Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

Wow! Was this dessert ever packed with bright color and a tart punch. I made it with regular flour but you could substitute a gluten free flour just as easily. The formula for making a crisp is simple. Clean and dice up fruit, mix with sugar and a couple tablespoons of cornstarch and top with a crumble mix. The proportions can be adjusted for fruit sweetness and how much topping you would like. My recipe went like this:

You will need:
2 cups fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh rhubarb
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour or gluten free flour
6 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces
1 cup rolled oats ( I used quick cooking but you could use the steel cut oats, too)

Clean and dice the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces. Clean and hull the strawberries, cut in half if large. Add 1 cup white sugar and mix with the fruit. Sprinkle the fruit with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix well. Set aside. Make crumble mix. In a bowl or a food processor. Mix brown sugar, 1/4 cup of the white sugar, flour and oats. Cut in or pulse the cold pieces of butter into the mix. It should resemble large crumbs. Mix in the pecan (or other nut) pieces by hand. Pour fruit into 9x13" pan and top with crumble mix. Bake at 350F for about 35-45 minutes. Enjoy warm with whipped topping or ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers and even have some for breakfast!

Bowl of sugared rhubarb and strawberries

Finished crisp - easy!

Grow a garden

The best foods for a celiac or gluten-free diet are fresh fruits and vegetables. And the best tasting fruits and vegetables are home grown. I've been in and out of the nursery business for the past 25 years and the unfortunate thing about working at a nursery or garden center is that you get burned out by the time you get to your own garden. I was fortunate enough to be able to start a nursery last year and sell my plants at the farmer's markets. The best thing about setting up at the market is that you have immediate access to all the fresh fruits and vegetables that the farmers grow. The veggies stay fresh much longer than supermarket produce I've found. In fact I still have some sugar pumpkins from October sitting in my back utility room! I encourage everyone - if you can't grow your own - visit a farmer at the market - you'll get the freshest and best-tasting food around.

Last year I made my first attempt at canning. I did a simple water-bath method and did tomatoes - sliced, in italian and chili sauce, salsa and a couple of tomato juices - one that is fiery hot! I am proud to say that I have yet to buy a can of tomatoes this winter! I also did a couple of different tasting jams - most notably sweet red pepper and tomato jams plus a couple of fruit jams. I also put by a couple of batches of refrigerator pickles and am due for another batch this week.

The new dehydrator and yogurt machines are getting a workout as well. I make yogurt almost once a week and keep batches for two friends. I dehydrated a lot of stuff from the markets this last year - tomatoes, peaches, grapes - yes they really do make raisins! and I've air dried some herbs to make my own salt combinations in the food processor. I'll do a quick post soon on how to do it it's easy.

If you would like to beautify your new garden and live in the metro Detroit, Michigan area - come see me at the market or make an appointment to see my nursery. I sell perennials, herbs and groundcovers. I'm starting a few vegetable plants as well. My website is Sage Advice Nursery and my blog is at Sage Advice Nursery Blog on blogspot.

As I said in my last post I no longer live on a gluten-free diet, but I do try and limit my intake of wheat products and processed food. I encourage everyone who needs a special diet to grow their own food - it's the best diet God can give.

Ham and Bean Soup

I've been absent from this blog for a long while as I found out I no longer have to eat gluten-free. My terrible pain stemmed from some medications I had been taking for the past 15 years and when I went gluten-free I switched medications so it was coincidental. I advocate eating gluten free as I lost weight and felt good but darn it- I craved bread. So I am back to eating regularly - and have gained a bit of weight in the process!

But tonight - since I feel guilty about not checking in here now and again- I made a gluten free Ham and Bean soup. Soaked a bag of beans for about 6-8 hours. Drained them. Chopped one onion, one carrot and a half pound of ham slices. Dearborn ham, mind you, one of the best here in the Detroit area. Dropped them all in the crock pot and added the beans. Put in a tablespoonful of "Better than Bouillon" Vegetable Base and a pitcher of water. Cooked for about 4 hours on high then simmered for another 2-3 hours on low. I was worried that there may be salt in the veg base and might screw up the beans but there isn't and they tenderized beautifully. The base has hydrolyzed soy protein and corn in it but no wheat products, so I think it would be OK for a gluten-free diet. Yum! Had a big bowl of it for dinner and I plan to bring my brother a big batch of it for tomorrow's lunch.

May your gluten-free quest be good. I know mine was hard but it seemed to take away a great deal of the stomach pain I had been having. I think it is good to take a break from wheat now and then so I'll try and check back in here a bit more often. Thanks for stopping by!

What's for Dinner? Chunky Chili!

It's my go to meal when I want a lot of something for leftovers - a big vat o' chili. Mom taught me a version of this recipe which is lifted from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Now, you hard-liner chili buffs, this is with beans and tomatoes and tomato soup. When I first had to eat gluten-free, I was so disappointed that I could no longer use Campbell's tomato soup which uses wheat. In this recipe I substituted Amy's - which is gluten free - but much more expensive.

Cooking a vat like this is much more art than science, so go to town with your own variations...

Basic Chunky Chili Recipe

1 lb ground beef
large onion - diced or minced if you don't like the chunky bits
3 medium tomatoes - diced, can use a can if you like
1T crushed garlic - about a clove
1 15oz can kidney beans - I like the dark red ones
1 can Amy's tomato soup - ready to eat not condensed
dash olive oil
1-3T chili powder to taste
salt


Heat up a big pot - preferably heavy - I use cast iron.
Add some olive oil to the bottom.
Have vegetables diced and prepped.
Toss in onions to lightly carmelize - watch em so they don't burn.
Add ground beef - I usually use chuck - it's got some fat for flavor.
Brown ground beef, add tomatoes, garlic and salt the whole mess to taste which will help the tomatoes break down.
Add can of kidney beans - don't bother to drain unless you are fussy.
Add can of Amy's tomato soup - let simmer about 10 minutes
Add 1-3 tablespoons of chili powder - more or less depending on your taste.
Let simmer at least a half hour. The older it gets - to a point! - the better.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!







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MMM Cream Cheese and...

I've used it in cheesecake and spread it on ham to roll up for little appetizers, but I feel like I just discovered cream cheese with this new twist. Was wanting to make a BLT, but my gluten-free bread (store-bought) is so heavy and small - hard to layer a couple tomato slices and the requisite several pieces of bacon on it - so I made this BT spread and saved the lettuce in a green salad. Makes a great light dinner when you don't want to heat up the kitchen.

Bacon-Tomato Cream Cheese Spread

8 oz - 1 block cream cheese, softened
8 slices bacon - cooked and crumbled (I used the microwave stuff - fast and easy)
10 or 12 grape tomatoes - quartered
6 or 8 sundried tomatoes (I get the dried kind - very sweet, tangy and chewy)


Mash all of the above together. Serve as a spread on gluten-free crackers, rice cakes or as an open face sandwich on gluten-free bread. Garnish with cherry tomatoes or a bit of arugula for a nutty spicy flavor.

Raisin Nut Oatmeal bars

I tend to whip up these bar creations, especially when I'm craving something bread-like or sweet. It is a basic recipe:
Cream one stick of butter with one cup of sugar (more if you like it sweet)
Add 2 lightly beaten eggs and mix
Add vanilla - I use Cook's vanilla powder
Add some kind of flour about 1-2 cups
In this recipe I used 3/4 c. almond flour, 1/2 c. buckwheat flour and about a 1/2 c tapioca flour
Don't forget to add leavening - something to make it rise - in this recipe I used 1 teaspoon each GF baking powder and baking soda
Add oatmeal (gluten free of course...), nuts, raisins, chocolate chips any dried fruit or nuts you have on hand - if the batter seems stiff - add some applesauce.
I used a 8-11 inch pan - spread the batter thinner for a crispier cookie, thicker for a cake -like creation...
Bake until brown and set in the middle - test it with a toothpick or poke it with a finger to see if the middle springs back.
I baked these for about 20 minutes at 350F.

Try your own variations with what you have on hand. Don't wait to bake until you've got all the right ingredients - you may be pleasantly surprised by the results!

Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake

This creation makes just the perfect bite for a breakfast treat or an after dinner sweet. The cake is fairly light and not-too crumbly as many gluten-free baked good can be. The only gluten-free ingredient I use that I had to track down is the gluten-free vanilla flavoring, most vanilla is made with alcohol and you can't be sure that the alcohol isn't made from grain. So I splurged and bought a vanilla powder - it substitutes for a regular vanilla at the same rate. Yummy for gluten free eaters and regular folks!

Heat oven to 350F

Ingredients:
For the streusel mix:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup melted butter


For the cake:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup gf sour cream - check the label to make sure it doesn't have modified food starch
1 teaspoon gf vanilla flavor - I used Cook's vanilla powder
1 3/4 cups gf flour
1 teaspoon gf baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt



Here goes:


1. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat well. Incorporate sour cream and vanilla flavoring.
2. Add rest of ingrediens - you can sift them together separately, but I'm way too unfussy for that.
3. Beat until smooth.
4. Pour half of batter into pan. I used a glass pie plate - glass heats well and makes a browner crust. You could use a 8x8 or 9x9 pan. 
5. Top batter with half of streusel mix
6. Cover with rest of batter. Top with remaining streusel mix.
7. Pop into oven until set and browned on top - approximately 45 minutes. You can use a toothpick to check center for doneness. When the toothpick comes out clean - you're there.
8. Cool, cut into wedges and eat and be happy.

Enjoy!