Homemade Instant Oatmeal

I have tried a lot of things to make GF oats taste good and have failed miserably! I came across this recipe per pinterest and was surprised at how much my whole family loved it! I only made a small amount the first time around to make sure it was a keeper, and it definitely is! This is what we have had for breakfast everyday for a week now, which says a lot!  I love that is doesn't have all the added 'stuff' they put in our food these days....

Instant Homemade Oatmeal

6 cups GF quick rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill)

1 cup dry milk powder

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I did not have / use this)

1 teaspoon salt

1) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

2) Mix well.

3) Store in a large container. Label and date. Keep in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months (it never lasts that long at our house, but good to know anyways).

Directions for use: Shake the container to mix ingredients. In a small pot, heat 2/3 cup water to boiling. Add 1/3 cup oatmeal mix. Note: There is approx. 1/3 cup of oatmeal in a packet of instant oatmeal. You may prefer to increase this amount based on the size of servings needed. Reduce heat and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached, stir frequently. Can also heat in microwave for one minute.

This is just a base (which tastes amazing by itself!), but you could easily add in any additional dried fruit, fresh fruit or maple syrup.

Pumpkin Waffles with Buttermilk Syrup

Deliciousness!   

Pumpkin Waffles

2 C GF flour (featherlite)
2 T baking powder
1 T cinnamon
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum

Mix above ingredients...then add

4 egg yolks
1 C pumpkin
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 C milk
3/4 C butter, melted

Beat 4 egg whites till stiff peaks and fold into batter


Buttermilk Syrup

1/4 C butter
1/2 C buttermilk
1 C sugar
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla


Bring first four ingredients to a boil and take off heat.
Add 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla
Do this in a bigger pot than ingredients...it will foam. Stir until it settles.  Pour into a serving jar.

**We like to double the syrup recipe and use it later.  We just put the extras in the refrigerator and reheat it the next time we do pancakes or waffles.

German Pancakes

Came across these the other day online.  I'll be honest, I think I love breakfast better for dinner than at breakfast time!!  They are as easy as easy gets to make and clean up is a breeze!  We have had these three times in the past two weeks and they are loved by everyone!  I actually made one and a half recipes so they are a little thicker than the original recipe, but still yummy.  We served ours up with a little powdered sugar and some of the kids added syrup.  (The recipe listed below is just a single batch.)

***Update:  Really good with some fruit on top as well!

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup GF all-purpose flour (featherlite)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Toss your eggs and milk into a blender.  Add flour, salt and xanthan gum and blend until you have no chunks.  Pour melted butter into an un-greased 9×13 dish, pour the batter on top, and bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.  Serve immediately.  This makes enough that each person got one square serving, there are six of us.

Avocado Banana Smoothie

I found this recipe in a magazine a few weeks back.  I was a little hesitant to try it, but  there was something about it that was intriguing  too!  I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it was.  Truth be told, it tastes just an orange julius.

1 avocado
1 banana
1/2 C Greek yogurt (I just used plain nonfat yogurt)
1/4 C honey
1 1/2 C orange juice
1 1/2 C ice cubes

Place everything in blender and blend until smooth.  Add ice and pulse a few times.  Serve immediately and enjoy!!

Brazilian Cheese Rolls - Pao de Queijo

I can't remember how I came across this recipe, but I am so glad I did!!  It comes from Our Best Bites.  I have made two batches in two days and my sister has made 4 batches just today they are that yummy.  It takes a little less than 30 minutes to make a batch and the finished product is so light and fluffy that it will be hard to eat just one, or two or maybe even three!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} 
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light olive oil/avocado oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese (preferably medium or sharp)

** I also add 1/4 C parmesan cheese, a heaping TBSP of garlic and diced green chiles...

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm.  These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

Oatmeal and Raisin Snack Bars

This has been a hit with the kids. The first time I tried it, I used just the Quinoa and it was way to nutty flavored. So the second time I tried it with the GF oats and I added chocolate chips. They tasted really good. I also halved the recipe and received the thickness of bars shown here below. We will definitely be making this one again. This recipe comes from Living Without.


Makes 24 Bars

1⅓ cups gluten-free rolled oats or 1 cup
quinoa flakes
1 cup sorghum flour
¾ cup white or brown rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch/flour
1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1⅔ cups light brown sugar, not packed
⅔ cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅔ cup raisins, soaked in warm water

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2.In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3.In medium bowl, combine vegetable oil, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla.
4.Add wet ingredients to dry mixture and mix with a fork or wooden spoon until blended.
5.Drain raisins, reserving ¼ cup liquid. Fold raisins into batter. Add reserved liquid, a little at a time until batter is smooth. Batter will be thick.
6.Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes until golden.
7.Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or squares. To store, wrap and freeze.

Toad in the Hole

This has always been one of Jon's favorite recipes, and not so much mine. Morgan and Jon read a book together that reminded him of this recipe. He ask me to add the ingredients to my shopping list. Being a good wife, I did just that. So I attempted to convert this to being GF and it worked out really well. Jon says it tastes just like the real thing. It doesn't make very much so we made a side of waffles and muffins and had breakfast for dinner. I actually even really liked it this time.

1 C GF flour mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 eggs
1 C milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb small breakfast sausages

Prepare batter and refrigerate for 1 hour. Half cook sausages in pan. Transfer to greased baking dish (8x8). Space sausages 1 inch apart. Pour batter over sausages and bake in preheated oven at 400-425 degrees. for 30-40 minutes.

Honey Nut Chex

Now available in select stores! YEAH!!!

Rice Chex has been out for almost a year now. I picked up the box of

Honey Nut at our local Walmart Neighborhood Grocery store.

Waffles

One of our family traditions is to have either pancakes or waffles on Sunday for breakfast (sometimes we have it for dinner during the week too!). We tried this recipe and couldn't tell the difference from our old Belgian waffle recipe. This is actually what we used during the transition of not having bread for sandwiches anymore. I have a waffle iron that is heart shaped and cooks the waffles a little thinner. The heart seperates into five smaller hearts. It worked perfect for sandwiches for school lunches.

This recipe comes from http://www.eatingglutenfree.com/. I have also posted the recipe for their pancake recipe which we use all the time.

Waffles
3 eggs separated
scant ¼ c. sugar
1 ¾ c. milk
½ c. oil
2 c. featherlight mix
1 tsp. xanthan gum
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder

Beat egg whites until stiff. Slowly add sugar, until the whites form soft peaks. Beat together egg yolks, milk, and oil. In another bowl, mix featherlight mix, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Mix milk mixture into flour. Fold the resulting mixture into the egg whites. Bake on a hot waffle iron. Keep waffles in a warm oven (with the door cracked open) until you are ready to eat. Any leftover waffles may be placed in Ziploc bags and frozen. They may then be reheated in the toaster.


Pancakes

2 c. featherlight mix
1 tsp. xanthan gum
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 Tbs. sugar
2 c. milk
5 Tbs. oil
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Mix both together. Cook!