Guacamole Eclipse Burger!

No recipe, just sharing a delicious gluten free day of grilling! I wish we could have seen the eclipse but the sun dipped down behind the "China Wall" behind our house and we missed it! I even made a pinhole viewer and everything. Shucks! What to do? Grill a Coleman's burger eclipsed partially by some home made guacamole!

Photo copyrighted by Artiste Photography

Chocolate Almond Biscotti - Gluten & Dairy Free

My daughter is giving a presentation on Italy today in school. She and all the other third graders were to research a country and bring a "suitcase" containing items representing that particular country. Maya went above and beyond and she even wants to do a country report this summer, on her own, about Greece. I'm looking forward to that!

She picked out biscotti and we gathered the ingredients to make a gluten and dairy free biscotti for her class.

Maya also wants me to point out that biscotti means twice cooked in Italian.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
8 medium eggs
3 Tbs sunflower or canola oil
1 1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 package chocolate chips (we used the Enjoy Life brand)


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place your eggs on the counter.

2. Toast the slivered alonds in a toaster or conventional oven until a light golden color.

3. Combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix. Or you can use a Kitchenaid and mix everything in your bowl.

4. Add the vanilla, almond extract, oil and the eggs and mix well until the batter is smooth.

5. Add the toasted slivered almonds and mix.

6. Pour the dough into your greased pans. I used two 7"x11" cake pans.*

7. Smooth the batter until it is evenly distributed in the pans.

8. Hit the bottom of the pan on the counter to release air bubbles.

9. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the pans from the oven.

10. Turn the temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

11. Let the pan cool for 15 minutes.

12. Once cool, flip pan onto a cutting board or even onto your cookie sheet (if you can avoid cutting the sheet during the next step).

13. Slice into 24 even pieces.

14. Turn the biscotti, cut side up onto the cookie sheet and bake at 300 for another 20 minutes.

15. Remove and cool completely.

16. Melt chocolate chips in a small pan. Drizzle chocolate on, or dip biscotti in, the melted chocolate and lay on waxed paper. If you want to cover the biscotti more completely you may need one more bag of chocolate chips.

Enjoy with your favorite cup of tea or coffee!


Makes 24 biscotti

* My biscotti came out very "thin", so perhaps decrease your pan size to create thicker pieces of biscotti.

Photo copyrighted by Artiste Photography

Don't Forget Mom This Mother's Day!

Photo by Artiste Photography

Secret Ingredient Lemonade

It's that time of year! Ah, sweet, sweet lemonade! If you'd like to try a twist on the traditional lemonade recipe, try mine. It's been a secret for oh so long, but now I reveal my special ingredient: vanilla!

Recipe:
Pitcher of filtered water
1/2 - 1 cup of fresh organic lemon juice (to taste depending on how "lemony" you like your lemonade)
1 cup of sugar (or more if you like sweeter lemonade)
1 Tbs vanilla extract


I like to add fresh strawberries to my lemonade for both taste and visual appeal. Mixing the lemonade with iced tea makes a refreshing drink for the grownups. Enjoy!

Photo copyrighted by Artiste Photography

Mother's Day Flowers

My daughter got me these beautiful hyacinth flowers from Whole Foods for Mother's Day (we live far from town so we have to buy everything in advance). They smell wonderful and are much more colorful than my photo (I added a vintage look to the photograph).

Photo copyrighted by Artiste Photography

Gluten Free Lemon & Caper Chicken

My daughter enjoys this recipe so much that when I cooked it last night she said I was "the best cook ever!" as she asked for seconds. I'm sure all kids think their moms are the best cooks, but I have to say this recipe is worth a try!

INGREDIENTS:
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts)
2 large eggs
6 Tbs plus 2 tsp millet flour (or other gluten-free flour)
1 tsp salt (may be reduced if on a low-sodium diet)
4 Tbs plus 1 Tbs butter or butter alternative (I used Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread)
3 lemons
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 - 8 Tbs capers

DIRECTIONS:
1. Between two sheets of wax paper flatten the chicken with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
2. In a bowl mix 6 Tbs of the millet flour with the salt.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg.
4. Dip the chicken in the egg and then coat with the millet flour mixture.
5. In a large skillet melt 4 Tbs of the butter. Cook the chicken for 5 - 6 minutes and then turn. Cook the chicken until done (no pink inside and about 10 to 12 more minutes). Remove chicken and keep warm. Keep the drippings in the skillet for the sauce.
6. Cut thin lemon slices from one of the lemons. From the other two lemons squeeze the juice into a bowl. Dice the garlic and add the garlic and lemon slices to the skillet and cook until garlic is golden.
7. In a measuring cup or small bowl combine the wine, lemon juice and the remaining 2 tsp millet flour. Add this mixture to the skillet and heat the sauce until boiling. Cook for one more minute and then reduce the heat to low.
8. Stir in capers (more or less to taste) and add the remaining 1 Tbs butter or butter alternative.
9. Place the chicken on the plate (or platter) and arrange the lemon slices on top and drizzle the sauce over the chicken. This recipe is great, but don't forget to serve it with veggies! Asparagus goes really well with this recipe.

I absolutely LOVE capers! I can't get enough! This recipe has a pretty large amount of capers so if you are on a low-sodium diet you may want to reduce the amount of capers.

Gluten Free by Golden Prairie (click here)
Photos copyrighted by Artiste Photography