You know how everyone has some sort of bad food they always keep in their house? Always. As in, you are never without it, no matter what kind of diet you are on, or how much you are exercising, or how healthy you think you are, it is there. Yeah...you know you have it, and you are thinking about how sinfully delicious it is right now. Well, my house is never, ever without chocolate chips. When they are on sale I buy them. I buy the ginormous bag at Costco. I love the giant bags because I don't measure chocolate chips for anything....it is more of a dump and, "Oh, yeah that looks...wait...*dump a few more*...okay, NOW it looks good!" kind of measurement, while I eat some, just to make sure they taste okay. (You don't get really, really good chocolate chip cookies, or really yummy brownies without a few extra chips, you know...) I think small bags are for sissies, honestly, but I buy them anyways. I used to buy them more often when I could drive, but now I have this budget police guy following me through the store and giving me looks when I try to buy things that aren't on the list....(ahem, Mr. Yeti). It makes shopping a whole lot less fun when it comes to me and my bestie, the baking aisle. Oh well, good for the wallet I suppose...I suppose.
But anyways, what I was getting to with these chocolate chips is that I always have them. They are like itty-bitty, frozen morsels of sanity for me (yes, frozen. I keep my chocolate chips in the freezer. They are way better that way, and no, it isn't up for discussion). More for hiding my (in)sanity. That beloved bag of chips is where I go when things are just a little too much....and a handful of chocolate solves it all. Sometimes it solves all the crying and whining for little boys in this house, too. Magic little morsels, I tell you. Magic! I had quite the little helping today while experimenting with a recipe. I am kind of a nerd when it comes to baking because I have to figure out the "science" (aka what tastes wrong about it, and bake it until it tastes right). It drives me nuts until I can get it just right. So this whole gluten-free thingy + baking is making my wheels turn constantly. The experiment I had today has me onto something good...and I can't wait to perfect it and hopefully come back to tell you all about it : )
Speaking of good....
I made Peach Pie this weekend. "Peach Pie? In January?" - Yes, in January. I sliced, and sliced, and sliced peaches forever this summer and froze them just for this sort of thing. I tried out a gluten-free crust recipe and it was interesting. Essentially the same as a normal pie crust recipe, with a few modifications. I was pretty skeptical of what may happen, and was ready to just bring peach mush (which is what all my work this summer ended up looking like post-freezer and thawing...womp womp) to my mom's house. The dough was a horrible crumbly mess, but I took all the online advice and rolled it out between two sheets of waxed paper. That worked great! The big issue was transferring it from the waxed paper to the pie plate...and not so much the bottom crust as it was the top crust after the pie had filling in it. That was super cool (not) ...I was shouting, "Don't break! Don't break!!" Luckily all the boys were upstairs and I didn't embarrass myself too much ; ) All in all, I think it turned out quite tasty and it looked pretty, however it was a one-day-only sale. It was absolute yuckiness after the first day....a giant, mushy, mess so next time I will have to find a cure for soggy pie syndrome.
We have been trying out some new recipes and have liked a lot of them. Not necessarily gluten-free specific recipes, just, "This looks delicious, and it is healthy...and it just so happens to be gluten-free because it is a vegetable! Let's eat it! Yay!" kind of a thing. Most of them are coming from a wondrous land called Pinterest. (If you haven't visited this wonderland, climb out from under your rock and take a gander. You don't know what you are missing! You will get sucked in, and you will probably hear Darth Vader say, "Come with me to the Dark Side!" but along with his voice you will see unicorns and rainbows and sunshine.... It is an odd combination of danger and excitement/joy/awe.) Tonight we ate Awesome Broccoli and that is my new name for it. Captain America didn't eat it, but Little Transformer kind of did, and Mr. Yeti said it was good. Therefore broccoli became Awesome Broccoli, and I will be making it again.
This is the original recipe, but I kind of changed it to what I had.
Awesome Broccoli
1 Big Bunch of Broccoli
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic (Fresh or Dried...I used dried because I was lazy)
Onion Powder
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice
Parchment Paper or Foil
- Wash your broccoli that morning, shake it out and let it set out to dry. Or don't wash it. Either way. Your germs. You just want it to be dried thoroughly.
-Set oven to 400.
-Cut broccoli into small florets and place into a medium/large sized bowl. Toss with olive oil (2-3 Tablespoons) Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and minced garlic. Sprinkle a bit of onion powder on, as well. Toss to coat.
-Dump out onto the parchment/foil covered baking sheet and spread out evenly. Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once.
-About 5 minutes before you are ready to serve (or take out of the oven), drizzle a tiny bit (1 tsp or so) of lemon juice over the broccoli and another pinch of salt, and stir again. Return to the oven for a few more minutes.
-Eat. Say yum.
Alright, it is laaate. I need to go to bed because the craziness will begin again all too soon. 'Night all.
xo
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