Jam Filled Gluten Free Muffins

First off, sorry I haven't posted in a really long time. I had a personal crisis and needed to focus on myself and my husband.
Anyway, I present you with a tasty morning treat.

Ingredients:
1 cup GF flour mix (I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose)
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (or veggie shortening)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (cow, soy or rice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Your choice of jam (I used my homemade peach jam)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 12 standard muffin tins, I used cupcake papers or you could grease the tins. Cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla, blend until smooth. In a separate bowl mix together the flours, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mix to the egg/sugar mix. Blend until smooth. Spoon batter into the prepared tins to 2/3 full. Then drop 1 teaspoon of jam into the middle of each cup. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops of the muffins should have some spring to them when they are finished cooking.
For the glaze mix together the orange juice, powdered sugar and vanilla. Once the muffins are completely cool, dip the tops of each muffin in the glaze. 

Starting the Garden

It has been just over a year since we moved into the house. The yard is huge and a little overwhelming. The trees are budding with fruit. I am ready this time to harvest it all and get it taken care of before it drops off and rots. Now what to do with the empty garden beds? I don't want to get too far in that I can not take care of it all. So I decided on green beans, english peas and edemame beans, maybe tomatoes. I started the seeds today. I like to start in glass jars, not pete pots, so you can see the progress of the seedlings.

 

Pretty simple- half pint canning jar and a wet paper towel with the seeds pressed against the glass. Put it in a sunny, warm window and keep the towel moist. Wait till the seedlings are 4-6 inches long and plant in the garden. These should sprout in 10 days and produce edible food and 60-70 days. I hope the soil stays warm and all goes well. I hope to keep this an organic garden.

 I hope I can get some tomato plants from my father-in-law, he has a gift with plants.

Gluten Free Chex Mix

Tasty goodness!!

For years and years before the gluten free diet change, I LOVED LOVED LOVED me some Chex Mix! All flavors anytime of the day. Now, I long for Chex Mix to make a gluten free variety. I don't see this happening anytime soon so I set out to make my own.
Ingredients:
4 cups Rice Chex (I use the generic store brand)
4 cups Corn Chex (I use the generic store brand)
1 cup Roasted Peanuts (or any nut will do fine)
3 cups Gluten Free Pretzels (I use Ener-G)
1/4 cup Gluten Free Margarine (I use Country Crock)
2 Tbsp Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce (I use Lea and Perrins)
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp White Pepper, ground
For spicy flavor add 1/4-1/2 tsp Cheyenne and 1/2 tsp Paprika
Method:
FYI: I do not have a big enough mixing bowl to do this so I use a stock pot.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together the chex, peanuts and pretzels. In a separate bowl, mix margarine, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper and cheyenne and paprika if using. Microwave the margarine/spice mixture until the margarine is melted. Pour 1/4 of the melted mixture over the chex mixture, stir, pour a little more, stir, pour a little more, stir, pour the rest, stir. Microwave mix for 2 minutes on high, I think this helps the sauce get inside the chex and not just sit ontop of the chex. It is ok to microwave in 2 batches, I had to. Pour out microwaved mix onto 2 foil covered baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes, stir and rotate sheets and bake for 20 more minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container or large ziplock bag.
Enjoy!

I Love My Sisters

A few weeks ago, while shopping for bridesmaids dresses for my middle sister's upcoming wedding, I was given a pretty cool gift.

FABRIC SAMPLE BOOKS!!!!
The middle sister (that is getting married in July) works in the design library at Sac State, so she scored these leftovers just for ME! 

These fabric pages have so much potential.

DH helped me rip the bindings off of the books to spare every bit of fabric. A few pages became these.

My sisters are pretty great.