Strawberry Shortcake + Pancakes = HEAVENLY

The other day at the grocery store Lorelei wanted strawberries in the worst way.  I told her no at first because they aren't in season and more expensive, but once I saw the deal that if you bought 2 bags of lettuce you got free strawberries I gave in... plus I need green rabbit food anyways.  Then Lorelei wanted to make a dip for the berries, so I picked up some already whipped cream cheese.  Fast forward a few days to yesterday Lorelei ordered me to make strawberry cream cheese pancakes.  Ok, that sounded good too me.  And a great way to try to sneak in some berries to Annabelle (if it's not a banana or an apple she won't eat it fruit wise).

Well, lets put it this way, I was going to use Jeremy's phone to take a photo of the pancakes and... well... umm... they are allllll gone folks.  So trust me huge hit.  Lorelei also is very proud of herself.  She put the batter into the skillet and flipped the pancakes.  I also think she ate them as she cooked them lol.

2 eggs

1 stick of unsalted butter – melted

2 tsp of vanilla

1 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp of gaur gum

4oz of whipped cream cheese (aka half a container) at room temperature

6 big strawberries- diced

½ cup of sugar + 1 tbsp of sugar

1 cup of my GF Flour Mix

¾ cup of milk

1.5 tsp of white vinegar

In a bowl placed place the diced strawberries and 1 tbsp of sugar.  Mix to make sure that all the berries are covered with the sugar.  Then microwave them for 20 seconds to help speed up the process.

In the measuring cup that is holding your milk add the vinegar.  We are making our own “buttermilk” because I never have the real stuff around.  You will see the milk change texture some while you are mixing the batter.  If you have buttermilk you can use it.

Beat the eggs in a different bowl once a creamy yellow color add in the vanilla and slowly drizzle in the melted butter while beating the eggs the entire time.  Once the butter has been completely incorporated in add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, gaur gum.  Then add in the cream cheese.  Make sure it is at room temperature and whipped.  Now you want little happy chunks of yummy cheesy goodness throughout the batter.  Then add in half of the milk mixture and half of the GF flour mixture.  Once that has been mixed in add in the rest of the milk and flour.  Once everything is combined let the mixture sit for a few minutes to get fluffy.

Cook, Eat, and Enjoy.

Btw- you won’t need any butter or syrup on top of these pancakes.

I like things CRUSTY...

One of the hardest things when you have WLS is giving up certain things that have become a comfort food.  I have to admit I love a good fish dipped in batter and fried.  I love things with a crunch on the outside with a moist middle.  Since then I try hard to avoid it because I couldn't right ingredients to get it just right without blowing my eating plan.

Last night I wanted to do pork chops with just a little texture on the outside.  I read some of the cookbooks in my collections and nothing jumped out in what I should do to keep it low carb.  Well when I was cleaning up from making the cookies I spilled some brown rice flour.  Right then it felt like I got hit by a frying pan... why didn't I try some of my "alt" flours.  It was a great success... Everyone loved them last night!

GF flouring mixture:
1/4 cup of brown rice flour
1 tsp of kosher salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of white pepper
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp of sugar

Mix in a bowl and rub away on the meat.  But, if you would like this to be a fine grain rub, then blitz in a coffee/spice grinder.  Once I had coated the meat I let it set for a few minutes while the olive oil heated up in the skillet.  And then cooked away in the skillet till done, only flipping once.  I had about 1.5 inch thick boneless pork chops, heat on Med High.

Now you could always to the egg/flour mixture dip with this mixture.  However you will have to make a lot more...

I tonight we are going to try this mixture out on some white fish that I have in the freezer.  

Chocolate Chip Cookies- Shanny Style

Ok I have now tasted and tried a number of Gluten Free items and have a huge issue... the texture.  Ugh.  I have done some research on my own and after a lot of reading of my own cookbooks and food chemistry books... I think I have it!

The last few weeks I have been messing around with my own mixture for a GF baking mix.  Now I know mine has oatmeal flour in it and that is up for debate in the GF world so if you have an issue to it ditch it.  Not a big deal that I can real tell, other than, to me, an earthly taste to the baked item.

1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 large eggs
1.5 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of guar gum
1 tsp of kosher salt

2.25 cups of GF baking mix (recipe below)
1 package of mini chocolate chips (or whatever flavor and style you want)

My GF baking mix:
I make up a big container of this and then use it almost cup per cup to flour.  If you can't tolerate oats just take the oatmeal flour out.  I didn't notice a difference mouth feel wise.  I keep this in a container in my pantry area where it is cool and kind of dark.
2 cup of brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup oatmeal flour

Cookie time:
Cream together butter and sugar.  Once light and fluffy add eggs once at a time and then the vanilla.  Scrape down the bowl and then added baking soda, baking powder, guar gum, and salt and mix.  Then add in slowly 3/4 of cup at a time the flour scraping down the bowl after adding the flour mixture.  Then stir in by hand the chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake on the middle rack to 8 to 11 mins.  I pull them out while they are a little gooey in the middle since I like a softer cookie.  For a crispier cookie leave in till done in the middle.  if you would like your cookies puffier- use 1/2 cup of butter and shortening.

I hope to have photos later if I can get Jeremy's cell to take a photo since Annabelle broke my camera.  **A friend who tested out the cookies for me took some photos of them for me... so ignore the Christmas plate :)

My fave chicken dish

We eat a lot of meat in this house.  We are a high protein family since I had gastric bypass 4 years ago.  So, over time I have had to reinvent favorite recipes to cut down carbs and fat.  One dish I had just before WLS was Hunter's Style Chicken.  It was amazing, but high carb and fat.  So this is my take on the dish for my family now.

This dish feed my family of 4 (2 adults, 2 small children)

3 skinless chicken breast- split and bone in
corn starch or arrowroot for coating the chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic sliced
1 pound of mushrooms sliced very thin
2 tsp of rice vinegar with garlic
1 cup of chicken stock- reduce sodium
4 tbsp of tomato paste
1 cup water
2 tsp of dry oregano
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy)
salt and black pepper to taste

In a large nonstick skillet put in the olive oil and 2 gloves of garlic on medium heat.  Coat the chicken with the corn starch and shake off the excess.  Before placing the chicken into the oil pick out the garlic and save for later.  Cook the chicken until browned.  Now put in all the garlic, the mushrooms, and tomato paste.  Once the tomato paste is cooked out it's raw flavor add in rest of the ingredients making sure everything is combined.  Cook for 45 mins, but if the sauce gets too thick add part water/part chicken stock a little bit at a time.

I serve this with a little salad on the side.  If you don't have to watch your carbs you could have this with mashed potatoes as well and a little garlic bread.

My Little Monkeys

My kids love all things bananas, but they do have times when they want nothing to do with them. When that happens this is the recipe I use to make THE BEST banana bread EVER!

1 cup of sugar (I use a sugar sub)
1/2 c butter
3 very ripe bananas
3 large eggs
1.5 tbsp buttermilk or sour cream
1.5 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of kosher salt
2 cups flour (or GF making mix)
1.5 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c creamy peanut butter
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c mini chocolate chips

Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.  Then add in one banana and one egg at a time until they are all blended in to the butter mixture.  Then add in all the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined.  And yes I dump the nuts and chocolate in with all the other dry ingredients.  Dump into a greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes.  Let it cool in the pan for about 10 mins and then remove to cool on a wire rack.

This is normally gone in a day in my house.

Gluten Free Bread Review- Udi's Bread

Many of you know that I have had gastric bypass and with my PCOS I have some really strong gravings for carbs.  Well carbs like bread are a no no with gastric bypass so I was trying to find a good alternative for when I just can't resist anymore.

And I have... Udi's bread.  My girls even love this stuff!  I can get this at my local health food store and I have tried the white sandwich bread and the millet-chia bread.

I enjoyed them both.  The white sandwich bread one is amazing for grilled cheese, sandwiches, french toast  ... well basically everything that you would do with your normal white bread you can do with this bread!  This bread reminds me of a good loaf of crusty white bread.  And sooooo good with just a little butter on it slightly toasted.  HEAVEN!

The millet-chia bread was great for just toast and sandwiches.  It has a great nutty bite to it like if you got one of those super duper whole grain breads with all the bells and whistles in it.  The girls enjoyed this one a lot as well and eat it so fast I didn't get a chance to play with it like the white bread.

So, if you are looking to try something new or just found out that you need to go gluten free try this bread, You will love it!

-Shannon