easily. Especially with his new found love of Cinnamon-Sugar Toast in the AM.

I made these muffins initially a few weeks back and posted a post called Oh Snap! where I talk about my muffins “flopping”. I forgot the spices! DUH! LOL! Well, today I had some pumpkin in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I made another attempt at the muffins. They turned out MUCH better this time! YAY!!! The taste of fall. The flavors that I love. Spices…..nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon & ginger. A picture:

Pumpkin Muffins
**Adapted from Pamela’s Website

1 1/4 cups Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup honey (or 1/4 cup sugar, I used sugar)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin (canned)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional, I skipped these b/c my peeps would whine)
Brown Sugar, for topping the muffins

Yield: approximately 6 to 7 muffins

Mix all ingredients together and spoon 2/3 full into greased muffin pan (or use paper muffin cups). Top Muffins with sprinkles of brown sugar. Bake in preheated 350º oven for 18 to 20 minutes

YUM!! Now that I know it is good, I will be doubling this recipe from now on. I wasn’t into wasting ingredients if they weren’t any good.

Wow. I can’t believe that it is already Sunday night. Time really does fly. It seems like I just did my menu plan for last week. This week is going to be crazy, just as last week was. I have so much going on. I didn’t get half of what I wanted to get baked last week done, so I have moved some of it to this week. I am trying to concentrate on using stuff I have in the house and only buying fresh fruits, milk, eggs & veggies. Well, the $100 I spent at the grocery store today shows that I didn’t do as well as I had hoped! LOL! I really should stay out of the store when I am hungry.

Sunday ~ Grilled Salmon, okra medley (for me; brocooli for my peeps), steamed brown basmati rice and spinach salad. Oh, the kids also had leftover All Purpose Quick Bread.

Monday ~ Crockpot Roast Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed green beans & salad.

Tuesday ~ Mexican Pizzas with ground turkey taco meat, mexican rice, & salad.

Wednesday ~ Cheeseburger In Paradise. Hannah has ice skating.

Thursday ~ Filet mignon, baked sweet potatoes or baked sweet potato fries & spinach salads

Friday ~ Homemade pizza, steamed broccoli & salad

Saturday ~ Breakfast for dinner (french toast for the kids), veggie frittata for moi, bacon & sweet potato hash browns.

Baking Projects for the Week
Applesauce Cake
Pie in a Pumpkin
Chocolate Chewies
Pumpkin Muffins (did these once, I need to perfect them)

When I was growing up my Grandmother (this time, my Mom’s Mother), always used to make applesauce/spice cookies. They were awesome. I woke up thinking about these last week and had to track down the recipe. I emailed my Grandma to ask if she had it, she didn’t. However, my Mom did! She had the cookbook that the recipe came from. Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, the 1969 edition. All I had to do was modify the recipe to make it gluten-free. I did just that. The cookies smelled amazing while they were cooking. In addition, I used my homemade applesauce that I made a huge batch of last week. I really think that just added to the wonderful flavor of these cookies. These cookies really said “fall” to me. The flavors were everything representative of the season. The recipe for the frosting that Betty Crocker suggests is not the one I used. I actually used the Cinnamon Icing that I used for my pumpkin cookies the other day. All of my taste testers have raved about these. They aren’t the prettiest cookies, but who cares when they taste so good?!? They didn’t want to flatten out when they baked, so next time I will probably shape them a little flatter before putting them in the oven. The texture and moisture level was perfect, so I don’t see altering the recipe to try to alter the shape.

Some pictures:

Before baking:

After baking, before frosting:

After frosting, ready to be eaten:

Applesauce Cookies

**Applesauce Cookies – from Betty Crocker cookbook 1969

½ cup softened butter or margarine
¾ cup applesauce
2 ¾ cup flour (I used Gluten Free Pantry’s All-Purpose mix that includes guar gum, so didn’t add any xanthan gum; make sure to add this if you don’t have it in your mix already)
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
2 eggs

Heat oven to 375. Mix butter and applesauce. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched – 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool. Frost with Caramel Frosting if desired. About 6 dozen cookies – 70 calories each. (BTW, this made no where near 6 dozen, more like 2-3 dozen)

Caramel Frosting
**This is the recipe for frosting that Betty Crocker Suggests; I did not use this one
½ cup margarine or butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
Heat margarine in 1-quart saucepan until melted. Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir over low heat 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Place pan of frosting in bowl of cold water; beat until smooth and of spreading consistency. If frosting becomes too stiff, stir in additional milk, 1 tsp at a time. Frosts a 13 x 9 inch cake or fills and frost two 8 or 9 inch cake layers.

Cinnamon Frosting
**This is the icing/frosting that I used

2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together until icing is the right consistency to ice cookies. You can half this recipe if you want less icing.

Enjoy!!