Neener's Almond Muffins (Gluten Free!)

Ok, so I am not entirely sure I have perfected this recipe but today I got pretty close so I decided to share it anyway. What's not perfect? They are a little less fluffy, a little more dense then I'd like them to be. This is an issue I run into repeatedly with gluten free baking. I suppose I should break down and buy an all-purpose gluten free flour but I have yet to find one that is either a) corn free as well, many of them use cornstarch, this means no xanthan gum as well, which is derived from corn or b) truly all-purpose. In my experimenting I've learned that what works well for breads doesn't always work well for cookies, and that mixing flours is always your best bet.  It's the ratio of what flours to use I am still working on. These muffins are gluten free, corn free, dairy free & can be egg free AND they are STILL yummy lol. I added any modifications after asterisks for those who may not need to use the "allergy option".

• 1/2c Almond meal
• 1/2c Sorghum Flour
• 1/2c Oat Flour
• 1/2c Rice Flour ******Note if you can have wheat just use 1 & 1/4c all purpose flour & 1/2c Almond meal
• 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda*****These two (CoT & BS) are in place of baking powder, which contains corn (I know, it's everywhere), if you don't need a corn free option 2 tsps baking powder will work!
• 1/3-1/2c sugar*****I don't eat much sugar at all these days so I like them to be a little sweeter (still not too sweet with 1/2c) and don't feel too guilty about it. You can also use Stevia but I haven't tried so you're on your own there :)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp Guar Gum****Xantham Gum if you want, or if you use regular all-purpose flour omit this all together, it already has a binder. 
• 1 egg****If you need to go egg free, try 1 TBSP flax meal in 3 TBSP hot water, let sit for 10 mins add in just like you would an egg!
• 1/4 c Cooking oil 
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4c Almond milk******Again if you don't have to go dairy free, regular milk works. I like using almond milk anyway, even though I can have dairy, because it accents the flavor of the muffins. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put all dry ingredients together in a bowl; flours, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, guar gum, salt, set aside, mix well and set aside. In separate bowl add milk, oil and beaten egg, mix together. Make a small well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour liquids into it. Using a mixing spoon, stir all ingredients together until well blended. The flour will look pretty moist. Using a pre-greased muffin pan pour batter into muffin spots (what is the technical name for those?) until they are 3/4 full. Bake for 12-18 mins, depending on your oven. Remove when done, allow to cool for a few minutes before removing them & enjoy!!

These are not super sweet, dessert type muffins, they are definitely more of a breakfast muffin. I really like making them because they have some protein to them thanks to the almonds, they are great snacks!! Please let me know if you try them out, I am open to ideas! In fact, I think next I am going to try using Tapioca flour (or starch as it's sometimes called) in place of the rice flour and omit the binder. I often forger the binding agent so my muffins can be crumbly, I was thinking maybe the tapioca flour might bind it together ok so those times (cough everytime lol) I forget to use the guar gum they won't fall apart. I'll let you know! 

Neener's Fresh & Chunky Homemade Salsa

It's no secret that my food allergies have opened up a whole new world of eating, a smaller world in some ways but a more creative one for sure. I have found myself tweaking old recipes, tweaking new ones and occasionally following the directions :). I am pleased to report that most of the time, they turn out pretty good, if I do say so myself (uh, I think I just did lol). I am learning a lot, by trial and error mostly, about what flours work better for cakes vs cookies, puffed pancakes vs muffins, etc. I've thought about starting a food blog but I'm not sure I pay enough attention to accurately share many of my recipes. Maybe I'll start keeping better track, it will certainly make repeating them easier lol, and I would love to give you guys the opportunity to try some of them!

At any rate, until I start one (or don't haha) here is a recipe for some fresh salsa I "invented" using a combination of a few recipes I've found. I've always LOVED salsa but the vinegar they use in commercial brands is currently a "no no" for me so I had to come up with something else, or else die of salsa-deprivation...what? That can't happen? Not sure I believe you ;-). SO, I tried to pay attention the last time I made it to exactly how I make it so I could share it with some friends who asked for the recipe and decided to share it with everyone while I was at it!

Needed:

• 6 large hot house tomatoes (it doesn't have to be hot house, Romas work well but you'd need about 8-10 of them)
• 1/2 large yellow onion
• 1 TBSP lemon juice (or lime if you prefer)
• 3 medium jalapenos
• 1/8c finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp cumin

Directions:

1. Finely chop the onion, place in a non-stick pan and heat until they are soft. Don't brown them, this just takes the bite off the onion. I have made the salsa with raw red onion before, which was good but I thought the onion slightly over powered the salsa. If you want, try the red onion but I would use less. When onions are soft, let them cool a little and put in bowl or whatever you intend to store/serve the salsa in. I use a 1.2 quart serve-n-save one but obviously you can use whatever you want lol. The recipe makes about 4c of salsa.
2. Cut tomatoes into quarters, remove the seeds and finely chop soft.
3. Finely chop the cilantro, I actually use a little chopper thing (technical term unknown:) and puree it, cilantro is really hard to chop up fine, especially with dull knives lol. Once chopped to preferred size, add to bowl.
4. Cut the ends off the jalapenos, slice open and remove seeds. Dice into teeny tiny pieces, or larger if you prefer haha. This is the part where I caution you to either use non-coated gloves or make sure your fingernails are short and you have one of those fingernail scrubber things (again technical term unknown). I cannot even say how many times I have burned my mouth, fingers (once my whole hand burned because I just managed to spread the juices vs clean them off) and even my EYES because I didn't scrub hard enough after using jalapenos. Trust me, it's no bueno. When you've chopped them up, add them to the bowl.
5. Add lemon juice and cumin
6. Stir all ingredients together, add salt to taste. Let the salsa chill in refrigerator for an hour or so before serving so all ingredients can mesh together.
7. ENJOY!!

Now I have to say that I really really love this salsa and it's been a hit every time I've served it. Like all things I make, I think it's good to tweak things in order to better suit your tastes. If you like lots of onion, try the red onion or add more. If you like big chunks, chop bigger and visa versa. If you want it hotter, use more jalepinos or hotter peppers, my husband wants me to try habanaros, I told him sure, when I find good gloves to use. There is a lot of room for tweaking in this recipe, I really love cilantro and cumin so sometimes I add more etc.. you get the idea. I am all for stepping outside the box when it comes to cooking and trying new things so if you don't like the recipe like it is, mess with it and see if you can make it yours :).

Easy & Delicious Potato Soup

Now I'm really going everywhere with this blog lol. I really like the freedom I have found by pulling away from so many deep blogs and throwing in some light-hearted stuff as well. That's what my life is; easy and hard, deep thoughts and shallow ones, laughter and tears...well you get the picture. Anyway, enough digression. I thought I would share with you a super yummy and super easy recipe invented (I'm pretty sure, don't quote me on it) by the original Petty Crocker, my father-in-law. He made it while he was here for Christmas and David and I were both hooked. I warn you I am big on "seasoning to taste" so the measurements I will give you are definitely flexible. I am also big on modifying recipes, so I will have a few suggestions for alternatives or add-ins as well. I'm all about being creative in the kitchen these days, but for those of you who prefer to follow a recipe exact, here is the general combination of ingredients.

• 6 cups water-----I think it would be even better/more flavorful if you used a vegetable broth or chicken broth here but I haven't tried that yet but I will!
• 6 medium potatoes-----whichever kind you prefer, I think yukon gold would be really good but, again, I haven't tried them with it yet...I'll let you know
• 1 c chopped onion----sweet onion, white or yellow. Here is where I mention the season taste, I like onions so I used a little more, if you don't like them, use a little less
• 5 stalks celery--- or you can use broccoli, I've had it both ways and it's good, just chop the broccoli up fine. Again, I love vegetables so I usually add a little extra
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese
• ***Ground hamburger or sausage***--- this is optional, though I recommend it. I actually use lean ground turkey flavored with an italian seasoning (a combination of thyme, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, basil & sage) which makes it taste a lot like ground sausage. I like it because it's a lower fat way to get that sausage taste and let's face it, sausage and potatoes is gg000ooodd.... :). If you want to go the turkey route add the seasoning(s) a little at a time, a long with salt, until you get the flavor you want.

Chop potatoes, onion and celery into smaller chunks and put them on stove in 6c water (or vegetable broth) to cook. If you choose to add meat, brown the meat while the vegetables are cooking, salting to taste. When potatoes are done and starting to fall apart, add the meat (once it's cooked!) to the soup. Take the cream cheese and cut it into small chunks and add to soup. Stir all together until cream cheese is all melted. Salt to taste and serve! The recipe yields about 12 cups.

***If soup is too thin you can add a more little cream cheese. Or, if you want a lower fat way to thicken it, spoon some of the soup into a food processor, puree it and add back to soup. Repeat this until soup is thickened to your liking!

See, I told you it was easy and it's SO good! Plus the wonderful thing about soup is leftovers. I love having something quick and easy but not full of junk. If any of you try it and make modifications please share! Or if you just try it and like it!

For those of you who are dieting, it's about 180 calories per cup of soup. Not too shabby for a creamy soup! You could cut calories (but likely a bit of taste too) by using a lower fat cream cheese if you so desire. Also, that approximation (using the recipe builder on livestrong.com) is with water not vegetable broth which would add some calories, though not a ton.