Granola Bars

Gluten Free Granola Bars

I love granola bars, but not many are gluten free, and the ones that are cost way too much! I love the idea of making your own. You can customise the add ins to suit your tastes or allergies. It's also much easier to avoid the added preservatives that are in most store bought granola bars. As always, make sure your oats are wheat free!

This recipe is adapted from the Looneyspoons cookbook by Janet and Greta Podleski.

makes 15-20 bars
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups GF Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 cup Coconut Flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts or Seeds (Almonds, Pecans, Cashews, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, etc)
1/2 cup Dried Fruit (Craisins, Apricots, Raisins, Blueberries, etc)
1/3 cup Oat Flour (grind GF oats in coffee grinder)
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
1 tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree (canned or home made) (or 3/4 cup mashed bananas)
1/2 cup Liquid Honey
1/4 cup Canola Oil, Melted Butter/Margarine, or Melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


Directions

Stir together dry ingredients.
In a smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin puree (or banana), honey, oil and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
Line 9x13 baking dish (or baking pan) with parchment paper and pour in mixture. Press evenly into pan.
Bake at 350 for about 25 mins (until top begins to brown).
Let cool in pan, then transfer to cutting board and cut into granola bar shapes.
Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze.

Note: For nut free (and school friendly) granola bars, use sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds only. For the granola bars pictured, I used 1 bag of Enjoy Life Not Nuts seed and fruit mix in place of the nuts and dried fruit.

Dry ingredients

Granola Bar Mixture

Press mixture into baking pan

Bake until golden brown 

Let cool and cut into granola bar shapes

Mmmm...

Great for snacks or lunch on the go!

Enjoy Life Not Nuts Seed and Fruit Mix Review

ELF not nuts Seed and Fruit Mix

A little while ago I received 2 bags of the not nuts seed and fruit mix from Enjoy Life Foods to review. As always with Enjoy Life products, this seed and fruit mix is free of the most common allergens, including wheat/gluten. I had the opportunity to test the Beach Bash flavour (with sunflower kernels, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and apricots) as well as the Mountain Mambo variety (containing sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, raisins, apples, chocolate chips and cranberries).

Although I am able to eat nuts, many people have a very serious nut allergy, and it's nice to see Enjoy Life Foods providing nut alternatives. Because nut allergies are so prevalent, most schools (at least in Saskatoon) are nut free zones. My husband is a teacher, so it's nice to have nut free snacks he can take in his lunch.

Gluten Free Granola Bars made with ELF Seed and Fruit Mix

I made some homemade nut free granola bars using the Beach Bash seed and fruit mix for snacks and lunches on the go. Instead of adding the dried fruit and nuts called for in the recipe, I just dumped the entire bag of seeds and fruit (1 cup worth) into my mixture. They turned out great and I will be posting the recipe shortly.

If I had to choose a favourite, I guess I would have to go with the Mountain Mambo (because of the chocolate chips:) ), but I also really liked the dried pineapple in the Beach Bash flavour. They are both winners in my opinion. The texture was great, with the crunchy seeds and chewy fruit. I found the mixture to be a little too salty, but I know some people like their trail mix salty. To each his own. The price on their website is 4.29 for a 170 g bag of seed and fruit mix. I find this to be a little on the expensive side, but it is an easy, healthy and mobile snack.

Health      5 stars

Cost         2.5 stars

Taste        3.5 stars

Texture    4.5 stars

Overall Rating:  3.9 Stars

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own.

Quinoa Casserole

Gluten Free Quinoa Casserole

I have a humongous Costco bag of quinoa in my pantry. I wanted to start using quinoa more (for the health factor) and was feeling inspired by the recipe I tried for quinoa brownies (which seems to be quite the hit on pintrest). The problem is, I don't really know what to do with it other than make brownies. I am thinking it would be unwise to make brownies out of the whole bag... although I am tempted...

My friend found this recipe on pintrest and recommended it to me. I altered it a bit, but used the same general idea. I was surprised at how good it was! Sooo filling with a flavour resembling pizza (as the original recipe suggests). It uses cooked quinoa, so you don't have to worry about ratios of liquid to quinoa. It also allows for endless substitutions of veggies, meat, sauce and whatever else you can think of. Another fun version of this casserole would be to do it in individual ramekins and let each family member choose their own veggies, etc... kind of like a personalised pizza, only in casserole form.

Hope you enjoy!

Original Recipe from Food Doodles Blog can be found here

(makes 9x9 square baking dish or other shapes of similar size)
Ingredients

3 1/2 cups Cooked Quinoa (cook like you would rice)
2 Italian Sausages (make sure they're gluten free)
1/2 Chopped Green Pepper
1/4 Chopped Onion (I used red onion)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (pasta sauce or pizza sauce works best)
3 cloves Chopped Garlic
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (other vinegars would work)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or other flavours)

Directions

Cook quinoa and place in baking dish.
Remove casings of sausages and fry, along with veggies, in olive oil until cooked through (5-7 mins)
Add oregano, basil, thyme, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to frying veggies and sausage after 2 mins.
Mix cooked veggies and meat with quinoa in baking dish.
Add tomato sauce and stir.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for about 1/2 hr (until cheese is bubbly)

cook quinoa and place in baking dish

Mix veggies and meat with quinoa

Mix with tomato sauce and top with cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 mins and serve

Enjoy Life Foods Crunchy Cookies Review

Crunchy cookies from Enjoy Life

Enjoy Life was kind enough to send me some of their new gluten-free crunchy cookies to review. I received the 4 flavours: Double Chocolate, Vanilla Honey Graham, Chocolate Chip and Sugar Shortbread (also known as Sugar Crisp on their website). I expected to favour the chocolate, but I actually preferred the sugar shortbread and graham cookies. Altough I am a big chocolate fan, I loved the simplicity and familiar taste of the graham and sugar cookies. I also tend to prefer my chocolate chip cookies chewy rather than crispy. I found the general texture of the crunchy cookies to be a tad on the gritty side (they all use roughly the same flour blend), but I really enjoyed their flavour.

A box of 14 crunchy cookies retails for about $4.29 (179-198 grams per box depending on flavour). I think this is quite reasonable for a nice, easy and very portable snack. I would definitely buy these to take on a vacation or a long road trip.

I am pleased with the quality of this product in comparison to other gluten free boxed cookies that I've tried. As an added bonus, these cookies are also free of milk, peanuts, tree nuts, mustard, sulfites, egg, soy, fish, crustaceans, shellfish and sesame.

Ratings:
(I will leave out a health rating, because these are not really meant to be healthy and it would only bring the rating down)

Double Chocolate and Vanilla Honey Graham

Double Chocolate Cookies

These cookies weren't as flavourful as I expected them to be, but they were still good. As mentioned before, I didn't enjoy the slightly gritty texture and prefer my chocolate chip cookies soft and chewy. I think this cookie would make great ice cream sandwiches or blizzard type milkshakes if crushed up (similar to Oreo). This wasn't my favourite flavour, but I will still enjoy eating them!

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 3 stars
Texture: 2.5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.3 stars



Vanilla Honey Graham Cookies

The flavour of these cookies really surprised me. I had completely forgotten what a graham cracker tasted like, and enjoyed revisiting this taste of childhood (I didn't eat gluten free until the age of 12). While the gritty texture was still present in this cookie, I didn't mind it as much because that is sort of how I would expect a graham cracker to be. These cookies would make great crusts for individual servings of pie or pudding. They could also be crushed up and formed into a graham cracker crumbs in many dessert recipes. They are also great dipped in a simple glass of cold milk.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 4.5 stars
Texture: 3.5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.2 stars

Sugar Shortbread and Chocolate Chip

Sugar Shortbread Cookies

I loved the light, crunchy, buttery taste of these cookies. I would have to say these are my favourite. They taste like sugar cookies and are even topped off with a little sprinkle of sugar. I still found the texture to be a little gritty, but I like my sugar cookies crunchy.
If you wanted to get creative, these cookies could be decorated with a little icing or even dipped in chocolate. I thought they were perfect eaten plain alongside my afternoon coffee.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 5 stars
Texture: 3.5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.3 stars


Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were similar to the double chocolate, but without the extra cocoa in the dough. I usually prefer my chocolate chip cookies chewy, so I wasn't a huge fan of the gritty, crunchy texture, but the taste was good. Like the double chocolate flavour, I think these would make great ice cream sandwiches. They are also good with a glass of cold milk.

Cost: 4.5 stars
Taste: 3.5
Texture: 2.5

Overall Rating: 3.5



Thank you Enjoy Life for providing free samples for me to review!

All opinions are my own.

Breakfast Casserole

gluten free breakfast casserole

This is a super easy recipe for a brunch or even supper. It's filling and tasty and goes a long way when paired with some gluten free pumpkin cream cheese muffins or ginger peach coffee cake and fruit! The leftovers are great too.

You can get a little creative with this recipe if you like. Swap the bacon for ham or chopped up breakfast sausage or add some peppers and mushrooms to the onions. Just make sure the frozen hash browns (and sausage if you're using it) are gluten free, and you should be good to go!

(makes one square baking pan. double the recipe for a larger dish)
Ingredients

4-6 strips of Chopped Bacon (or sausage, ham, etc)
1/4 cup Diced Onion
6 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
2 1/2 cups Frozen Hash Browns
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Dill Weed (optional)


Directions

Cook bacon or other meat in a frying pan.
Saute onions in drippings or microwave until translucent.
In a bowl, beat eggs with milk and spices.
Spread the frozen hash browns around on the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle bacon and onions evenly over hash browns.
Pour egg mixture over hash browns (it should just barely cover them)
Sprinkle cheese on top.
Bake at 350 for about 1 hour (until knife inserted in the centre comes out clean)

place hash browns in baking dish

sprinkle sauteed onions and bacon evenly over hash browns

beat eggs with milk and spices

pour egg mixture over hash browns and sprinkle with cheese

bake at 350 for 1 hr

serve with fruit and muffins or coffee cake

Enjoy Life Foods Chocolate Review

Enjoy Life Foods

Recently, I received the Double Chocolate Crunch Granola and Chocolate Mega Chunks to review from Enjoy Life Foods. I have never tried any products from this company, and was excited to check them out. The great thing about Enjoy Life Foods is that their products are not only gluten free, but also free of peanuts, dairy, tree nuts, eggs, soy, fish and shellfish (and some are free of even more common allergens). This is great company for people with multiple allergies.


Mega Chunks (for baking)

I know these are for baking, but I couldn't help but pop a few chocolaty morsels in my mouth when I received the package. They were very dark and rich. I couldn't wait to try them in a recipe. I was planning to make some peanut butter banana chocolate chip muffins (as you can see, I'm not allergic to nuts...) so I used the mega chunks in place of my regular semi-sweet chocolate chips. At first I was sceptical about the size of these things, but the muffins turned out great. They were nice and chocolaty, even though I only used 1/2 cup in 16 muffins. I'm sure these would also be great in cookies or blondies (like pictured on the package).

Gluten Free Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins

The Mega Chunks range in cost from $4.50 to $5.00 online (http://enjoylifefoods.elsstore.com/ and others). I'm not sure about in-store prices. This is roughly $1-2 higher than similar, non allergy-friendly products. I would call it expensive, but good quality and reliable when it comes to allergies.

Cost        2.5 stars

Taste       5 stars

Texture    5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.2 Stars

Double Chocolate Crunch Granola

When I first tasted this granola dry, I found the texture way too crunchy (hard on the teeth). It was better with milk and even better with warm milk. It was very chocolaty, as the name suggests, and fairly sweet. If you like chocolate cereal, this granola is for you. It's nice to have a granola that is free of wheat, oats and nuts for people with multiple allergies.

There are 4 grams of fibre per serving and lots of added vitamins and minerals, making it a fairly healthy snack or breakfast option.

The online costs for this product ranges from $5.99 to $6.49. For granola, this is a fairly reasonable price.

Health      4.5 stars

Cost         3.5 stars

Taste        3.5  stars

Texture    2  stars

Overall Rating: 3.4 Stars

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own.

Naan Bread

gluten free naan bread

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe. I seem to have made my way through every common illness in the past few weeks from barfing to sinus cold... and of course the angiogram before that. I am still trying to shake that last bit of a sinus cold, but other than that I think I'm good to go.

I haven't had much energy for baking, but I have been meaning to post this recipe for awhile. I found it on the GF blog Fire and Salt and knew I had to try it. I made some tiny changes, but definitely have to give this guy the credit. The bread is chewy and soft. The only downside is that it does not keep well, so only make what you think will be eaten for one meal (once it cools it becomes dense and dry).
I have made this recipe twice with great results!

Recipe from:
http://fireandsalt.blogspot.com/2010/09/gluten-free-naan-bread.html

(makes 4 Naan Bread)
Ingredients

2 tsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Warm Water
2 1/4 cups GF All-Purpose Flour Blend
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Guar Gum
1 Egg
1-2 tbsp Milk
Butter or Oil for frying
Optional: 1 tsp garlic powder (I left this out)

Directions

Proof the yeast with the sugar and warm water. (about 5 mins)
Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
Add egg, milk and prepared yeast mixture.
Mix well by hand or in stand mixer.
Separate dough into 4 equal balls.
Dust parchment paper with rice flour and roll out each ball of dough into the shape of naan bread. (they should be a bit bigger than your hand - or your husband's hand)
Place on a flat, portable surface (cutting board or baking pan), cover with a tea towel and let rise in a draft free place for 20-30 minutes.

* be very careful when transferring the risen bread to the frying pan as they are very breakable. Try not to let them bend at all. They will be much more stable after they cook.

Heat oil or butter in a frying pan and cook naan bread one at a time
Fry 3-4 minutes per side until it starts to brown a bit.

Heat your oven to 250 degrees.
Once all the bread is cooked, wrap them up (all together) in foil and place them in the oven for 5 minutes. The steam makes the bread nice and chewy.

roll out dough on parchment paper



let rise for 20-30 minutes

cook in the frying pan for 3-4 minutes per side (or until it browns like this)

wrap the bread in foil and place in 250 degree oven for 5 mins

serve immediately with dip, souvlaki or curries

Serve with Curry, Butter Chicken or Souvlaki. You can also eat it with hummus or other dips as a snack or side dish.

When it's just me and my husband, I usually make half the recipe.

Enjoy!