Boston Cream Pie

We had a wonderful time in Lancaster the other day. I wish we were able to go away more often like that. Just the two of us. It makes our relationship so much stronger when we are able to get away from life and just enjoy being together. We did do the tour of Herrs and it was very interesting. But unfortunately it only lasted a day so here is a little something to make our lives a little sweeter.







Boston Cream Pie

Cake & Filling:
1 1/4 cups cold milk
1 box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 Tablespoon Gluten Free Vanilla

1 Gluten Free Pound Cake (I use 'Cause You're Special)

Combine mike and instant pudding and vanilla in large bowl. Beat for 2 minutes or until pudding thickens. Refrigerate for 15 minutes

Line 2-quart loaf pan with 2 layers of plastic wrap, allowing 2 inches of plastic wrap to hang over sides. Cut pound cake horizontally to make 3 equal layers. Place 1 cake layer in bottom of prepared pan, spread half of pudding evenly over cake.

Top with second layer; spread with remaining pudding. Top with third cake layer. Fold plastic overhang on top of cake to cover. Refrigerate cake for 1 hour before serving.


Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup chocolate fudge topping
1/4 cup powered sugar- sifted

Stir chocolate fudge topping and powdered sugar in medium bowl until smooth. Fold back plastic from top of cake. Using plastic as aid, lift cake from pan; remove plastic. Cut cake crosswise into slices. Transfer cake slices to plates. Spoon glaze over cake and serve.

Lancaster

Tomorrow I am going to Lancaster, Pennsylvania with my husband to take down a part for one of his farm tractors to get fixed. This is over a 5 hour drive from our house and once down there we have about 5 hours to kill while they fix the part before we drive the 5 hours back. I keep laughing that this is not going to be a fun day. I am going to be crampy and bitchy and he will be tired and bitchy (he will have to work until 2 tonight). So this is will be a fun day.



But Lancaster is a beautiful place. The scenery is gorgeous. I was looking for something to do tomorrow that we would both enjoy that wouldn't cost a lot. I came across free factory tours for Herr's Snacks. They have a really nice site with their Gluten Free items listed. So now I am sort of excited to take the long drive down for the day just to be able to take this tour. I'll report back and let you know how the tour was.

Chicken Bruschetta

The weather is getting gorgeous out. Time to experiment with new grilling recipes. Not only do they taste wonderful but there are definitely less dishes to clean up.

Chicken Bruschetta

4 small skinless chicken breasts (I pounded mine out)

1/4 cup GF Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing

Marinade your chicken for the day.

Finely chop 1 medium tomato

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese (I just cubed some)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil leaves

2 Tablespoons of the Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing

Mix together and let flavors mix while you grill your chicken. Once chicken is grilled on one side flip and top evenly with tomato mixture. Close lid and grill for approximately 8 minutes more or until chicken is grilled through.

Mashed Potato Cakes

We took my sister down to Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh to see a genetics specialist. When my nephew was born he had Trisomy-13 which caused his heart to be enlarged on one side and we wanted to see if there was a possibility of this happening again. Fortunately we received good news and there is a 99% chance that this would never happen again. That was such a relief to hear.



I wanted to share another one of my favorite comfort foods. My mom would make this for us when we were growing up and it's still one of my favorites.

These are so simple. Take your left over mashed potatoes add and egg and mix. In a separate dish combine some gluten free flour (whatever you have on hand) and add salt and pepper to taste. Shape your potatoes into cakes and dredge in flour.

In a frying pan add butter and oil and heat until it almost smokes and then fry your potatoes until golden brown.

These are excellent with leftover garlic mashed potatoes.

Enjoy...

Shortcake

I adapted this recipe from a bisquick recipe. They turned out pretty good. I was craving biscuits (I think that is what I seem to crave the most) and came across this recipe on line. I don't like strawberries actually... I really don't like any fruit. Sometimes I feel this whole gluten free living would be easier if I liked fruit. But oh well what are you gonna do.


Shortcakes

2 1/3 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix
3/4 cup shortening

mix together then add

1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1. Heat oven to 425°F.
2. Stir ingredients mix, milk, sugar and butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

The old standby...

Five nights a week I am eating dinner by myself. Just me and my little ol' self. This is my old standby. Pasta! It's quick and easy. Cook up some pasta, saute some garlic in olive oil (or butter, Paula Dean is my kind of woman), cut up some cheese, parsley and Parmesan cheese. I basically just throw in what ever is at hand at the moment. It's filling and satisfying. It took me a while to find a pasta that was comparable to the real thing. But I do like this one. It has a more natural texture and taste to it. So this is it, this is my old standby. Now I'm off to get some work done..

Feeling wonderful...

I just realized after taking a walk downtown during work and walking back up the hill that I feel wonderful today. It is a beautiful day (74 degrees to far and it is only 11 a.m.). I didn't feel like I should lay down and take a nap. Last week was awful. I would go to work and never really get up any energy and have trouble concentrating all day. Then I would hurry home and get Gary off to work so that I could take a two hour nap and still be in bed not even 2 hours later for the night.

I think my new iron supplements are working. YEA! I am so happy. Now I can get back to cooking and creating. I have so much work to get down outside and inside. Gardens to be planted, weeds to be pulled. The trees are budding the flowers are blooming. I love this time of year.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Fingers w/Cheddar Mustard Sauce

Happy May Day to All of my Friends!!

I adapted this recipe from a Rachael Ray recipe. It was wonderful. The chicken was so moist.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Fingers with Cheddar Mustard Sauce

1 lb Chicken Fingers

2 eggs

About 1 1/2 cups crushed Gluten Free Pretzels

(You need about 1 1/2 cups after the pretzels are smashed)
Salt and Pepper to season

Dip each chicken finger in the beaten egg and cover with the crushed pretzels. Lay fingers on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and bake in the over on 375 for about 20 minutes.

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 Cups Milk
3/4 lb, about 2 1/2 cups sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
2 heaping tablespoons of spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup parsley

While the chicken is in the oven in a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the cornstarch. Cook for about 1 minutes whisk in the milk. Once the milk starts to bubble, stir in the cheese and mustard with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper and remove cheese sauce from the heat.

Place chicken on a plate, drizzle with mustard-cheddar sauce and top with parsley.

While the chicken is in the oven in a medium sauce pan melt.