ALDI Gluten Free finds

I was so excited when I found that ALDI has gluten free options!!!!!  I am all about some economical gluten free food!

The prices are great!  

      GF Yellow Cake Mix - $2.99

      GF Double Chocolate Soft Cookies - $2.49

      GF Brownie Mix - $2.99

      GF Chewy Bars - $2.49

      GF Macaroni and Cheese - $1.49

We have tried the mac and cheese and, as always, I cooked it per package instructions and added extra cheese and an egg and then baked it for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. It was great!

We have tried the brownies and they were a hit!!!  Extra chocolaty and moist.  

YUM!!!!

We have also tried the double chocolate soft cookies.  They were very good and will be great for a lunch box treat.  

Everything we have tried is Kasen approved.  ;-)

I am so glad ALDI is offering these GF options.  Go check it out!  

Happy Shopping!!

<3

Bisquick Muffins

My sweet baby's favorite breakfast is a chocolate chip muffin!  I love the ones made with my favorite gf flour but in a pinch, when out of flour, Bisquick offers a great option!!!  I have tried several recipes and have finally come up with one that works really well for me!  :-)

Ingredients:

2 cups GF Bisquick
1/3 cup granulated sugar plus 2 Tbl
1 cup milk plus 2 Tbl
2 Tbl vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla flavoring (gf)
chocolate chips (use a whole bunch or use just a little- whichever you prefer)

Mix first 5 ingredients really well and then fold in chocolate chips.  Pour in greased muffin tins and bake at 400 until they are golden.

Let me just say, you can do without the extra 2 Tbl sugar if you like - I just believe you can never have too much sugar!  :-)  Also, you can start with 1 cup milk and then add 1 Tbl at a time until the mixture is pourable.  Usually it takes 2 for me.

You could add a little melted butter right to the top of these babies! 

This muffin recipe would be great with blueberries or strawberries or even adding some crushed pineapple would be good!!!!  Mmmmmmm.  Makes me want a muffin!  We could even add a little sugar to the muffin tops right before they go in the oven.  They would be just like Biscuitville's blueberry muffins!  They would look fancy!  hee hee.

Happy Muffin Making!
Christy
XOXO

Cream Soup

My family loves chicken pie!  For a while, I was using Pacific Cream of Chicken soup found at my local Company Shops Market.  It was a little pricey so I decided to try Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup that is labeled gluten free!  YAY!  The flavor was great but my boys were not a fan of the chunks of mushroom.  :-(  Soooo, I started straining my soups to get out all of those chunks.  :-P  That worked well until my local grocery store was always out!  I would check back often and they were always sold out!  I resorted to my pantry, and Google, of course! I found a recipe for cream soup with items I already had.  (I have looked all over the place and cannot find my source for this recipe.  As soon as I find it, I will add it to this post.)  This base is so easy to make ahead and it tastes YUMMY in my chicken pie!  It is also much cheaper than buying soup in a can.

Ingredients:

2 cups instant nonfat dry milk powder

10 Tbl corn starch

1/2 cup potato flakes

1/4 cup bouillon granules (gf)

2 Tbl dried vegetable flakes (optional)

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp black pepper

(By the way, I love the veggie flakes in this recipe!  They add such a great flavor!  I wouldn't make it without them!)

In food processor, combine all ingredients, cover and process.  :-)  Store in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year.

When ready to make soup:

Whisk 1 1/3 cups water and 6 Tbl soup mix together in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high uncovered 2 to 2 1/2 minutes stirring occasionally.  

As I mentioned, this is great in my chicken pie!  It would also be great in chicken noodle soup!  

Happy Comfort Food!

Christy  

XOXO

Taco Pie

This is a SUPER EASY and tastes GREAT!  My two favorite things! :-)  This recipe came from www.bettycrocker.com.  This site has some great recipes using GF Bisquick.

If you look closely, you can see a little hole in this dish.  I think my hubby got a spoon into this before I could take my pic!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion (or 1 tsp onion powder)
1 oz (2 Tbl) taco seasoning (or 1 package)
1 can chopped green chilies, drained
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup GF Bisquick
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.  (Don't forget to spray that plate - I forgot and the bisquick stuck a bit! :-P)

Brown ground beef, drain and then add onion, stirring occasionally.  (I used onion powder since my boys won't eat an onion if they can see it!)  Stir in taco seasoning and spoon into pie plate.  (I make my own taco seasoning to make sure it's GF.  It's super easy and that way, I always have some on hand!) Top with chilies. (I used rotel here and put it in my blender so my boys wouldn't see chunks.  :-P  As long as they don't see something they think they don't like, they will eat it!)

In a small bowl, stir eggs, milk and Bisquick until blended.  Pour into pie plate right on top of the beef mixture.

Bake about 25 minutes.  Top with cheese and return to oven to bake an additional 2 - 3 minutes to melt cheese.  You can serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, even some jalapeno peppers! YUM!

Happy Dinner-time!
XOXO

Billionaire Bars

Yum-O!  This is a very rich little dessert bar!  The original recipe was not GF but I used my GF flour and it turned out great!  The recipe came from Pinterest and was found at cjudithwhite.worldpress.com.  

Butter Cookie Base

1/2 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

tiny pinch of salt

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup unsalted butter

Billionaire Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp pure vanilla

Billionaire Topping

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, line 9 x 13″ baking pan with foil (parchment paper also works), and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt butter, and added it to all the dry ingredients. Stir until it holds together like a dough.  Press the dough into the prepared pan, prick it with a fork all over, and bake it for 25 minutes (until lightly browned). Let it cool and prep the filling.

For the Billionaire filling, heat butter, brown sugar and condensed milk over low heat in a heavy sauce pan.  Let the mixture lightly simmer, and stir it constantly until it thickens and becomes a medium caramel color (about 20 minutes..yes it’s an arm workout).  Remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour the filling over the cookie base and spread it evenly.  Let this cool completely before adding the chocolate topping.

Melt the milk chocolate and spread over filling.  Melt white chocolate and spread over milk chocolate, then swirl with a knife.  That just makes it pretty!  

This pic was copied from the original post.

This recipe is really good and works well when altered with GF flour.  The butter cookie base almost tastes like a shortbread cookie.  It's not real sweet - but that is quite alright since the rest of this yummy goodness is very rich!! My kids love it and Kasen is going to take some to his teachers tomorrow.  :-)

Happy Baking!

XOXO

GF "Hamburger Helper"

Our schedule is crazy and we are always on the go.  When we went GF, one thing my boys missed was their Hamburger Helper.  I will admit, I missed it too because it's just so stinkin' quick and easy!  Well, a few weeks ago, I went to Lowe's Foods and ran across SamMills Beef Lasagna.  It is Yummy!!!!   My whole family loved it - even my picky hubby!

It was, of course, crazy easy and only takes 20 minutes!!!!  Great for a ball game night!  

The finished product even looks scrumptious!  We just popped a few pieces of GF bread in the oven with some butter and garlic while the pasta was cooking and - bam - dinner!  :-)

Just thought I'd share that this is definitely worth the purchase!  

XOXO
Christy

Brownie Kisses

Valentines Day is coming!  This is the cutest and easiest little recipe to make for your sweetie!  The first Friday of every month, Kasen's class (4th grade) has cupcakes for birthdays in that month.  For February, I made these cute little Brownie Kisses.  Kasen called them Brupcakes - ya know, brownies/cupcakes . . .  I thought Brownie Kisses sounded much better!  :-P

These are super easy!  I used the GF Betty Crocker boxed brownie mix! YAAAY!  It is very good!  I mixed the brownies as directed.  Then, I lined my cupcake tin - you could also grease the pan.  I filled the cupcake wells about 1/3 of the way full and then - FOR THE SURPRISE - I put a Hershey's kiss in and then covered it with a large spoonful of brownie mix!  HOW CUTE -  RIGHT????!!!!!!

It's just a sweet little treat with a prize inside!  A chocolate kiss!  I baked them according to package directions and then cooled them on my rack.  Once they were cool, I just iced them with some GF Betty Crocker pink vanilla icing. I put the icing in a plastic baggie and cut the end off to pipe the icing on the cupcakes.  If I'm gonna take the time to make them, I might as well make them cute, right?!?  My boys loved them! They both took one to school for lunch.  My hubby even took a couple to work with him!

This is just a super easy Valentine's Day treat!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!
XOXO