Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts. It's a great book.

2 cups of Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of chocolate chips (I used a mix of mini chips and regular chips.)
1/2 cup milk (I like to use milk free of hormones and antibiotics from Market.)
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs (I like to use free roaming brown eggs from Market. I really don't know how the eggs roam, but they taste good; so I don't ask complicated questions.)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Streusel Topping (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with liners.

Combine the flour mix and salt. Add chocolate chips.

Combine milk and oil in a bowl; remove 1 tablespoon of combined liquid and discard it. (This is where my Jadeite bowl becomes useful. I got it as a wedding gift from Grandma Mesaris, and I use it for all my baked goodies.) Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add liquids to the dry mixture and stir just until blended.

Fill the muffin pans 2/3 full. Sprinkle with the Streusel Topping. Bake 18-25 minutes until light golden. Remove from pans and enjoy immediately or cool on a rack. To enjoy the following day, microwave for about 15 seconds, and the chips will melt and fill your mouth with gooey chocolate goodness. This mama likes them with coffee.

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted.

Combine and stir to blend. Yummy!  ¶ 11:37 AM

  It feels so good to be getting my appetite back and have the energy to cook. Being 14 weeks pregnant means the sickness is starting to subside, and I'm thinking of all kinds of ways to eat healthy. You know those Rozerem commercials where Honest Abe and the groundhog tell the guy that his dreams miss him? That's how my pots, pans, oven, stove and spoons have been feeling. They've been welcoming me back in recent days and helping me create the most tasty temptations.

Lentil Soup

Adapted from a recipe in Joy of Cooking. I don't think I ever follow a recipe to the letter anymore.

1 fat carrot, peeled and chopped (I used organice from Market.)
1 diced shallot (I used organice from Market.)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed (I used organic from Market.)
2 slices of GF bacon, roughly diced (I used Wegman's Brand Applewood Smoked Bacon.)
2 teaspoons of Italian herb seasoning (I used McCormick's.)
1 cup of dried red lentils, sorted to pick out any stones or debris
2 cups of GF vegetable stock (I used Wegman's Brand.)
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of balsalmic vinegar
3 cups of fresh baby spinach, washed and stems removed, roughly chopped

Sautee the carrot, shallot, smashed garlic cloves and bacon for 5-10 minutes, until bacon is cooked. Add the Italian herb blend, veg stock, water and dried lentils. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the salt and taste for seasoning. Add more if needed. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste. Stir in the balsalmic vinegar and chopped spinach. Cook a little longer just until the spinach wilts but is still brilliant green. Scoop out the chunks of garlic if you can find them, but chances are they've dissolved. Serve.

I wanted to make crispy little garlic and olive oil croutons to serve on top, but the soup smelled too good, and I was too impatient. I think it would also be good with grated good quality parmesan cheese on top.

You could make this vegetarian by omitting the bacon. It would probably require a little more salt. If you don't have balsalmic vinegar, I'm sure any nice vinegar would add just the right amount of zip to the soup.


  ¶ 11:20 AM

  Today was our first experience where I really wanted something to eat and we had to go rushing to the health food store to get it before the store closed. My husband made a frozen gluten free pizza for dinner last night. I was feeling really sick and was only able to eat one piece, but today I decided I really wanted pizza for dinner. Well, I dozed on the couch first, and we had to go the Post Office and Border's, and next thing you know, it's 15 minutes before the health food store's closing time. I was distressed that we may miss my pizza! I had been looking at a pizza cookbook at Borders (which, by the way, included a gluten free pizza crust recipe) and announced that I was going to eat pizza every day. So, we threw our books back on the shelves, rushed to the car, and my dear hubby got us to the store six minutes before they closed. He literally ran from the car to the doors. He emerged a few minutes later triumphantly waving the bag with the coveted frozen pizza. It's baking right now, and I've just finished munching gluten free pretzels to calm my stomach before my meal. I'm learning that eating a little amuse bouche before my meals helps stave off nausea.

Today's menu was black tea, gingersnaps and dry maple buckwheat flakes for breakfast, digestive biscuits for a mid-morning snack, more black tea, lots of water, cereal and milk for lunch and half a blueberry yogurt, more yogurt for an afternoon snack, more water, popcorn for a late afternoon snack, pretzels for my dinner amuse bouche, and now pizza for dinner. Maybe not the healthiest food, but at least the buckwheat flakes are pretty good, I'm getting my calcium, and I am triumphantly able to keep my prenatal vitamin down. Ha!!

I wish you happy, healthy eating in this cold weather and a husband as heroic as mine.  ¶ 8:15 PM