Tag: Gluten-free

Recipe Roundup

25 Treats Of Christmas Review- Week 1

LSiehLeave a comment

Hello and welcome to this edition of “I’m Scandinavian and can’t stop feeding people.” 😁

I’m sharing the treats with two of the three offices that my center operates, and with the Husband’s office. The third of our offices only has two people working there, so my director beings cookies over when she goes there, as it’s a bit far for me.

The butter count started at 22 lbs and is down to 18-19 lbs. We bought another 25 lb of flour (probably had 30 ish lbs with that bag when I started) and 3 lbs of brown sugar. A lot of my cookies call for brown sugar this year. The Husband and I both eyed the pile of butter doubtfully when we bought the second batch, but it’s holding out so far.

I was much more organized this year while planning my 25 Treats of Christmas list. I have a few lists that include a running master grocery list, which magazine they are from, whether or not I need additional items, and if the dough is chilled or can just be made and baked right away. The Husband is very impressed. I think everyone else just thinks I’m a little crazy.

I’m making 2-3 batches at a time and bringing them in twice a week. It evens out to about a batch a day. People have started making requests! 😁 I tend to make a chilled dough the night before and bake them the morning of. I’m getting into quite a routine. It’s a lot more fun and a lot less stress than in previous years.

But you don’t want to hear the management side of things! On to the cookies!!

These were the first two batches. I brought them in right before Thanksgiving. The stars are Maple Star Sandwich Cookies and the others are Orange Molasses Snickerdoodles. Both are from previous editions of the Food Network Christmas Cookie collections.

I used my friends’ homemade maple syrup for them and they were good, but not maple enough for me. I would use more maple next time. Everyone else enjoyed them though. Even people who weren’t sure about the maple said they were good. I would make them again.

People were intrigued by the snickerdoodles. They reminded me more of gingersnaps than snickerdoodles though and weren’t my favorite. I think they were a touch dry for me.

The next cookie is a vegan and gluten free banana bread cookie. The picture is from the Husband’s work about 2 hours after he put them out. The tin was full when it went in. They are from this website: https://www.simplyjillicious.com/banana-bread-cookies

These have almond flour and no butter. They are naturally sweetened with the bananas and maple syrup. I could probably actually give these to Fancy, although I’d have to check on the almond flour first. They needed a heck of a lot more spices than the recipe called for, but were pretty good.

The second recipe I sent with the Husband was gone even faster. These are Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies. The Husband has requested them again for Epiphany.

These are from the recent Better Homes and Gardens Christmas cookie edition. I have been having issues with my FN subscription, so haven’t received the December edition yet and needed a cookie fix. They are delicious! I will definitely be making these again.

The next three recipes are also from that magazine.

Chocolate Mint Chip. These were a big hit at my offices. I accidentally forgot the baking powder, but they were good regardless. I subbed Nestle peppermint baking truffles for the Andes pieces because it was what I had.

These are Citrus Meltaways. They have lemon and orange peel, lime, and lemon juices.

They are a slice and bake and were delicious. They would be a good summer cookie too. They are a bit delicate, but that just meant I could snack on the broken ones. 🙂 I will make them again.

Sweet and Salty Butterscotch Cookies

Judging by how many came back, these weren’t as big of a hit as some of the others. They also had cashews in them. The picture looked so good, but I did find them a little bland. I probably wouldn’t make them again.

This recipe got rave reviews from everyone and I will probably share the it at some point. It’s from a Food Network magazine.

They are gluten and dairy free Coconut Snowballs. I subbed Country Crock plant based sticks for the butter and it calls for rice flour. I completely forgot the coconut, but even so, they were good.

These will be made for the Epiphany Party too, as they are technically vegan when made dairy free. We don’t have a ton of vegan friends, but it never hurts to have something, just in case.

Which one do you think would be your favorite? Mine were the citrus melt aways and the chocolate mint.

Stay tuned for an overdue Recipe Review coming up this weekend! I hope your day is sweet!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I used two new recipes this week, both for Fancy. For the Husband and I there were familiar, but good,  recipes. Tomorrow is my last shift at my third job and I’m hoping that this will free up some more creative time for trying new recipes. I am very excited to try some recipes from the freezer cookbook a friend gave me on my late evenings.

Despite the Husband telling me multiple times that he can feed himself, I’m still fighting off guilt when there isn’t a homemade dinner. I blame my Scandinavian heritage for that one. I get very nervous if I can’t feed someone properly. The few times I haven’t wanted to feed people have been weird for me. It also seems to be how I know that I don’t like someone; I won’t feed them. So you can see the problem, when my Husband is eating frozen dinners and saying “they really do taste better now. They’ve changed the recipes!” I just can’t imagine it.

So to prevent this, tomorrow I am making Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup, from Our Best Bites. http://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/tortellini-sausage-soup/

It normally turns out delicious, although I do need to see if we have apple juice. If we don’t, it may get moved to later in the week and I’ll make something else.

Here are the other meals we’ve had this week.

1- Lasagna, recipe by me. We had spaghetti over the past weekend while a friend was visiting, so I used the sauce over noodles. I used store-bought pasta sheets, as my day got away from me. I also used real shaved Parmesan. I’ve got the Husband hooked on good/fancy cheese and it makes both of us feel like fancy people.  It turned out pretty good.

2- Chef’s Salad with eggs and bacon. No real recipe, I just made a big salad and the Husband cooked the eggs and bacon when he got home. It works for a dinner and a lunch normally. We also have a fancy spicy pepper cheese that was a good addition.

3- Tequila Lime Chicken With Pico De Gallo. I used to use a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, but when I went to look for it to link it, it wasn’t there. I threw bone in, skin on chicken breasts in a bag with two sliced garlic cloves, fresh cilantro, silver tequila, olive oil, a chopped and seeded Serrano pepper, salt, pepper, and green onions. Then I let it marinate until I  came home and threw it in the oven. I baked it for about 45-50 minutes at 375. In the summer, this is really good to grill if you use boneless thighs or breasts. We had it with homemade pico and chips. I also had mango pieces with mine.

I did try to note what I was using for my pico this time, so I’ll write down what I think I did.

4- Pico de Gallo, method by me.

Roughly dice 3-4 Roma tomatoes. Chop a handful of cilantro, 2-3 green onions, and 1-2 jalapeños. I normally seed one half and leave the seeds in the second half, depending on spice levels. Add lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. Serve with chips, or over chicken.

The Husband will eat an entire bowl of it himself if I let him. The first time I made this with chicken for his parents, his Mom was amazed that he would eat it, as he has never liked raw tomatoes. It was pretty funny.

5- Apple Cinnamon Dog Treats from Two Little Cavaliers. http://twolittlecavaliers.com/2013/11/make-apple-cinnamon-dog-treats.html

Fancy haunted the kitchen the entire time these treats were baking and she likes them even better than her store-bought ones, judging by how intently she watches us when we have them, and by her incessant tail wagging. I was able to use up all my bruised apples too and know exactly what is in these treats. I never thought I would be the person who bakes for her dog, but I guess it makes sense. I do bake for everyone else. She is also a gluten-free dog, apparently she has stomach and skin problems when she has gluten, according to the rescue. We decided to keep to that and it seems to be working.

6- Chicken Rice Treats from Kol’s Notes. http://kolchakpuggle.com/2012/02/tasty-tuesday-hearts-for-my-valentine-chicken-dog-treats.html

Fancy was very excited by these as well. Chicken is one  of her very favorite things and I was able to use up leftover rice and chicken in these. I had to give her two right away, as she snatched the first one before I could get a picture. She can be a tall dog when she wants to be and I forget how short I am until she’s jumping for something.

Hopefully this week, I can make some new meals. I have one very late night and some early evenings this week, so I am planning at least one crockpot meal.

There will also definitely be an ice cream or gelato recipe, as I just bought us the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker attachment. It was on sale and I had a coupon and ended up saving about 40%. I’m very excited and bought a salted caramel gelato mix with it, so we are going to try that soon. Pictures to come, of course!