Arbonne 30-Day Detox – Day Three

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Review by PhoenixRize

Still alive!

Most of us anyway….. more or less.

Brian’s having a bit more trouble with the whole ‘detox’ thing today. I think partly he’s just being a bit pig-headed and letting himself get hungry. I also think he’s having a bigger letdown from the sugar than I am. I’ve been trying to limit my sugar for a while now, so I don’t think I’m having such an issue with detoxing from sugar.

We tried to mix it up a bit at breakfast this morning with unpleasant results. Brian is of course blaming Pinterest. I saw a recipe for Pancakes using the Arbonne Vanilla Protein powder and thought they looked… interesting. The only thing in the recipe that was different from the shakes was the addition of one egg. One egg doesn’t add many calories and then you’ve got all the good things in eggs, so it seemed like a reasonable substitution. Too bad it didn’t taste so good.

Yep, that’s a side of bacon. You just hush!

Arbonne Blueberry Vanilla Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 scoops Arbonne Essentials Vanilla Protein
1 scoop Arbonne Fiber Boost
1 large Egg
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Swerve Sweetener (I’D SKIP THIS)
1/2 cup Blueberries
2 TBS Almond Milk

Directions:

Combine protein powder, fiber boost, egg, and stevia, stir to combine. Add almond milk and whisk until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries.
Grease griddle with coconut oil or spray with cooking spray. Heat griddle to medium.
Pour batter onto heated griddle and let cook for 2 minutes or so until bubbles start to form. Flip over and let cook for another 2 minutes.

I think it was the sweetener that made them taste so… funky? The texture was perfect and they cooked just like regular pancakes, but there was this bitter aftertaste. I think I’m super sensitive to stevia and erythritol. I’ve added it to other baking in the past and Mom and Brian say they can’t taste it, but I think it’s overwhelming. So maybe it’s just me. I’d like to try the pancakes again, but leave out the sweetener next time. I’ve also seen a recipe for muffins using a similar recipe that I’d like to try with the chocolate protein mix.

The tea is dull, but my Arbonne rep said no to honey, so it’s just going to have to stay dull for the time being. I may try to find some mint leaves to add to it… I’d just like a bit more flavor. I think it would be good iced though.

I like the Citrus Fizz Sticks with the Digestion Plus. It turns an ugly color, but it tastes pretty good over ice. I’ve been using the Fizz drink for an afternoon snack. Today I had some cashews and a bit of sausage too. Since Brian and I split a serving of the pancakes we were both hungry earlier today.

Dinner was awesome, if I do say so myself. I found a recipe on (where else?) Pinterest that was similar to a recipe I already make… so I tweaked it just little to come up with something in the middle.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

2.5 lbs Chicken, shredded*
32 oz Chicken Broth
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 8 oz Cans Diced Green Chilies
1 Onion, diced
1 Tbl Garlic, minced
2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 Tbl Salt
2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup Coconut Milk
1/3 Cup Cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Place the chicken, beans, chilies, onion, garlic, cumin, pepper, salt, chicken broth, and coconut milk in a crock pot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or until chicken is very tender.
Add the cilantro to the soup just before serving.

*You can use frozen chicken breasts and just shred them in the pot with a pair of forks once they’re cooked though.

———-

I wasn’t real sure about the whole coconut milk thing. My original recipe didn’t call for coconut milk, but I have seen other similar recipes use coconut milk…. so… maybe? I didn’t want to ruin a whole batch if it was gross, so I made the chili without the coconut milk and then added a little to one bowl. It was actually really good. Even Mom and Brian liked it. The coconut milk has a light flavor… almost more of a smell than a taste… like Thai food. It works really well with the green chilies, surprisingly. The coconut milk also adds a slight creaminess to the chili. Don’t worry that this is going to make the chili sweet… it doesn’t, but it does add another interesting note of flavor.

So three days down… I’m doing okay with this whole detox thing. I like the Vanilla Protein Shake Mix and the Fizz Sticks. The tea isn’t exciting, but it certainly isn’t bad. The Fiber Boost and the Digestion Plus can be added to either the shake or the Fizz drink and they are hardly noticeable. There are enough components to the detox that I feel like I’m doing something, but not so much that it’s overwhelming or confusing like some of the other programs that I’ve tried.

I’ve tried Weight Watchers and it felt like such a chore… I did it before the app came along, so everything had to be looked up and logged by hand. I found it time consuming and frustrating. I liked that it gave me a better understanding of the amount of calories that I’d been consuming, but it still seemed tedious to calculate every Point. It was also easy to get into the habit of ‘banking’ Points (ie starving) and then blowing all your point on ice cream later. Not the healthiest meal plan… but technically, I was keeping within my Points.

I’ve also tried Slim Fast…. “Drink these shakes, don’t eat food!” Easy to follow, but boring as hell. Not a life change… just something to survive until you drop a few pounds, but then gain them back instantly when you eat food again. (Great business model though.)

I did pretty well on Atkins… it was basically a Gluten Free diet and the High Fat/Low Carb lifestyle mixed. I wish I’d understood the effect that wheat had on me back then and I’d probably have saved myself years of health issues.

I’m enjoying this detox because it’s giving me some structure and a routine to help get me back on track. I know I need to lay off the sugar and the carbs… I don’t think my alcohol consumption is so frequent that it’s an issue, but sure… while we’re at it, lets knock that out too. The dairy… I miss cheese… cheese makes the world better… but maybe that’s just the allergy cravings talking. Once the 30 days is up I can see keeping up with the shakes for breakfast and occasional lunches. Hopefully, too, I’ve gotten back in the swing of making healthier meals again. Living in that RV and traveling really let me go off the rails.

So…. so far so good. Follow on Facebook and Instagram to see weird and interesting updates throughout the day!

27May2017

Deliciousness from Disney’s Boma Restaurant

Posted in Disney Stuff, Gluten Free in Florida, Gluten Free Living, Recipes, Review by PhoenixRize

I have a kitchen! More or less…. I’m just missing some crown molding and countertops. I have the old countertops sitting on the new cabinets so I’m not completely topless. 🙂

Living in the RV worked great for our situation, but I’m really happy to have room to move around again…. and a real kitchen. I missed my kitchen. I’m so excited to be able to really cook again! We’ll keep using the RV for work and travel, but I don’t see full time RV/Tiny House Living in my future.

We’ve been super busy getting things organized and settled for the past few weeks. To celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary Brian and I decided to skip town for a couple of days and celebrate at Disney.

I love pretty much everything about Walt Disney World, but as a foodie who can’t eat gluten, Disney is food heaven. Brian makes reservations at as many of the Signature Dining restaurants as he can and we eat, walk, ride a few rides, walk, eat some more…. waddle to the next ride… wait in line… ride…. eat again. It know it sounds unhealthy…. I’m not recommending this as a diet plan or anything, but its fun for a few days. (I actually lost a pound instead of gaining the ten I expected!)

One of my absolute favorite places to eat in Disney is at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Boma – Flavors of Africa – “Resembling a lively African marketplace, this restaurant features all-you-care-to-enjoy buffets at breakfast and dinner.”

Now, I know we GF people hear “buffet” and think “certain death,” but Disney is really pretty good. I’m not going to die if I get into gluten, I’ll just wish I would, but I know there are some people that end up in the ER after being glutened. I wouldn’t risk a buffet if I was them, but I personally feel pretty safe at the Disney buffets. The gluten foods usually seem to be fairly separated from the GF items and the staff behind the buffets keep an eye out for spills and potential cross-contamination with spoons.

Even though Brian and I have eaten at Boma several time, I still ask to have the chef walk us through the buffet. Each time there has been something that caught me by surprise as being GF or NOT being GF. It’s always better to ask… and the chefs are so nice!

My favorite dish at Boma is the Bobotie. According to Wikipedia, Bobotie, pronounced ba-boor-tea, is a well-known South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. This time I remembered to snap a picture of the tag with the dish so I could remember what to google when I got home. I found this recipe on Mad About the Mouse. It seemed pretty close, so I decided to give it a try as soon as I got home.

Okay, hear me out… I know you’re going to take one look at the ingredients and think I’ve lost my marbles… but you’ve just gotta trust me on this one. It’s delicious. I know, I know… Sugar? Raisins and ground turkey?? Together?! I swear…. it’s delicious. The curry, cinnamon and coriander combine with the eggs and meat for a delicate sweetness that you can “smell” in the back of your throat. Much like Thai food, its not so much of a “nose” smell, as a “throat” smell. That sounds weird, but there’s no better way to explain. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.

The following recipe, as I’ve said, is from Mad About the Mouse. I decided to actually follow the recipe once before I started messing with it. The Bobotie that I had at Boma last week had red and green peppers in it…. I’m sure because Brian picked them out and left a pile on my plate. The sign said there were mushrooms and I don’t remember any raisins or almond slivers. Most of the recipes that I’ve seen call for crumbled up slices of bread, but it is definately GF at Boma, so they’re either using GF bread or not using bread at all. The bread is crumbled up, so I can’t say for sure one way or another, but I’d think that the eggs and meat might need the bread to help bind everything together. I used Canyon Bakehouse GF bread. Next time I’ll try leaving the bread out and see how it goes. I’ll also omit the raisins and almonds (Brian doesn’t like them either) and add one cup of diced red and green peppers instead. I think the peppers added a lighter sweetness that I liked better than the raisins. (The raisins were good, but my tastebuds really wanted the peppers since that’s how it tasted before… you know how it is.)

Bobotie

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup minced carrots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 pounds ground beef or lamb (I used ground turkey)
3 slices white bread, crumbled into pieces (I used Canyon Bakehouse GF bread)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds
1/4 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325º.

Heat oil and cook onions, carrots and garlic in a large pan over medium-high heat, cooking until caramelized, around 5 minutes. Once caramelized, reduce heat to medium and add cinnamon, ground coriander and curry powder. Stirring well to coat the onions.

Using the rice wine vinegar, and simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add ground lamb or beef, cook breaking the meat into smaller pieces. Continue cooking until meat is done, spooning out the excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon. (Since I used the ground turkey there wasn’t enough grease to bother.)

Pour the meat mixture into a 13″ x 9″ casserole dish and let cool slightly.

Add crumbled bread and 1 cup of cream, stirring to mix well. In a small bowl, combine sugar, raisins and almonds. Add mixture to the meat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, remaining 1/2 cup of cream, and milk. Pour the custard mixture over the meat mixture to form the topping. DO NOT MIX.

Bake 40-45 minutes until golden brown.

Let me know if you try it and what you think!

23Nov2016

Cranberry Relish

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

Grandma’s Cranberry Relish

1 – Navel Orange (Thick skin, no seeds)
1 package 12oz – frozen cranberries
1 c. – Sugar
¼ – Lemon (Whole thing, skin and all)

Cut orange and lemon into cubes (skin and all). Chop frozen cranberries in food processor, add oranges and lemon to mix, chop until small (rice sized) chunks. Stir sugar into the cranberry mixture.

Refridgerate overnight. (No, seriously…. it’s not about getting it cold, don’t just stick it in the freezer! It needs time to let the sugar disolve and the the juices to… juice. Trust me.)

Serve chilled

20Oct2016

Flaky Gluten Free Crust

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

Forgive the poor picture… We ate them all before I could take a good photo!

I don’t do well in confined places… I really do need supervision. When I’m trapped inside (without satellite tv) I usually end up baking. Why couldn’t I compulsively exercise or something healthy? Nope, not me… I gotta bake.

Mom and I bought a gigantic jar of cherry pie filling from a farmers market while we were in Door County, WI and it was just calling to me… ‘bake me!’

I saw this recipe for Cherry Hand Pies from Wicked Good Kitchen and it’s been roaming around in the back of my head for a while…. ‘bake me.’

Right now I’m living in an RV and traveling all over the universe… okay, just the Northeast, but anyway…

Another terrible pic, but look at that flaky deliciousness!

I didn’t have all the ingredients called for in the crust recipe from Wicked Good Kitchen. I’m bad about not following directions… they’re just suggestions anyway, right? I figured I could substitute Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour for WGK’s flour recipe. Annnddd? It worked!

I’ve made a number of recipes from Wicked Good Kitchen’s blog and they’ve all turned out delicious, so I’d bet this crust would have been super delicious if I’d actually followed the recipe…. but since I’m lazy and living with an under-stocked kitchen at the moment… I’m really pleased with how this crust turned out. I’m already imagining using it for other pies. It turned out flaky and tender….buttery…. so good. No one would ever guess this was gluten-free.

Flaky Gluten Free Crust

Ingredients

2¼ cup Cup4Cup Flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chilled unsalted butter
1 8-ounce package chilled cream cheese
1 tablespoon granulated cane sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt

Preparation

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder; set aside.

Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, lightly cream together butter and cream cheese. Beat in sugar, vanilla and salt; mix until well combined. Add flour in two batches beating just until incorporated.

Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. Thaw a few minutes to allow dough to become pliable before rolling and using in recipes. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface with a lightly floured rolling-pin.

Makes enough pastry for two 10-inch pies or one 10-inch pie with double crust.

Bake according to pie recipe instructions.

26Feb2016

Grain Free Waffles

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

I’ve been craving waffles lately, but I want to stay grain free. After some searching around on Pinterest I found a few promising recipes…. I tweaked them a bit and came up with this recipe. They taste wonderful and they should be perfect for the Wheat Belly lifestyle.

I have also tried this recipe with applesauce in place of the banana, since Brian doesn’t like banana…. it tasted pretty much the same to me, but Brian said he could tell the difference…. less banana-y.

Grain Free Banana Waffles

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs
½ cup almond meal
½ cup cashews nuts
¼ cup coconut flour
⅓ cup milk
1 banana (or 1/4 c. applesauce)
3 tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
1 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the waffle iron.
In a food processor chop the cashews nuts.
Add all the others ingredients and blend until soft.
Grease the waffle iron.
Scoop the dough in to the middle of the iron, be careful not to overfill.
Bake for 3 minutes or until golden.

20Feb2016

Detox Day 3: Shaken

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

Day Three of the 10-Day Grain Detox Challenge:

I finally found one of the breakfast shakes in the Wheat Belly 10 Grain Detox book that I sorta, kinda like. I wouldn’t call it yummy… but it’s not bad.

Brian couldn’t make it through the Mocha Coconut Shake on day one. In retrospect, it might not have been so god-awful if we hadn’t used the raw potato and pumpkin seeds. (Sounds awesome, huh?) You have the choice of raw potato or green banana to introduce prebiotics into your poor, grain abused tummy. (Not the same thing as probiotics… we’re taking those in pills.) Since Brian isn’t a fan of bananas we made his shake with the potato… and it tasted like dirt… There’s just nothing nice to say about it. It was a Dirt Shake.

I had the Tropical Storm shake on the first day. I
used the green banana and the overall taste was much improved by the pineapple chunks. On Day 2 & 3 we switched the pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds and that really helped eliminate the grainy texture.

Day Two Brian got up early and grabbed breakfast before I could make him another tasty shake. It was just eggs, so it was totally on the detox plan, but I was sad not to have a Shake Buddy.

Today is our 8 Year First-Date Anniversary, so I made us shakes in fancy glasses with pretty straws…. and forgot that despite the fact that I was on my third day of shakes (and I use Coconut Oil all the time) that this was only Brian’s first shake….. and that maybe 1/4 cup of coconut oil might cause him a bit of stomach discomfort…. Happy Anniversary!
I’m pretty sure he hates me now.
At any rate…. Day Three… we’ve made it this far… more or less (don’t ask Brian’s opinion on the whole thing right now).

We’ve gotten a strange Mid-February heat wave, so we’re making the most of it by grilling some steaks tonight. Woo Hoo, Carnivores!

16Feb2016

Gluten Free Cinnamon Biscuits

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

Ever since Brian made the “Happy Accident” Buttermilk Biscuits I’ve been plotting a version with cinnamon.

We debated different ways of incorporating the cinnamon… mixing it in with the dry ingredients or making half the batch of dough with cinnamon and the other half without and then twisting them together…. (This was my idea… Brian looked at me like I was stupid….) Finally we agreed to try rolling the dough up with a cinnamon & sugar filling.

The first batch we made with regular white sugar and cinnamon, but next time I would use brown sugar, cinnamon and butter… just for a bit more…. well… butter and sugar… duh.

Raisins and pecans would be a good add-in too…. if Brian didn’t hate raisins and pecans…

Cinnamon Biscuits

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Cup4Cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter, cold, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

*Optional – Add pecans or raisins to the center before rolling

Frosting

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Using a whisk or food processor, combine all dry ingredients together and mix until well blended.

Be sure butter is very cold. Using a food processor, add in the cold butter and pulse until it is incorporated into the dough and it resembles pea-sized shapes. If you do not have a food processor, use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut in the butter.

Place this mixture into a bowl. Using a fork slowly mix in the buttermilk until the dough is formed into a lumpy ball. The dough will be loose. Do not over mix.

Take the loose dough and wrap it in clear plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using additional flour as needed, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick rectangle.

Combine cinnamon, sugar and melted butter in a small bowl. Smear dough completely with the cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture.

Starting at the narrow end of the rectangle, gently roll the dough into a log. Slice the roll into 1 1/2 in sections and space evenly on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine the powdered sugar and milk to make a thick frosting. You can frost the rolls while they are still hot from the oven and the frosting will melt into the rolls, or you can wait until they have cooled a bit and the frosting will harden on top… or, you can do both!

Enjoy!

22Dec2015

Caramel Turtle Cookies

Posted in Recipes by PhoenixRize

My aunt sent me a photo today and asked me if I knew what it was.

“Cat barf?” I guessed.

“No, it’s a cookie,” she texted back. “Grandma used to make them.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Grandma never made Cat Barf Cookies.”

“It’s not cat barf!”

I think she’s just screwing with me because she’s still mad at me for scaring the hell out of her last night.

Which was NOT my fault.

My cousin, her daughter, texted me last night to ask if I was still awake… Duh…. I’m always awake when my phone is going off.

Her mom hadn’t replied to her texts for over an hour…. Yeah, well maybe she was SLEEPING! and she wanted me to go check on her.

Maybe that sounds a bit excessive, but not in my family. This is the aunt that texted me one summer evening to say that she was pretty sure that she’d broken her leg and if I wasn’t too busy could I please come get her.

We found her sitting in the front yard, cussing like a sailor, with her leg broken in three places. I mean… she’d broken the bone in three places… it wasn’t like there were three pieces of her leg laying around the yard. That would have been weird.

So when my cousin called I figured I’d better go check on her. She had been at my house earlier…. and I might have shared a few bourbon balls and maybe a glass or two of wine…. so….

I got to her house and I banged on the door…. no answer. I went inside, calling her name, and followed the sounds of the audiobook playing in the bathroom.

Shit! She’d said she was going home to take a bath… and I’d given my still slightly-limping aunt bourbon balls and wine… I killed her!!!! She’d drowned in the bathtub and it was all my fault!

I’m good with guilt…. and overreacting.

Well, fortunately/unfortunately she wasn’t dead. So when I yanked the shower curtain aside she was just a wee bit shocked.

And alive. Yay!

I feel like she didn’t appreciate the fact that I’d rescued her from drowning.

Hence the cat barf cookies.

The following recipe is NOT Cat Barf cookies. These are one of my favorite cookies that Grandma did actually make and thanks to Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour I can have them again!

Caramel Turtle Cookies

Ingredients:

CRUST:

2 c. Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour
½ c. Butter
1 c. Brown Sugar (firmly packed)

CARAMEL LAYER:

1 lb. Caramels
4 Tbls Butter
½ c. Milk

1 c. Pecan Halves

12 oz. Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine crust ingredients. Mix at medium speed until particles are fine. Pat crust firmly into an un-greased 13 x 9 x 2 pan.

Sprinkle pecans evenly over crust. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan or double broiler, combine caramels, butter and milk. Melt. Pour caramel over pecans. Don’t forget the edges!

Bake at 350° for 18 – 22 minutes or until caramel is bubbly and crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven, sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Allow chips to melt and spread with a butter knife.

Allow cookies to cool and chocolate to harden. Cut and serve.

21Dec2015

Cinnamon Squares

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

I have been craving donuts lately.

It’s not entirely my fault… it’s the books that I’ve been reading. I’m so easily tempted by a good pastry description.

Tricky Twenty-Two, the latest in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich recently came out and I’ve been devouring it. The problem is that every time Stephanie is feeling defeated… and let’s face it, we Stephanies aren’t really Bounty Hunter material, so she’s feeling defeated pretty often…. she and Lula (the ex-Ho turned file-clerk/sidekick-bounty-hunter) get donuts. Sometimes they get fried chicken, but I’m not really tempted by the fried chicken. It’s the damn donuts that call to me.

I’ve been trying to eat healthier. This past year has been rough on my diet. I’m still Gluten-Free…. falling off the wheat-free wagon leads to headaches and stomach issues, so staying GF isn’t the problem….. the problem is chocolate, ice cream and soda are all gluten free too. I’ve also found a number of GF replacements that are delicious and laden with carbs and evil.

So, NO, I don’t need donuts… no… no, no, no, no….. but I want em so bad.

Okay…. so what will get me my donut ‘fix,’ but not be loaded with fake flours and starches and evil?

I discovered the Up Late Anyway blog a while back and was transfixed by the magical recipes she posted. They were insane… impossible… ingenious?

Up Late Anyway posts High Fat / Low Carb recipes…. so they’re gluten free and loaded with flavor… because fat isn’t evil… it’s delicious and good for us. (Read The Fat Revolution for more info about the benefits of a High Fat/Low Carb diet.)

My favorite recipe is the Low Carb Cheese Danish. It is pure magic. The main ingredient is ….. MOZZARELLA CHEESE! Yes! In a sweet danish. I know, it’s crazy, but true.

The first time I made it I was about halfway through the recipe and my hands were coated with egg and coconut flour and I was getting really pissed… I was sure I’d just ruined a bunch of expensive ingredients for no good reason…. and then BAM! It all came together in my hands. One minute…. slimy grit… the next a beautiful dough. It was magic.

When I give you a recipe on my blog it’s mine. I may have been inspired by another blog or inherited the recipe from someone, but I’ve altered it or contributed enough additional directions that I feel like I’m giving you something new.

So I’m not going to give you the Cheese Danish recipe here… There’s no point in me copying and pasting her work. You should go look at her page and check out all the other amazing recipes she has.

Part of the purpose of my blog is to introduce you to things…. recipes… books… places…..ideas. My contribution is the introduction… and letting you know that I tried it and weather or not it worked for me.

See? I’m useful too!

Here’s the link: Up Late Anyway’s Cheese Danish

Read the recipe and actually follow the directions. Seriously. I’ve tried it a few times and screwed it up once or twice because I wasn’t following directions. Don’t be lazy. This recipes is worth the effort to use the right ingredients. The ‘dough’ is super versatile and could be used for so many things.

I did two things different from the original recipe. I didn’t make the cheese filling (It is delicious, so you should really try it, I was just after cinnamon this time.) and I used real sugar. (I have made it both ways; using real sugar and using Truvia… I can’t stand the taste of the Truvia… my mom and husband don’t even notice it…. so that’s totally up to you.)

7Dec2015

Happy Accidents – Buttermilk Biscuits

Posted in Gluten Free Living, Recipes by PhoenixRize

I’ve been making biscuits using the Cup4Cup Buttermilk Biscuits recipe for a few months. We’ve been really happy with how they turn out and they’re delicious with sausage gravy. Usually I make a half batch and we eat a few and freeze the rest. They thaw nicely and since we try not to eat Biscuits and Gravy too often, they last us a few months.

Last week I asked Brian to make a batch since I’d bought a bunch of jams and jellies at a local church bazaar…. and there is really never a bad time to have biscuits. Right?

I reminded him that I cut the recipe in half and then wandered off. I’m going to say I was doing something productive, but I’m not positive…… I wandered in and out of the kitchen and I noticed on one pass that his dough looked “chunkier” than I remembered mine looking. He said that I’d been chopping the butter up in the food-processor too much. Fine, fine… whatever…

When the biscuits came out of the oven they fabulous…. absolutely, freaking, fluffy, not-at-all-like-mine, fabulous….. Bastard.

Okay, I don’t want to be a total bitch, but… really?! Even his biscuits are better than mine? WTF?!

He tried to convince me that it was because I chopped the butter into the flour too much….. and then he admitted that maybe he hadn’t followed the recipe exactly…… Like… maybe he didn’t half everything in the recipe…. maybe he just cut the flour in half…. and nothing else.

Well, yeah! That would make them different…. cheater.

He’s made the biscuits three more times following the Brian Recipe and they’ve been delicious each time. I’ve served them to our non-Gluten-Free friends and they loved them. No one would realize that they were GF.

They are fluffy and buttery and absolutely perfect. A very happy accident! (And, of course, biscuits are his job now. Win!)

We have yet to freeze any of these biscuits… every time we’ve baked a batch they’ve all been eaten before any could make it to the freezer.

Cup4Cup Biscuits

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Cup4Cup flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups buttermilk + 1 to 2 tablespoons for brushing
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Using a whisk or food processor, combine all dry ingredients together and mix until well blended.

Place this mixture into a bowl. Using a fork slowly mix in the buttermilk until the dough is formed into a lumpy ball. The dough will be loose. Do not over mix.

Take the loose dough and wrap it in clear plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using additional flour as needed, roll out the dough to 1 inch thick.

Take a round cutter and cut the dough, place cut out shapes onto parchment lined baking sheets. Brush on buttermilk to the tops of the biscuits to ensure a golden brown top.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush hot biscuits with melted butter and serve warm.