Delicious gluten free chocolate cake

So, I think I'm going to be buying a lot more garbanzo beans.  They are the secret ingredient in this gluten free chocolate cake.  It is so yummy.  Very moist - just perfect texture and not a bit of flour of any kind.  The whole cake is actually made in a blender.  WOW.  I decided this could easily become a breakfast muffin without the frosting - why not.   They have to be equally as healthy as the sweet potato "muffins" I made the other day - they have less sugar.  (OK, but they do have chocolate chips which I guess does add some extra sugar.)  Anyway, definitely worth a try, and has to be way more healthy than regular chocolate cake.  

The recipe is from Recipe Shoebox,  love that site but she got it from Mirien's kitchen.  I wasn't a huge fan of the frosting that went on the cake.  It needed a bit more milk.  I added a bit, but not enough.  It was still quite thick, but I used it that way.  I should have added more milk.  It was a bit too sweet/grainy/powdered sugary - maybe a bit more cocoa next time?  Definitely a bit more milk.  Usually I just make up my own frosting.  Don't know why I decided to actually follow a recipe here.  I did not do the white chocolate chip glaze although it would make for a pretty cupcake.  Check out her site for that.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet or dark chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
• 2 cans (15 oz) garbanzo beans (chick peas) rinsed and drained
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup splenda (I'll go 3/4 and 3/4 next time but I'm low on splenda)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (I didn't have a lemon so I actually used a lime - you can't taste it.)
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar 
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. In a small bowl, melt the choclate in the microwave for about 2 minutes on 50% power stirring frequently until smooth.  (It took me 2 1/2 and I only stirred after 2 minutes and 2 1/2 minutes.)  
2. In a blender, blend the beans and eggs until creamy.  Add remaining ingredients including melted chocolate and blend well.  (If your blender isn't big enough, just mix everything in a bowl.
3. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 X 13 baking pan (I thought it was hilarious that it called for a greased and floured pan in a gluten free recipe.  I just greased my pan well with cooking spray and had zero problems with stickage.)  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs - DO NOT Overbake (I cooked mine for 45 minutes and there were no real crumbs left, but at 40 I thought there were too many.  It was absolutely perfect at 45.  Moist and delicious.)  For cupcakes bake for 20-25 minutes (looks like it would make 20-24 cupcakes.)  
4. When cool, frost.  To make frosting - beat all ingredients until creamy and spreadable. - or make up your own.  I probably will next time.  I want to try this with peanut butter frosting.

Orange glazed carrots

Here is the side I made to go with the beef San Morco.  I really liked the flavor of it, but it took way longer to cook than it said it didn.  We ended up eating it with the carrots still a bit crunchy.  I think it would have been better if they would have gotten properly cooked.  I had 1 or 2 carrots that were cooked an they were much better.

Recipe from Cyndie Marrara of Port Matilda, PA

Ingredients

• 32 oz. (2 lbs.)  baby carrots
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except cornstarch and water in slow cooker.
2. Cover.  Cook on low 3-4 hours until carrots are tender crisp.  (I did 3.5 hours on low and they were very crispy.  I upped my crock pot to high for 30 minutes or so, and it was still crunchy, so I tossed them in the steamer for another 20 minutes or so, and they were still a bit crunchy, but it was way late for dinner so we ate them that way.)
3. Put carrots in serving dish and keep warm, reserving cooking juices.  Put reserved juices in small saucepan.  Bring to boil.
4. Mix cornstarch and water in small bowl until blended.  Add to juices.  Boil 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.  Pour over carrots and serve.

Steak San Morco

This was the second recipe I tried from Fix it and Forget it, and it was much better.  The flavor was good, and the meat was excellent.  First slow cooker meal I've liked in a while.    It was also super simple to make.  I served it over brown rice and made yet another fix it and forget it dish for a side.  (My next post.)

This recipe came from Susan Tjon of Austin Tx.  Again I changed nothing.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs stewing meat, cubed (I used a beef roast - round I think.  I only used 1 lb 10 or 11 oz.)
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 29 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• garlic powder to taste (I think I didn't add this because I used roasted garlic crushed tomatoes)
• 2 Tablespoons oil (I don't think it needed this - would probably reduce it to 1 if any next time.)
• 2 Tablespoons wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar.)

Directions

1. Layer meat evenly in the bottom of slow cooker
2. Combine soup mix, tomatoes, spices, oil, and vinegar in bowl.  Blend with spoon.  Pour over meat.
3. Cove and cook on high 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.

Chicken corn soup

This week at the library I checked out a fix it and forget it book because I'm looking for more crockpot recipes. I have looked at this book before but had forgotten that it was a compilation of many slow cooker recipes from different people.  Each recipe says who it is from.  I chose quite a few different ones to try.  This was the first one I tried.
Sadly I was unimpressed.  The ingredients all looked good, but maybe I got a really strong onion or something, but I felt like the overpowering flavor of the soup was onions. I also didn't like the texture.  The soup part of the soup was kind of grainy - kind of like the junk you get at the bottom of the pan when pan frying meat, but my chicken was boneless skinless chicken breast - chopped and de-fatted.  No reason to have anything funky in the soup.  I think it may have been from a combination of the cream style corn and the tomato sauce?  Tavio really seemed to like it - he even had seconds, and he doesn't like onions.  I found that surprising, but he does like soup.   We did not even save the left overs.  I post it because the idea was good, and the kids seemed to like it more than the parents, and it got plenty of veggies in the kids.  I'll leave my suggestions for next time throughout the recipe.  I just got a new thought - maybe I will have to challenge myself to makeover some of my recipes that I didn't like.  I invariably post some suggestions to make it better, but never have tried any of them.  Maybe I can make a once a month challenge??

This recipe says it is from Eleanor Larson of Glen Lyon, PA - I changed nothing, so I must give credit where it is due.

Ingredients

• 2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (I may have used 3- I think 1 lb 3 oz or something.)
• 1 onion, chopped (I used 3/4 because mine was large and this was vague.  Probably only use 1/2 and saute it in butter first or just use 1 Tbs onion flakes next time.)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 teaspoon "mixed dried herbs"  I think I ended up going with 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce (I'd leave this out all together.  I wanted a bit more corn flavor.
• 1 12 oz. can cream-style corn
• 1 14 oz. can whole kernel corn
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except parsley, salt, and pepper in slow cooker.
2. Cover.  Cook on Low 8-9 hous, or until chicken is tender.
3. Add parsley and seasoning 30 minutes before serving.

Southwest Spinach strata

I finally decided to make an egg type casserole.  I've been wanting to make one for breakfast, but never do, so I put it on the menu for dinner this week.  This recipe came from my taste of home healthy cooking magazine.  It called for southwestern-style egg substitute.  I looked at it at the store and it had diced peppers and onions, then one of the ingredients was horseradish and I decided not to get it, but to make my own.  (I was going to add diced peppers and onions but totally forgot.)  What I didn't forget to do was add a blend of spices.  I was super happy with the combination of spices I made.  It had a wonderful flavor.  However, it took forever to cook and then still ended up soggy.  I'm not sure why.  I used regular bread which I toasted and cube (It called for day old.)  I used all wheat because that is what I have.  (It called for 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white bread cubes.)  I did everything else the same -other than added spices which should make no cooking difference.  I had to cook this at least 20 minutes longer than it said - probably more like 25 because I kept letting the timer buzz at me before going and adding 5 of 10 more minutes.  It was still way too soggy for me and the kids.  (It wasn't super soggy, it was completely cooked - didn't feed the kiddos raw eggs or anything, it was just overly moist - hey, my 2 meals today needed to get together and work out a trade - breakfast was too dry and dinner too moist.)  I think if I made this again, I'd leave out 1 cup of milk - maybe even add an extra 1/2 cup of egg.  That would give 1/2 cup less liquid, and I think it would do the trick.  Like I said, I really really liked the flavor.  I liked the black beans (not the Spinach so much - would prefer corn with my black beans, but Tavio loves spinach.)  I also liked the edges where the cheese got melted and made a wonderful cheesy crust.  Yum.  I forgot to serve this with sour cream and salsa, but I really didn't think it needed it.

This gets a 4 star for flavor, but 2 star for the texture.  Ends up 3 star all around.  Although at least 1 of my boys would put it lower.

Ingredients

• 5 cups cubed day old bread (I used wheat - recipe said 2 1/2 cup wheat and 2 1/2 cup white.)
• 2/3 cup black beans, rinsed and drained (I could up this a bit.)
• 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup egg substitute (possibly up to 1/2 cup next time)
• 2 cups fat free milk (definitely lower next time - probably by 1/2)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Direction

1. Place 1/2 of the bread crumbs in an 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Layer with beans, spinach, and half of the cheese.  Top with remaining bread cubes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg substitute, milk, cilatro and salt.  Pour over the top.  Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes (mine was in at least 1 hour.)  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

baked pumpkin donuts

So, I had seen this recipe on multiply delicious and decided I wanted to try them, so I put it on my menu and bought the ingredients but then today when I went to make them, I saw that she had got them from Cheeky kitchen.  I looked at cheeky kitchen's version and liked the simplicity of it.  I also liked the buttermilk glaze there, but I liked that at multiply delicious she had used partially wheat flour.  So, I followed cheeky kitchen (not adding cinnamon chips I had bought for this - now I have to find something to use those in. lol)  but I made my own modifications - keeping the wheat flour, and subbing out some splenda.  I also cut the buttermilk glaze in half and added some spices.  (It was plenty cut in half.)
My opinion of these "donuts" ....  They weren't my favorite.  They tasted fine, but I don't think I really liked the wheat.  Maybe it was a texture issue from the wheat ??  I felt as if they were a bit grainy.  Mostly my texture issue with this recipe is that it was very bready and not very cakey.  For a donut, I expected a bit sweeter, and definitely cakey in texture.  This was more like a pumpkin bread - but not the soft moist type like banana bread, more like a yeast bread with pumpkin flavor.  Not sure what to change.  I need to learn how to alter textures of breads and baked goods.  In a nutshell, these could have been good, and I like the idea of a baked donut, but the dough was super sticky and hard to deal with.  Then they weren't as sweet as I expected them to be for a donut, and they were more dry and bready than moist and cakey.  Will I make them again?  Not unless I change something - maybe try them with all white flour?  Maybe add the cinnamon chips?  Not sure.  They were eaten by the kids - Duncan ate the tops off (the icing part) but the rest of the boys ate 2 donuts and 2 holes.  I ate my share as well, I can't say that I didn't.  They weren't awful or anything, just not what I expected and therefore disappointing.

Yield: about 10 donuts - I made 10 donuts and 9 donut holes ( the last donut was free formed from the scraps.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup splenda 
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Glaze ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, spice and sugar.  
2. Melt butter in a medium bowl.  Whisk in pumpkin puree.  Whisk in vanilla and buttermilk.  Whisk in the eggs.  
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is well combined.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface (I used a lot of flour because it was quite sticky dough.) Rool to 3/4" thickness and cut with a donut cutter (I used a 3 1/4 inch circle on the outside and my smallest circle on the inside.  I had to spray them multiple times with cooking spray so they didn't stick to the dough.
4. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes (I did 13.) or until donuts are cooked through.
5. While donuts are cooking, whisk together glaze ingredients.  Dip warm donuts immediately in buttermilk glaze.  

Sweet potato muffins

Wow, my little boys are not up yet, so I'm taking advantage and finishing up with this muffin recipe I need to type.  (Probably should go and do the cleaning I needed to do yesterday, but I can do that while they eat breakfast right?)
This recipe is from my Simple and Delicious magazine.  When I made slow cooker chicken that had sweet potatoes this past week, I made extra sweet potatoes.  I had not planned on making these muffins - hadn't thought much about them, but when I had extra sweet potatoes, I thought I remembered a recipe using them so I looked and found these (also some for biscuits and a few other things I should try, but we needed a breakfast this day, so I tried these out.)  Upon further inspection, I found out why I hadn't given these a second glance - 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of oil.  While I'm glad to get some sweet potatoes into my kiddos, I don't need to have equal parts of sugar nor that much oil, so I made some modifications.  DH was helping in the kitchen so I could finish my workout again - gotta love him for that - he knows I'm much more sane if I can take out some aggression each morning lifting weights or running.  :)  So, I kept chatting with him in between weight lifting on possible substitutions.  I would have just subbed out applesauce for the oil, but we were out.   However, we did have some apple juice concentrate.  We decided to try that.  We also didn't have a full 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, but we did have 1/4 -1/2 cup of pumpkin puree that was left over from something else, so we combined the 2 to make 2 cups of puree.  I also got him to sub out 1 cup of sugar for 1 cup splenda.
The results - surprisingly, these turned out great.  I was worried about the texture because of the lack of oil, and subbing the apple juice concentrate rather than applesauce, but no problems.  The were super sweet.  There was a glaze recipe with this muffin recipe, but I didn't make it.  After trying one, there was NO reason they needed glaze.  The kids loved these.  One of the only ways to get a veggie into my toddler.  My 4 year old ate 3 both days he had them, so they are definitely a keeper.  I probably only give them a 4, but because they were well liked by my kids, they get bumped up to 4.5.  Next time I will probably use applesauce instead of the juice concentrate, and I won't leave out the cinnamon.  However, I may actually reduce the sugar.  Try 3/4 cup sugar and splenda - or switch to brown sugar and splenda. - maybe 1 cup splenda, 1/2 cup brown sugar??  Just my thoughts for next time.   This is what we did this time

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon (DH forgot this)
• 1 cup splenda
• 1 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups cold, mashed sweet potatoes (we had about 1 1/2 c sweet potato and 1/2 c pumpkin)
• 1 cup applesauce (we used about 3 Tablespoons oil and the rest of the cup apple juice concentrate)

Directions

1. In a small bowl mix dry ingredients.  (flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar)  In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.  (egg, sweet potatoes and applesauce.)  Stir wet and dry ingredients together just until moistened.  
2. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Note:  Original recipe called for 2 cups self rising flour.  I don't keep that on hand.  The substitution is place 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bottom of a measuring cup and add regular flour to 1 cup.  Not sure what DH did, but I really don't think the integrity of the muffin is going to be off by that much if you have an extra Tablespoon of flour.  However, we did use apple juice concentrate and oil which is very liquidy.  If with applesauce it seems a little thick, just add another Tablespoon of applesauce (or sweet potato) to get desired consistency.  Runs in my mind  (from what I observed) that our batter was plenty runny, and took a little extra time to cook. (usually does with substitutions.)