Gluten Free Strawberry Pancakes

Yesterday I made strawberry pancakes that were greeted with questions of "Are these gluten free?".  I love questions like that!  In our house it means that they can't tell if it's gluten free or not and that to me is the true test of whether or not a recipe is worth repeating.

Here's the recipe:
2 cups gluten free pancake mix (we use the Pancake mix recipe in Cooking for Isaiah)
1/2 cup sliced frozen strawberries
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 tbsp canola oil

In a medium bowl, stir together the pancake mix, strawberries, vanilla, egg, milk, and canola oil until combined.  I use a whisk for this.

Heat your skillet over medium heat.  Grease lightly with oil.  Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the skillet and cook each pancake until golden and set, about 4 minutes each side.  Keep the pancakes warm in an oven set at 250 degrees until they are all cooked.

Time in the oven also helps to set the insides of these pancakes which is often necessary for pancakes with fruit in them.

We cooked these large (1/2 cup each pancake) but if you prefer smaller pancakes you can use 1/4 cup per pancake.

We top our pancakes with more frozen strawberries and a dollop of cool whip.

This recipes makes 5 large or 10 small pancakes.  We doubled the recipe so that we had enough for leftovers.  :-)

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

I love Kashi Trail Mix bars.  What I don't love is the price.  They have slowly crept up to almost $4 for a box of 6!  Last summer I printed out a recipe for Homemade Granola Bars from Joyful Abode.  It sat on my cookbook shelf for nearly six months before I finally decided to try it today.  I made a few changes to the recipe, I omitted the wheat germ since we're mostly a gluten free house and I substituted chopped almonds for peanuts.  The bars are delicious!

Looking at all these granola bars lined up tonight I had one of those "Why did I not do this sooner?" moments.  These really were very easy and it made 16 bars (I ate one before I took the picture).  :-)

French Vanilla Creamer

Tonight I finally made french vanilla creamer.  I used to make it every week in New York but since moving to Nebraska I just haven't been in the habit of doing it.  Well it's done!  I use skim milk in mine but you can use half & half, whole milk or whatever tastes good to you.

Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 cups Milk (or half & half)
1 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Tbsp Vanilla

I combine it all in a 1 quart mason jar and shake well.  It stores well in the refrigerator for about two weeks.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Egg Rolls

It has been 4 years since we discovered Abby can't tolerate wheat.  In those 4 years she's eaten an occasional egg roll but not without the guilt of knowing that she likely will pay for it later.  Tonight, I remedied that situation! 

I was googling gluten free recipes the other day when I stumbled across a recipe for Won Ton Wrappers from Gluten Free on A Shoestring.  I've been getting braver lately so I thought I'd give these a shot. 

Early this afternoon I mixed up the dough and rolled it out just as the recipe said.  I made 4 won ton wrappers fairly easily and quickly.  I stacked the wrappers on a plate with parchment paper between each wrapper.  When I put the last wrapper on the plate I placed a damp paper towel over the top to keep them moist until Ben cooked them later.

Later in the evening, Ben shredded pork and fried it on the stove along with an asian salad mix.  He filled the won ton wrappers, rolled them up, and dropped them in the hot oil waiting on the stove.  They came out perfect!

I thought for sure that Abby would have leftovers.  Who could possibly eat 4 large egg rolls?  Well apparently Abby can!  In just under an hour she polished off all 4 egg rolls.  What a delight to see her enjoying egg rolls guilt free!

Next time I make these (and it will be soon I'm sure), I will take pictures of the process and the end product.