Mom's Monster Cookies

Monster cookies, or whatever you want to call them are my new favorite thing. Why? I love them because they've got it all chewy oatmeal, peanut butter and of course, chocolate! Another stunningly amazing thing about them is that they are GLUTEN FREE! Which means I can make a cookie that I adore, at the same time I am making something that Caleb can have. It's a win-win in my book. I love them so very much that I try not to make them all at one time, if I do, my self control goes out the window and all the calories I had previously burned on the elliptical are obsolete. To combat that and help myself out, I cook up a dozen or so of these little beauties for the week (or as long as they last)....

Then, I roll them rest of them up into balls and put them in a tupperware that goes into the freezer...
With a little note on the top reminding me what they are (as if I'd forget!) and the baking instructions.
That way if I'm dying for a little sweet with my coffee or want to put a treat in Caleb's lunch or we happen to have an impromptu counseling session - I've got a quick and no mess solution! I hope you enjoy these guys as much as I do.

Mom's Monster Cookies:

From Mom

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 1/2 cups oats, make sure they are gluten free if you are sensitive to gluten!

2 cups chocolate chips or m&m's (or one cup of each)

Cream together the first three ingredients and add in eggs, beating well to combine. stir in the soda, vanilla, oats and chips until combined. Bake on a greased cookie sheet (or use a silpat like me) at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

**This cookie recipe is wonderfully forgiving and as long as you stick to the basic idea you can add in whatever you want. Mom recommends nuts, raisins (I don't like raisins so I would never do that, but some people do like them) peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips or other candies like reeses pieces. Sky's the limit! I think next time I make them I will try to incorporate caramel! Let me know what you add into yours!

Breakfast is served!

I love breakfast! Now that I am not working I am able to make hot breakfast much more then I used to. This is a major bonus for me because I love, love, love eggs. I like them scrambled, fried, hard boiled but my most favorite way to eat them is in breakfast casserole type things. Last week I made these little beauties for breakfast and they were wonderful! I could eat breakfast for dinner at least once per week although Caleb is not so into it....!

Bacon and Asparagus Cups

4-6 strips bacon, diced

half an onion, diced

8-10 asparagus spears, cut into 1in pieces

8 eggs

1/4c milk or half n half

1/2c (or more) cheese, any variety I like cheddar or swiss, grated

1. cook bacon and onion together in frying pan until bacon is cooked to desired crispiness and onion is soft and golden. Add in asparagus pieces and cook one minute more. Pour mixture into a GREASED pie pan (or individual ramikens if you have them)

2. In a bowl whisk together 8 eggs with milk or half n half and season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs over the bacon mixture in the pie pan. Top with shredded cheese.

3. bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until the eggs are set and the top is browned.

If mornings are rushed for you, make this the night before and microwave a piece in the morning - it tastes great and you can eat it just as fast as a bowl of cereal!

Enjoy! This little dish is very versatile, change the ingredients to fit your family's tastes or what you have in the fridge. Would be delicious with mushrooms, sausage, ham, spinach, kale etc!

Happy Breakfast! Remember - it's the most important meal of the day!

Gluten Free Pie

Look at this pie! Would you ever guess that it is gluten free? Well it is! This was a big year for me in the traditional Thanksgiving baking world. In fact, this was my first time EVER making pumpkin pie. Weird, I know with a husband like mine you'd have thought that I would be making pumpkin pies in my sleep from September to March but Caleb actually isn't the biggest fan of it, he would much prefer pumpkin donuts, cinnamon rolls, cookies, bread, pancakes etc. This year me and my sister were assigned desserts for Thanksgiving so it seemed that I just HAD to make pumpkin pie....

I'm not sure what I had in mind to do for the crust for the gluten free one but I knew it had to be done. My wondering came to an end when I arrived at church the week before Thanksgiving. One of the sweetest ladies I know, Cheri had brought me this! It is a 5 lb bag of the most delicious gluten free flour I have ever tasted! I didn't know what to do with myself, I was so excited to give it a try and see how it tasted. I put it to the test, making a pie crust (which isn't my specialty anyway) for the pumpkin pie. I couldn't believe how perfect and flakey it turned out. I ended up serving it to non gluten free people at Thanksgiving and no one even knew! haha!

It was really special for Caleb to be able to share in the Thanksgiving dessert without feeling sick later that evening. THANK YOU CHERI!
A note about this flour: it is like hidden treasure. If you go Jules website, you'll find TWO places in all of Washington state that sell it. I have no idea why because I have not tasted a better gluten free flour. I cannot sing its praises enough! After Thanksgiving I also made pizza with it (there is a recipe on Jules website) and I have to say, that it was the BEST gluten free pizza we've ever had - even better than Romio's who I previously thought had the best GF pizza.

This whole post is to make two points:

1. THANK YOU CHERI for the flour! That was so sweet of you to think of us.

2. Check out how cool my pie looks! (Thanks Taren and B for the cookie cutters :)

Pancakes

Caleb has never been much a pancake fan. He has been more of a french toast or pastry person. Pancakes are just kinda... blah to him. It is very difficult (not to mention expensive) to make gluten free french toast and literally impossible to make any kind of good tasting gluten free pastry. So, alas, we've had to give pancakes another try! In the gluten free aisle of the grocery store I met a nice lady who recommended making pancakes from the Bob's Redmill mix. I bought it and tried them out - not bad! Caleb said he actually likes gluten free pancakes better than regular ones - WIN!

Everyday Gluten Free

Well, I think most of you know, but Caleb cannot (should not) be eating gluten at this point in life because the doctor says he is allergic to it. Not like he will die if he has it, but it will make him sick and eventually "blow up" his intestines.... (that would be seriously freaky!) But... one of our favorite things to eat is pasta (not to mention it is great on the budget end) but pasta is like a gluten allergies worst nightmare! So, upon research and word of mouth, I heard that the BEST gluten free pasta is actually made from quinoa which is a protein. I don't know that much about it but once I do, I'll post some more info. Anyways, all that to say that quinoa pasta is the best substitue for real pasta, but let me tell you it in NO way is friendly for the budget, coming in at a whole $3 for an 8oz box! (YIKES!) but it's easy, it tastes pretty darn good and since it's a protein less pasta still fills you up. Above is a picture of what I made, gluten free pasta with basil oil and goat cheese. It is a recipe from Real Simple, July 2011. The recipe is as follows:

12oz (I did 8oz) of pasta, cooked according to package directions, drain and return to pot

Meanwhile in a blender combine 2 cups fresh basil leaves with 1/2 cup olive oil, blend until smooth

Pour basil oil through a fine mesh strainer pressing on solids to release the oil, discard solids

Toss the basil oil with the pasta and stir in 4-5oz (almost a whole log) of crumbled goat cheese

Top with fresh basil leaves and serve

*I added sliced chicken to the top, because my husband is not the vegetarian type!

** This isn't that good cold, so make sure the family is at the table when you're putting the finishing touches on it!

Enjoy!