cinnabun muffins {grain-free}

Never thought I'd see the day I would be writing a post about making muffins out of almonds.  
I guess, today's the day.
Muffins.  Out of almonds.
And, a mighty fine muffin it is.

Cinnabun Muffins 
{gluten-free, grain-free, so-good!}
1 cup almond flour
2 T. coconut flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, eggs and vanilla.  Sift together almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.  Combine the dry ingredients with the oil mixture.  Spoon into a greased muffin pan until 2/3rds-full.  Top with a mixture of 1 T. cinnamon, 2 T. brown sugar (or sucanat), 1 T. oil.  Sprinkle with walnuts.  Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.  Makes 9 muffins.
source: inspired by, adapted from elana's pantry

What makes a good muffin and a cup of coffee in the morning taste even better?  Redirecting my thoughts, fixing my gaze, basking in mercy.  

My Father's mercies are new every morning.  May this mama's be new as well.

Wishing you all a feliz dia as well!

pão de queijo

12 years ago, a Brazilian man waltzed into my life and swept me off my feet. Well...we weren't quite that graceful, but it has been happily ever after.  10 3/4 years ago I said "I do" to this man.  And, I still do.  Which means, for almost 11 years, I have made these little balls of Brazilian cheese bread...most unsuccessfully.  He is gracious and would tell me how good they were, but we knew better.  The kids would eat them up like they were candy, but we knew better.  I posted the recipe, but knew better.  Until one 4th of July when I watched a friend pull perfect, freshly baked pão de queijo from the oven.  I got her recipe to make them for Andy's birthday, and again...fail.  They tasted good, but were flat - not at all like the perfect ones she had made.  Must. not. give. up.  Sure, it's been 11 years, but they're that good.  I tried, tried again - bought a gram scale, mixed up the dough, and peeked into the oven one day to see victory!  I may have broken out into Kristen Wiig moves.  Andy may have snapped some pics.  And now I share with you!!

The texture is crispy on the outside, gooey-cheesy on the inside.

pão de queijo 

"Brazilian cheese bread"

(Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐ̃w̃ dʒi ˈkejʒu])

500 grams tapioca starch (Buy the gram scale brotha!  It's worth it.)
2/3 cups water

2/3 cups milk

2/3 cups oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs 

100 grams grated Romano cheese 
(you can use other cheese - monterey jack or mozzarella work, but Romano is our fave)

Bring the water, milk, oil and salt to boil in a saucepan.  Pour measured tapioca flour into a large mixing bowl.  Pour boiling water mixture over to scald the flour.  Stir until mixed.  (this is so easy with a kitchen aid mixer, but can be done by hand)  Then knead flour mixture when it is bearable.  Add eggs and cheese and knead some more.  This is the part I messed up for 10+ years...If it's too sticky and you want to give up, drop by spoonfulls onto baking sheet.  Bake, and they will taste good.  But for that authentic texture, work with it.  You may need to add some more tapioca starch.  Don't get it too flour-y, but make sure it's plyable, but not sticky.  Butter your hands when you're getting close to the texture you want.  When it will roll into a ball and keep its shape, you are there!  Place on baking sheet and bake at 375.  This is where the Brazilian comes out in this recipe, 'cuz I don't know for how long.  They never put times with their recipes...maybe 20-30 minutes?  I haven't timed it yet.  I just always watch them.  You'll know when they're done - they'll be crisp on the outside, cheesy in the center, and a light brown on top.  

Makes 30.  I bake 15, then roll the rest into balls, and freeze for later.

Pão de queijo:  A staple in our home, along with rice and beans and smiling brazilians in the background.

P.S.  Happy 1 year Blogg-iversary!  

What I thought would be a place where I could share some GF recipes has become more about sharing our journey. 

Yesterday was the official day.  I thought about the post I could do. Instead, I spent the 83-degree day {in October!} characteristic of how I want this whole blogging-mama thing to be – choosing the faces before me on a gorgeous day {worshiping together, on bike rides, at the park, by the shore, listening to a sister living in Africa share, chatting late over tea} rather than a computer.  Recording our days, but first *living* them!

Tonight I'm back, wishing you a happy blogg-iversary {1 day late}!  
I hope you know my true appreciation for each and every one of you beautiful souls out there.

the battle of the cornbreads

Sometimes I feel like I am in such a surreal passage of life.  I can still hardly believe I am a mom.  And that I have 3 boys.  And that they are not-so-little anymore!  Today Miles asks me to sew him a yellow tablecloth so he can take it to California when he turns 25.  Jack places his cowboy vest on my sewing machine to sew a pocket in for all his adventures.  Baby Jude holds entire conversations with his brothers, with phrases like “not weally.”  How did we get here so fast?  

We’re coming up on birthday season in our home.  I always try to have another year covered in their scrapbook before their birthday (just one page per year, that’s not too much to ask, right?)  Wellllll, I haven’t even started Jude’s yet…  But, I look back at these pages and can barely remember the days that seemed so long that blended into nights that faded into weeks of colicky babies and sleep deprivation and singing a lot of “I need thee every hour” and wondering when, or if it would ever end...     

I have always been so thankful for older moms in my life who take the time to tell me to hold each day close, treasure every moment.  My mom reminds me to look into their eyes and smile at them as much as I can.  Another mom calls me on a snow day and at the end of our conversation says "enjoy your boys today!"  Which, spins me into wondering what it’s like for her, with her oldest in college, 2 high schoolers and 1 middle schooler, and thinking that season seems so far away...

But, it’s almost been 8 years.  Another 8 and he'll be driving (yikes!)  Pretty soon he WILL be 25, moving to California with his yellow tablecloth packed… (Sigh...)

Today, Andy is working on the house.  I am here.  Home with my boys.  And my heart is so full.  Treasuring these moments.  Piecing together samples for lunch, which is the fancy way to say leftovers 'round here.  Studying the way his foot dangles from his chair, smiling at him who cannot sit still and the imagination that goes with that and thanking God for how far he has come - I never would have imagined…

So... I haven’t been the best at returning calls or e-mails or really much of anything (stop by our house, and you will see…) The boys had 3 snow days this week, which has been a wonderful gift.  Making fresh tracks on a hill that calls our names.  

Collecting the moments one by one, I guess that’s how the future’s done.  

One thing we did do this week was settle on our favorite cornbread recipe, so that's "somebling" (which still makes me smile to hear Jack say :)


We have had quite the battle of the cornbreads over here, trying to land on our favorite gluten-free cornbread recipe.  Turns out it's pretty close to the "world's best cornbread," which we liked but thought it was too sweet.  So here is the adapted, gluten-free version.


world's best gluten-free cornbread (but I'm always open for suggestions :)
This makes a lot, so I made half this amount, and bake it in a 9" square pan.
1/2 c. sugar (I use sucanat)
1/4 c. softened butter
4 eggs
1/4 c. honey
1 1/3 c. milk
2 1/3 c. GF flour (I use an all-purpose brown rice/potato/tapioca flour mix)
1 1/2 T. baking powder
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 t. salt
1 t. guar gum
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Add in eggs, honey and milk and mix well.  Mix together flour, baking powder, corn meal, guar gum and salt. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients carefully. Do not overmix. Batter will be lumpy.  Pour batter in greased 11×14-inch baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

'i heart you' pancakes

What better way to kick off the day than with some gluten-free pancakes, which I just realized I've never shared with you before.  This is one of those recipes we made gluten-free long before we had to...Just because when we first tried them, we were hooked.  

gluten-free pancakes

1 c. GF flour (see below)

2 T. ground flax meal

1 T. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 c. milk

2 T. oil

Stir together flour, flax, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In another mixing bowl, mix well the eggs, milk and oil.  Add egg mixture to dry mixture; stir well.  

Pour onto hot griddle or greased pan.  Cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until slightly brown and flip.  

GF Flour Mix:

4 c. brown rice flour

1 1/3 c. potato starch

2/3 c. tapioca starch

I made them heart-shaped, because I just have a whole lotta love for these guys...  

I heart my Miles-man.  I love his toothless grin, and that he didn’t even mind that the tooth fairy didn’t come until Friday after he lost his tooth on Monday.  My heart floods with gratitude for how far he has come.  I can’t get enough of him belting out “Not to us, but to your name be the glory.”  I am refreshed by his spirit, his courage, his faith. 

I heart my Jack-son.  I love his chicklet teeth, and that ornery grin of his.  I love that he was the one who finally wrote a note to me and laid it on me while I was asleep that said: mom, can the tooth fary please com?  I smile at how he hums “La Vie en Rose.”  I learn so much from his love for life, his sense of adventure, and I love when he lets me see that soft heart under there. 

I heart my Ju-ju.  I love his rosy cheeks, and his chunky toes.  I love how imaginative he is, and how I never know what his feet or hands have turned into when I get him up from a nap.  My heart melts when he crawls into my lap for cuddles.  I never want that baby chuckle to go away, nor the way his pudgy hand fits in mine. 

(by the way, I found him saying "giddy-up horsey" in his crib like this.  funny, it looked like just a quilt to me, but to him, that's montana the horse right there :)

And this guy.  Oh man, I heart him.  I love his olive eyes, and the way they search mine.  My heart still skips a beat in that moment at the end of the day when he walks through the door and says “hello gorgeous.”  I love how he pursues my heart.

You turn me into somebody loved.

With all this love, we are so blessed to share it tonight with those in our community who have no structure from the storm, no house to keep them warm.  Those who are at the mercy of others for their meals and shelter.  And I couldn't imagine anywhere more special to be with my family, so full of love, than reaching out to those in need.  

The only reason I would hesitate to say anything is for fear of how this could be perceived.  I have nothing to boast about in this - it's one meal.  But one we feel so blessed to be a part of providing.


Have a wonderful valentine's day, sharing the love, people!

  

glazed cinnamon scones

An actual conversation in our home last week.
Miles:  We don't have school Monday because it is King Michael Junior's Birthday.
Me:  Wow, that's great!  Who was King Michael Jr?
Miles:  He was a brown man who wouldn't give up his seat on the bus.  
Andy:  I have a dream this afternoon...  
Miles:  It wasn't a dream, dad.  It was real.  
(This boy never ceases to make me smile with his twist on grown-up conversations and all his drawings I find laying around :)


Today we celebrated dreams.  
Last night, I asked the boys what one thing they would hope to do most today.  
Jack replied sledding and hot chocolate.  Miles requested we play games.  
And Jude had several dreams of his own...

There's a whole lot of dreaming going on over here...

I dream of meeting the recipient of this little bundle someday (I'm sure you feel the same, Holl :)

These glazed cinnamon scones are so completely dreamy (I substituted GF flour and added 1 t. guar gum.)  But, I have not figured out how to be gluten-free AND sugar-free, since one of them is a must and the other...well, there's always next month...

In between all the "dreaming" of our own, I read up on the man whose dream we ultimately celebrate today.  

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. 

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

Life's most urgent question is, what are you doing for others?

We must use time creatively. 

- Martin Luther King Jr.

I cannot even imagine the hate this man must have known, and to read his perspective is so very inspiring to me.  To use our time creatively to love ALL men.  Because there are some dreams that are just too good to leave it at that.  I would say sharing the love that God has lavished on us, regardless of our nationality, background or color, is one of them.

gluten-free bread!!!

Of burnt toast and Gatorade for breakfast…

I should be packing for time with family in Ohio and making some gluten-free sides to share.  Instead I’m victim #2 of the stomach bug in our home.  Boy, I'm trying not to sound like Debbie Downer...wa wa wa... 

Once again, learning the lessons of gratitude when plans change from what you so earnestly longed for.  Oh, the differences that often are between everything we want and what we really need.  Last night, driving to Owen’s for more Gatorade, it hit me, again...  How often I long for things in this world to meet a need that only He can.  Thanksgiving break to me meant getting away, gathering with loved ones, more memorable matches of Life and Dominoes, rest.  So when that’s threatened by this virus that is making its way through our town and now our family, where will I find the rest I so long for?  This is where the song “Gratitude” came to mind, and so I share…

Or maybe not, not today, peace might be another world away, and if that’s the case we’ll give thanks to you, with gratitude for lessons learned in how to trust in you, that we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream in abundance or in need, and if you never grant us peace, but Jesus, would you please…

I’ve tried to look down through pictures of recipes to share, and nothing really looks appealing right now, except my first gluten-free bread from scratch I made Saturday!!!  I used this recipe:  http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/02/delicious-gluten-free-bread.html.  And substituted 1 T. ground flaxmeal for the 1 T. of egg replacer.  You could use 1 egg instead, but I was making it for some vegetarians.  I ground millet into millet flour in the blender.  And also, I added 3 T. brown rice flour to the bread machine during the kneading  (her description is helpful about it being more like a muffin-batter).  I left it go 1 round of kneading and 1 round of rising in the bread machine before I poured the dough into a greased bread pan, covered and let rise 30 minutes in warm place and baked at 350 degrees 20 minutes, or until lightly golden.  

The texture was like "real" bread.  And is way cheaper to make than the $4 plus gluten-free breads you can buy at the store.  Although, it won't last as long...Everyone loved it, and it was gone in no time! 

lemon coconut bread

The views around me on this fine summery fall afternoon…

 

There’s something so sweet about the end of a day. Family coming back together. It seems when everyone has gone their separate ways, my heart is divided into many places. But, what a special moment when we reunite at the end of the day, sharing our experiences and interactions. I’m not going to pretend it’s always the calmest of moments – there are stressful days, and the frustration that has been held in all day spews freely in the safety of home.  This was today.  (The pictures were taken before the volcano erupted in our home which resulted in early bedtimes for two.)  Those times can be exhausting. But, it is a reminder of the security they feel to reveal the burden they’ve been carrying alone.  And, I'm better able to carry their burden when I savor these peaceful moments.

I pulled this old recipe out last night and de-glutenized it.  Success!  It was approved by the lovely office ladies at CCC and others today, including some ravenously hungry boys for an after-school snack (pictures above).


Lemon Coconut Bread
1 cup sugar (I use sucanat)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (I used lime this time)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used lime this time)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk (I use coconut milk sometimes)
2 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups rice flour blend, 1/2 cup coconut flour)

If using GF flour: 1 teaspoon guar or xanthan gum
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
Coconut-Lemon Glaze (optional, recipe below)

Line a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with waxed or parchment paper (or grease and flour it), then set it aside. Heat the oven to 350º.  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, oil, lemon zest, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and milk.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and the buttermilk until evenly blended. Set the bowl aside.  In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, guar gum (ONLY if using GF flour), and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir about a third of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, then alternately add half of the remaining egg mixture and half of the flour mixture, stirring after each addition just enough to blend. Stir in the coconut.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spoon. Bake on the center oven rack until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and put it on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes, then remove the loaf and place it on the rack to finish cooling. When the loaf is completely cooled, in about two hours, apply the Coconut-Lemon Glaze, if using. Makes 10 servings.

Source: adapted from http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/coconut-lemon-loaf-689222/

pao de queijo (cheese bread)

These were one of my favorites long before I had to be gluten-free. I am so relieved they're on the "safe list."  We used to get quick mixes online to make these.   But, after they raised the price of shipping and the mix, I started looking around for a good recipe.  Again, there are many different methods out there of making them.  The first I tried used cold mashed potatoes, and while Andy thought they tasted authentic, it added an extra step to have to think of making mashed potatoes first, and it was just weird to add potatoes ...So, this is the one we found and like. 

• Pao de Queijo 

(Brazilian Cheese Bread)
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour (same as tapioca starch)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or Asiago cheese)
1 beaten egg 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour butter, water, milk, and salt into a large saucepan, and heat on medium-high. When the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately.  Stir in tapioca flour, garlic powder and baking powder until smooth. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Stir the cheese and egg into the tapioca mixture until well combined, the mixture will be chunky like cottage cheese. (I have found they puff up better if you wait an other 10-15 minutes before putting them on baking sheets.) Drop rounded, 1/4 cup-sized balls of the mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until the tops are lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Source: adapted from http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/brazilian-cheese-bread-pao-de-queijo/Detail.aspx

What you have here is a crispy-on-the-outside ball of gooey-cheesy-goodness in the middle.  I place them in a towel-lined bowl and try to hide them so they're not gone before dinner...

We are taking off a few days. Don't miss me too much :)
Destination unknown at this point - we may priceline a hotel in Indy or Chicago...or stay around here. If our boys had their dream, we'd go to LegoLand. If we had ours, it would be Brown County. I'm excited to see where we end up. Last night I felt conviction that wherever we are, it will be sans computer (even if we're here). We need some days of stillness. To quiet ourselves to listen better to His voice.

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love,

so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Psalm 90