Orange Pineapple Cake

I almost typed Orange Pineapple Chicken, which would be awesome. I have to figure out how to do that.
Anyway I have been craving church potluck food all day which today started at 5am thanks to kitten. Also had a coupon for the gluten free Betty Crocker cake mix.
So guess what?
 CAKE!
Alright now that I have that out of my system.
What you will need:
1 box gluten free Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick of butter (8 tbsp)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained 1/2 cup juice reserved
1 tsp vanilla
 Mix the cake mix, butter, eggs and 1/2 cup of juice together, and vanilla. It will look really pretty, like it that gluten filled cake batter way. Add the oranges. Mix some more until the oranges are broken up to the size of you liking. Bake at 350 until a knife or tooth pick comes out clean.
Cool
Then put this on it:
Pineapple Topping Icing Thing
4oz of frozen topping (like Cool whip)
Vanilla pudding powder
1 can of crushed pineapple with juices
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Mix together, put on cake.

Now try not to eat the whole thing as you remember those gluten filled potlucks you used to go to.

Dinner Last Night

I made a humongous dinner last night. Well in my own terms, I'm used to cooking for two and I doubled it for four people. It wasn't that hard and I think it came out cheaper.
We had roast beef, which fell apart upon me trying to slice it to serve, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and biscuits.
The roast got thrown in the crockpot with a sliced yellow onion and three or four cloves of garlic. I seasoned the roast before hand with pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cost for four people= $1.50/ person
The biscuits are the gf Bisquick which takes an ENTIRE box but makes about 2 dozen biscuits. Which is about $0.22 per biscuit.
The gravy was some gf flour mixed with the drippings from the roast. $0.05
The corn comes out to around $0.005 per person
So per person that is $1.775 per person;
So $7.10 for four people;
and since the are leftovers I get another couple of meals out of it.

I kinda forgot I had a blog, sorry.
How do Sweet Potato Cupcakes sound? Kinda ick right, that's what I thought but as I am always looking for a way to put more veggies in our diet and hiding them from the few picky friends this was an experiment. It turned out pretty good. The rest are being frozen until Easter when I will take them out and frost them with the marshmallow frosting (totally not healthy but I failed on my diet)
I don't know where the recipe comes from but a friend posted it on Facebook and I adapted it to be gluten free.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 cups gluten free flour mix
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
20 oz. sweet potato puree
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir together with a fork and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Mix in the sweet potatoes and vanilla extract, beating just until combined.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with a sprinkle of brown sugar, if desired.

Or you could do what I do and use marshmallow fluff

Knit Sew Crochet Bake My birthday dinner! Thank you Sandy!

I'm waiting on a friend of mine to post about dinner on Saturday(I want to link to it). I was really good and really simple (dessert was the hard part). We had roasted veggies and Bacon Explosion. The bacon thing sounded gross but it was really good. I guess I should also say I'm not a huge bacon fan and totally don't understand the American obsession with bacon. I don't get it and I'm not going to try. ON TO DESSERT!
We celebrated my birthday (sorta) and had Icebox Peanut Butter Pie. If you watch Kathy Lee and Hoda it was on last week as the dessert that Hoda picked as her favorite. The original recipe is from Magnolia Bakery and was modified to make gluten free. I don't know how she modified it so I don't want to post the recipe quite yet for that.
I have school stuff the next couple of days, so see ya later.

Chicken Shepard's Pie

This is another recipe that I have on a card and don't know where it's from I think it's from the Gluten Free Club. I use frozen veggies to make it more budget friendly and also use gf bullion. If you aren't gf then use whatever you want.
I love this but I, as usual, just eyeball measurements for spices and do it to taste. I use one big casserole dish and prepare the potatoes ahead of time.
Filling:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
2 onions, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup peas
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 Tsp thyme
2 Tsp Italian parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4  boneless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

TOPPING
5 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
3/4 cups 35% cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a skillet melt the butter over medium-high heat and sauté the potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic until golden.  Add the peas and simmer for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Whisk together the milk and cornstarch until smooth then add to the vegetable mix and simmer until thickened. Add the thyme and parsley to the vegetables and set aside.

Cut the chicken breast pieces into 1 inch square peices. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet heat the oil over high heat and sear the chicken until golden and cooked through.  Add the chicken to the vegetable mixture.

TOPPING
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water and season with salt. Over high heat bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain the potatoes and let them sit for 5 minutes to steam dry. Put the potatoes through a food mill or mash with an electric mixer. Warm the cream and stir into the potatoes. Mix in the butter. Season to taste.

To assemble the pot pies fill 6 ramekins with 1 cup (250 mL) of filling each and top with the mashed potatoes or place mixture in a greased 9x13 pan and spread the topping evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Yeah I know lots of snow and no updates.
I did other stuff.
Like worked on a star shaped afghan.
And ate ice cream, lots of ice cream.
Eric and I are both trying to lose weight so I've been doing a lot of whole foods instead of gluten free substitutes i.e. bread, pasta, and the like. Therefore we have had a lot of seasonal fruits and veggies and meats. I have also been using a tons of spices to cut Eric down on his salt intake. I'm sure he doesn't really have that much salt but it looks like a ton to me so I am coming up with ways to stop that, like tell him that, "I totally salted the broccoli before serving it."
This is nice because I think I've mentioned before we received Omaha Steaks as a Christmas gift so I am learning different things to do with them.
Also I made a fruit salad or two that we have been snacking on. I love berries and it's awesome that they are in season right now, and when they aren't I buy the frozen ones.
My quick fruit salad
A large container of strawberries (Way more than a pint)
A container of blueberries (I think a pint)
A container of blackberries (I think a pint)
Wash all the fruit (a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and a lot of water). Cut up the strawberries, mix all the fruit well and enjoy!
Also resist the urge to sing the Wiggles song fruit salad. Then realize you may have stayed in early childhood education too long.

Thunder Snow

For those you that don't know much of the Midwest is currently experiencing massive amounts of snow. I live in Central Missouri which is currently experiencing a blizzard. So I have the next few days locked inside my apartment to get some blogging done.
My last few recipes have been flops. Mainly because for some odd reason I have developed a chicken aversion, so anything with chicken in it makes me physically ill. Since my menus tend to have a lot of chicken in them (it's cheap, easy and goes with anything) I've had some problems lately. So now I'm falling back on tried and true things like taco soup, meatballs, grilled pork. and some veggie meals as well.
I would also like you to know that one of the reasons for my absence has been that I recently got into an accelerated nursing program. It's all the way in Kansas City so I have been doing a lot of commuting to get things ready for when my program starts in August. What this means for the blog is that it will change directions. It will still have the occasional recipe, but since I will be in school full time (8am-5pm every day) we will be living with my parents until I am finished with the program there will be personal entries and possibly a lot of venting about certain classes.
So to sum up everything, thunder snow, chicken makes me sick, nursing school, and a change in direction for this blog.

Spicy Baked Chicken

Last week when I went grocery shopping they had whole chickens on sale for a $1 a pound so I spent $3 and got one. I have spent the week trying to figure out what to do with it. I've been wanting something spicy so I threw together a spice mix and decided that we would have carrots and quinoa with it.
Price breakdown:
Chicken 3lbs: $3USD
Bag of frozen carrots: $0.47 USD
1 Cup Quinoa: $0.75 USD

I had the spices already and used chicken broth instead of water for the quinoa along with some salsa (salsa is a staple in our house).

Spice Mix:
2 tablespoons red chili flakes
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag and shake it with the spices in there. Place it in the oven at 400 degrees. Bake until throughly done.

And the verdict is.... AWESOME! It was really good even if I was grossed out by cleaning out the inside the chicken.

Pulled Pork Chili (I guess)

I was in a really weird mood yesterday, part of which involved stripping the bed completely and most of the furniture to wash it and frog out (re: rip out) in entire knitting project. Part of that mood involved me wanting to do something with the pork shoulder that was sitting in my freezer (that I completely forgot about until yesterday). I had bought a pre-seasoned gluten free pork shoulder from Hormel. While I was searching the label for ideas I came across one that said to use it as a chili starter. I figured, why not? So I searched my pantry and fridge and I had everything I needed and went to work putting it all in the slow cooker.

What it takes:
1 Hormel pork shoulder, pre-seasoned (make sure gf)
1 can light red kidney beans
1 onion chopped (I had some bits of other onions sitting in the fridge I think I mixed red, sweet yellow, and white)
1 can chili ready tomatoes
1 small can mushrooms
1 small can tomato paste
5 sweet cherry tomatoes cut in half
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons hot sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 cup frozen bell pepper (optional, I used red to up the sweetness)
how ever many of the peppers from the pepper sauce at Steak 'n Shake (optional but mighty tasty)
What you do:
Throw it in the crockpot, on low for 6-8 hours on high for 4-6 hours. At some point when the meat is cooked through pull it out and shred the sucker like there's no tomorrow. Throw the meat back in and let the flavors meld for about an hour or eat right away, your choice.
What we thought:
Eric liked it. It took us a while to realize it needed mustard so I added that close to the end. I'm proud that I measured this time, since I normally don't unless I baking. It's a little on the spicy side but add some cheese or sour cream and your picky ones won't really notice.
What it cost:
Not much since most of the stuff I had and forgot about. I think when I did the math it came to about $3 a person and it made five or more servings. You could stretch it further by serving it with cornbread or over noodles, maybe with fruit or a salad or PB&J like my mom did when I was little. BTW PB&J on flax tortillas is really yummy.

Other things:
Udi's has a new bread. It's Cinnamon Rasin and it is amazing I had some the other morning with apple butter that we made in the summer and I was happy with my breakfast (something that doesn't happen often)
I'm looking for a good pancake recipe (gluten free of course) if you have one could you let me know. Thanks!
If you haven't yet fully explored the vast gluten free universe on the internet here's a link to an awesome site:
Dishtowel Diaries