Happy Halloween
Month: October 2014
Hallow’s Eve….
On Hallow’s Eve we carve pumpkins… however, my daughter opened her pumpkin up and a massive amount of the seeds inside had sprouted!! A halloween surprise! Unfortunately, we can’t roast up the seeds now.
And the finished masterpieces…. I think we are ready for halloween!
Decided to go with a dollop of Chocolate Spread on the brownies…
I made gluten free brownies topped with a dollop of Hershey’s Chocolate Spread and a candy corn for Arik’s Halloween Party tomorrow…. now I think I am done!
So, soooooo busy….
Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
This week has been crazy and it is only Wednesday! I have been swamped with chores galore. I volunteer at my kids school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I still have laundry on the couch that needs to be folded and dishes in the sink from making halloween party treats for my kids classes. And then, my kids have friday off since it is “Nevada Day.”
Since Nevada became a state (admitted to the Union) on October 31, 1864, and since legislature wanted to celebrate Nevada Day on the “last” Friday in October… Nevada Day falls on the “actual” Oct 31st – therefore my kids do not have school on Halloween this year.
But Nevada day is a big too do this year since the state is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Nevada’s statehood. Thousands come out to the state capital to watch the parade and celebrate. But it is more than just a parade, it is Nevada’s Heritage Celebration, a gathering of community spirit and a salute our state’s past while looking ahead to our state’s future.
Because there isn’t any school on halloween this year, my kids school parties and dress up fall on Thursday (tomorrow) instead.
Gluten Free Brownies
Having three kids in school – Pre-school, Kindergarten and 2nd Grade… I find myself having to make several food offerings.
My daughter’s class said they are having a breakfast party — so I will be making two dozen Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting and since it is Halloween, I will throw a few candy corns on top.
My youngest’s class I have to make brownies (Gluten Free of course) to bring in. Not certain if I will top those off with anything. But the Hershey’s Chocolate Spread keeps popping in to my head as a great topper even though I had already put white chocolate chips into the batter. I don’t buy Nutella since my husband and I are allergic to hazelnuts and the Hershey’s Spread are basically similar but one of their flavors is made with almonds instead of hazelnuts. So win!
And then I really got off easy for my older son’s class. Since he can’t partake in having the regular cupcakes all I have to bring in is a Gluten Free Cupcake for him. Score! One less thing for me to make. What I normally do is make a batch of gluten free cupcakes, freeze them in a ziploc bag — and pull them out when needed for a class function — thaw them out over night then all I need to do is frost it right before the kids head off to school. Life is so much simpler that way!
Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcake
Gluten Free Turkey and Biscuit Casserole
When it was just my husband and I living in Lake Tahoe, I use to make a different version of this recipe quite often in the winter since it was such a nice comfort food to warm you up from being out in the snow. But being Chicken and Gluten intolerant – I have changed the recipe up and literally have reinvented it. My oldest son said the biscuits were 1000 times delicious – So I guess I did something right!
Turkey and Biscuit Casserole | Small Town Living in Nevada
Gluten Free Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
Last night before bed I put together a Pumpkin French Toast Casserole …. Got up early around 7:30am stuck it in the oven for an hour and went back to bed til the oven timer went off. This is what our Sunday breakfast looked like!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 loaf of Gluten Free Bread ( I used Udi’s )
- 7 large eggs
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
- Pecans for topping
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, vanilla, pumpkin puree, vanilla and pie spice until well combined.
- Lay your first layer of bread slices down to a fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full.
- Pour 1/2 of the egg mixture over bread until it’s all soaked and mostly covered.
- Lay your second layer of bread slices down then pour the remainder of the egg mixture over the bread.
- Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans on top.
- Cover and refrigerate over night.
- In the morning, place into the oven and turn to 350º F, uncovered (don’t preheat oven). Bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown and no longer wet.
- Serve immediately with your choice topping – maple syrup, honey or even agave nectar.
Gluten Free Double Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Even though October is on its way out I am still getting zucchini in my garden which is something odd since september is usually the cut off before the freeze hits. Nevertheless, I needed to come up with something different and thought Chocolate Zucchini Bread would be the zing we needed. 
Gluten Free Double Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Ingredients 1-1/2 cups Gluten-Free Flour mix 1/2 cup Hershey’s Cocoa powder – 100% Cacao Special Dark 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon xanthan gum 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 3 extra-large eggs 2/3 cup cooking oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups to 2 cups shredded zucchini 1-1/3 cups dark chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. In another bowl mix together vanilla, eggs, brown sugar, zucchini and granulated sugar. Mix until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into the loaf pan and smooth top. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Gluten Free Stromboli
Last night I made Stromboli for dinner. Is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats and / or vegetables. The dough traditionally used is Italian bread dough or pizza dough that is rolled into a cylindrical shape and then baked. For mine, the dough was a little sticky and I didn’t get that perfect cylindrical shape. Nevertheless, it came out really tasty.
INGREDIENTS:
Homemade Pizza Dough ( I used Hodgson mill gluten free pizza crust mix )
Mozzarella Cheese, grated
6 slices Provolone Cheese
8 Ham slices
1/2 cup Turkey Italian Sausage, crumbled
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
4 ounce can of mushrooms
Olive Oil
Salt
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 450º F .
On a lightly floured sandstone used roll the dough out to a large rectangle.
Sprinkle the Parmesan Cheese over 3/4 of the pizza dough leaving borders on all sides of the dough.
Layer your Provolone Cheese, Ham, Sausage and Mushrooms, then top with the shredded Mozzarella Cheese.
Fold over the sides then roll the dough 1/3 of the way. Grab the other side of the parchment and fold it over the rest of the way. Position the Stromboli seam-side down.
Brush the entire roll with olive oil and make diagonal slits for venting. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove and allow the stromboli to cool for 5 minutes before slicing 1 to 2 inch strips.
Serve with pizza sauce for dunking.
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
Over the weekend I harvested a nice size bucket of beautiful red tomatoes from my dwindling garden.
I covered the tomato plants with plastic (a makeshift greenhouse) so I can get my plants to last as long as I can. Especially with the numbers dropping near freezing at night these days.
Regardless, I took 2 pounds from the bucket and made homemade Tomato Soup and the rest is now as they say history. 🙂
Ingredients
1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
Two pounds of fresh tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans of Tomato Sauce
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable base
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Dried basil to sprinkle as garnish
Directions
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat.
Throw in the diced onions and cook until translucent.
Place fresh tomatoes and onions in a blender to liquify. Then pour liquid through a sieve into a large pot and add tomato paste and tomato sauce, then stir to combine.
Add sugar, cream, base, salt and pepper to the soup and stir well. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes to blend flavors.
When ready to serve, top with a dash of dried basil.
Not So Classic… Gluten Free Turkey Pot Pie
I had no idea what I wanted to make for dinner. But then I thought — I just bought some Turkey Tenderloins — maybe I can make something with those…. BUT WHAT??? And then I thought Turkey Pot Pies!!! It is fall, the weather is cooling down — so why not make some comfort food for tonight.
Turkey Pot Pies
Small Town Living in Maryland 