How to Enjoy Veggies: Butternut Squash (Gluten Free and Dairy Free Option)

This recipe for squash is approved by picky eaters, both kids and adults who don’t like squash. (That is, they didn’t like squash until they tried this recipe.)

My mom has made it for years and the whole family enjoys it. Our extended family enjoyed this dish for Christmas and gave it thumbs up. This dish solves both flavor and texture issues with squash. It gets

Crepes for tortillas

Recently, I'd had enough with round store-bought place-mats marketed as gluten free tortillas. So maybe they are not that bad, but I have braces right now and I can't chew cardboard. My mom suggested I try using some homemade gluten-free crepes for tortillas. If you Google "tortilla crepes" you'll find that tortillas are often used as dessert crepes, but I reversed that substitution, using crepes as tortillas.

The first time I tried it, the crepes were soft and bendable, but oddly sweet. Omitting the vanilla in the crepes fixed the flavor. These crepes are more oily that typical tortillas due to the coconut oil they are cooked in, but I'm not complaining. They are bendable, but I'm not gonna lie, they do sometimes crack because they are so soft, not because they are brittle.

Oat Baguette Bread {Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly}

I found this recipe for soft and chewy oat baguette bread on Stephanie's Hope For Healing blog. My mom modified it (surprise, surprise) but this time it was not to reduce the sugar, or make it gluten-free because all of Stephanie's recipes are gf, dairy free, soy free, and refined sugar free "as much as possible" according to her bio. Instead, we had to change the recipe because we could not find psyllium husk powder. What is psyllium husk powder? It is the husk of the psyllium ground into powder, silly. Actually, it makes a great thickener. My mom decided to try chia seeds instead.
We had never used chia seeds before, but we had heard them compared to flax seeds, and even used in the place of pectin in refrigerator jam! Generally, we use xanthan gum or potato starch for thickening.

chia seeds

Anyway, I'm sure you all want to know how to make this quick, non-rising, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free bread which does not have eggs, soy, nuts, or yeast either!

Gluten Free Buttermilk Waffles

I have wanted to share this protein-packed recipe for a while now, but my mom kept tweaking it. Her recipe is loosely based on Rice-Soy Waffles recipe found in The Gluten-Free Gourmet Revised Edition by Bette Hagman. (Rest assured the recipe no longer contains soy.) Do I recommend the book? Well, it's funny how I got it. When people found out I had to be gluten free, they gave me gf cookbooks, most of which I skim through and think interesting. But when I want a specific recipe for something, I usually turn to the internet, not the cupboard, for ideas.
Now I give you the tried and true formula for waffles.

Crunchy-edged Crepes {Gluten Free}

My mom made these for my birthday. Today is my birthday. It does not seem real. It takes me about ten months to get used to my age and then two months later I have to start all over again.

But about the crepes. 

They are crunchy around the edges but soft and spongy on the inside.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk**

2 eggs

 ½ teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 ½ cups Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix