5 Gluten Free Quarantine Baking Recipes I Love

During my state's "stay at home" time (which is now being phased out) I have been baking more.

 

Rather than a giving detailed recipes, this is a round-up of foods I've made and links to the original recipe.
Note: I eat gf to keep my belly happy. All 5 recipes are gluten free. Some of these recipes are also paleo, dairy free, nut free or refined sugar free. That's just an added bonus.

Back to School Lunch Inspiration [Gluten Free]

I pack a lot of lunches.

Even when I'm not at school, I bring a brown bag lunch with me to work rather than eating out. It saves money, is healthier, and is easier to be gluten free. I have to get creative when I only work six and a half hours at one place, and only get one 10 minute break to inhale food!

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

Gluten-Free Chicken Salad Three Ways

Chicken salad is so refreshing in summer. It’s also quick and easy to make, and very versatile. You can serve chicken salad as lettuce wraps, spread it on sandwiches, or dip it with chips and crackers.

We don’t measure our basic chicken salad recipe. We throw in a dollop of this and a handful of that.

How to Cook Gluten Free Pasta Like a Pro

You’re gonna need a bigger pot

Have you ever tried to cook gluten free pasta, only to have it turn out starchy and globby? Did the noodles stick to the bottom of the pan and burn? Was the starch so thick that it would not drain off, even when you rinsed the pasta with water?

Bad news: you’re doing it wrong.

Good news: you can cook better pasta in the future.

Look Ma, no starch!

Regular readers will know that my mom does not believe in following recipes to the letter.

Turns out, to cook pasta properly you’re supposed to

Testing the Best Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Is it really the best?

Spoiler alert: Yes! This recipe is a winner.

I heard about the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from a gluten-free friend. She said her whole family loved them and thought they tasted like real cookies. I was eager to test the recipe my friend found from Michelle of MyGluten-freeKitchen.com

Michelle tested lots of different recipes before she settled on this one.

Gluten Free Ham and Broccoli Quiche

With sweet potato crust.

This summer, my Nana made a quiche with “surprise” crust. She wouldn’t tell us what it was until we ate it, since some members of my extended family are afraid to eat things that are gluten free! I know the label can be scary, but rest assured, gluten free does not mean tasteless, as this savory, cheesy fare proves.

My mom does not usually make quiche because some of her children do not enjoy egg-y dishes, but when Nana’s quiche was so well-received, she was inspired to re-create the dish at home.

More Gluten Free Pasta and Product Reviews

Part four in an ongoing series—catch part one: bread, part two, and part three here.

We’re always trying new pasta around here, and today I’m going to tell you about spaghetti squash.

More Gluten Free Products I've Tried

A while back, I shared Some of My Favorite Gluten Free Breads, and now I'd like to share some more gluten-free products I've tried.

I had way too much fun making this on PicMonkey!

We (my mom, my gf brother, and myself) had a really hard time finding decent gluten free tortillas. Some were brittle and cracked instead of rolling up nicely. Others were tough and chewy. For a bit, we even used our gf crepe recipe, minus the vanilla, as a tortilla recipe. Those tortillas had the opposite problem: they were too soft and fell apart. Finally, we discovered

The Simplest Recipe Ever {Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly}

I wish I could say I came up with this, or even tell you who did. I have heard of this recipe both by word of mouth and on the internet, but never with a source. (Darn Pinterest! After some digging, I think this is from Oh Snap! Let's Eat!)

This recipe is the simplest ever because it has only two ingredients, and no measuring.  The only other thing I can think of with few ingredients and minimal measuring might be a frozen banana smoothie. The consistency of a blended frozen banana is like soft-serve ice cream, by the way. If you like recipes that don't require measuring things, these DIY 3 Ingredient Mint Chocolate Covered Pretzels are for you. But back to the simplest recipe ever. Here are the ingredients:

Image likely from Oh Snap! Let's Eat!, via Pinterest

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!

Fried Rice {Gluten Free}

I realize I have been posting mostly dessert recipes, so I am going to post a main dish today. When my mom was describing this meal to someone, she called it “A marriage between Indian and Chinese rice.” The American melting pot would be more accurate! The seasonings are loosely based on Indian Biryani rice, but the dish is not spicy. At all. I have had rice at an actual Indian-family-from-India’s house, and they said they toned down the spices, but my mouth was still burning! There are also fried eggs mixed in this recipe, which is a Chinese thing. We generally refer to it as fried rice. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups rice

3 cups water

1 carrot

1 teaspoon salt

~1 cup raisins

~2 cups cooked chicken

1-2 beaten eggs

coconut oil

~1 cup frozen peas.

1 teaspoon coriander 

1 teaspoon turmeric

 ½ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Measure 1 ½ cups rice and 3 cups water into a pan, and bring to a boil. 

While it is heating up, peel and slice a carrot. Once the pot is boiling, add the carrot, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

If you don’t have any leftover cooked chicken you can pull out of the fridge, now would be a good time to start cooking some chicken to serve with the rice. For our family of six, we need at least 2 cups. 

When the rice is almost done, fry one or 2 beaten eggs with coconut oil in a large fry pan, and add ~1

Flourless Chocolate Cake {Gluten Free}

I love this recipe! Sometimes I have looked up a delicious dessert only to find it called for a type or brand of gluten free flour I had never heard of, did not have, or could not find in my area. Who wants to pay shipping and handling? I find it hard to justify buying and trying every gluten-free package out there. It is expensive, especially because gluten-free foods are not created equal! I never know if it is going to be dry, crumbly, and/or flavored funny!

This dish has none of those problems. It is a dense, moist chocolate cake, almost like a brownie. It is perfect for friends or relatives who are not gluten-free. There are no pricey, gluten-free flours and gums (xanthan gum or guar gum) in this dish. You or your friends do not have to buy a big bag of some ingredient that you will only use once to make a gluten free dish! This is also great for novices like my mom and I were when we found this recipe. 

You can make a basic chocolate cake, or a mint chocolate cake, or a cream cheese marble. Plus, you can make it dairy free if you use dairy free chocolate chips. I've used baking chocolate chips that are not "certified" df but don't have any dairy in the ingredients. 

Finally, you can make brownie bites in mini or standard size muffin cups! (Line the cups with paper and bake for less time.) Spooning batter into muffin tins takes more time so we usually just make the cake.

Batter:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or df chips).

*Variation: dark chocolate and mint chips (2 in 1 package from Nestle)

1/2 cup butter, or if you want to make it dairy free, coconut oil.

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs                

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup cocoa

Directions: