Pumpkin Pie Gluten Free and Crustless Recipe

There is something delicious and wonderful about pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.  So how can we eat pumpkin pie without the gluten/wheat and the dairy?

Here is our family's solution

Crustless Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

2 cups / 15 oz can Pure Pumpkin
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 cup Coconut Flour (or any Gluten Free flour, like Arrowroot, etc)
1/3 cup Brown Sugar

Mix all together.

In another bowl, mix

3/4 Cup Milk (Coconut milk, Lactose Free Milk)  PLUS 2 tbsp milk of your choice (Lactose Free sour cream is good)
2 tbsp Coconut oil or Olive Oil or more milk if you don't have
1 Egg  OR 1 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tbsp honey (or use more brown sugar)

Blend together.  Pour into a greased pie plate.  Decorate with Pecans or Walnuts.
400F oven for approx. 30 minutes.
Cool and serve.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie Gluten Free

For a Dairy Free whipped cream topping, try whipping Coconut Milk.  Use the canned coconut milk and put in the fridge over night.  The thick WHITE coconut cream can be whipped into a whipped cream topping.  Add a bit of sugar and vanilla to taste.  You can't always find the Lactose Free Whipping Cream.  Healthy than the Cool Whip edible oil product, and it's also Cholesterol Free.

Hardware Baby turns Sweet 16

Our sweet lil' baby Kate, Hardware Baby, Bouchy,  Katie Magoo, Princess Kate turned Sweet 16 this September.  So proud of our girl.  She gives us so many things to be thankful for and blesses us daily with her gentleness and kindness.

While we couldn't arrange for everything that she desired for her birthday (friends from BC are hard to arrange),  she did get to ride her horse and we surprised her with a great birthday cake if I do say so myself!

 Now the above photo can use some explanation ~ Kate had no idea why she had 30 envelopes to open.  I have asked a few family and friends to write a little note or advice "To my 16 year self" for Kate.  She had wonderful responses.

 There were some hilarious ones from our BC neighbors, advice to travel and explore the world.  Advice to stop saving up for those sensible shoes and buy that Poodle skirt instead.  Advice to save some of her favorite clothes from this age for 20 years from now.
Advice on picking a life partner, advice to relax and to trust her parents and those who loved her.

Finally her own cuddly house coat ~ now Mei can have her's back!

 She has her cards and letters posted all over her wall in her room ~ thank you to everyone who sent a little note.

Always a horse lover, another horse blanket

 I had originally planned to order a cake from a dear friend who has a great cake decorating business in Oak Lake MB ( "Candace's Creations" on Facebook).  Sadly, her father in law died suddenly and we decided that I would just make a cake and Kate was happy with that.  Little did she know that in the last minute, Candace pulled off this GLUTEN FREE, Dairy Free Hobbit House cake in no time flat!  What a wonderful surprise for Kate and all the little cousins that got to OHHH and AHHHH over it!

 We didn't want to cut into it, it was so adorable... but... well....little mouths didn't mind digging in and eating the pathway and butterflies, etc.

Canned Apple Pie Filling, Tomato Soup, and Dilled Carrots

I am finally squirreling away some food for winter!  This is very exciting, as it means my back injury is healing and I am finally feeling up to it.  Can't understand how poorly I was feeling, but I am still on my target for 2013's garden ~ $450 worth of vegetables into my home!  I am now sitting around the $375 mark.

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

 These apples actually came from our old yard in Oak Lake ~ how sweet it was to meet the new owners and be given some of the plums and apples that we had all come to love.  They are now made into Apple Pie filling and we've been eating the rest just fresh!

Canned Apple Pie Filling

7 quarts chopped up apples (in salt water or lemon juice to keep fresh)
4 1/2 cups sugar ( I did 2 cups of brown, rest white)
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
10 1/2 cups water

Cook syrup.
Pack apples into hot sterilized jars with a 1/2 inch head space ( Don't over fill, or they boil over and can't seal)
Pour hot syrup into apple jars, wipe rims, put the lids on.
Hot water bath for 15 to 20 minutes.

I am generous with my spices and added some cloves as well.  Adjust to taste.  This makes a great Apple Crisp as well as pie.  One of my jars was too full, so it didn't seal ~ so we had apple crisp!  I love some opps!

Homemade Canned Tomato Soup

This is my first time canning Tomato Soup, but with a wheat allergy in the household, Campbells soup is out for us.  This will come in very handy for quick casseroles, etc.

Canned Tomato Soup (Wheat Free ~ Gluten Free)

12 lbs ripe tomatoes

6 onions

1 bunch parsley

1 head celery

2-4 bay leaves

8 whole cloves

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup margarine (for lactose intolerant) or Butter

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 cup cornstarch/ rice flour or mixture of both

Place first 8 ingredients in a large pot and boil for 2 hours.  Cool slightly and blend or put through a food processor.  Return to pot.  I strained some of mine with a cheese cloth, some use a sieve.  I just need to find a sieve, I think I would like it! Mix together sugar, margarine, cayenne and flour.  Add some cooled soup to make a paste.  Add slowly, while stirring to soup.  Heat, stir until thickened.  

Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.  Hot water bath for 20 minutes or 5 lbs pressure for 10 minutes in a pressure canner.

This recipe can easily be changed to add or remove spices that you like or dislike.  Some add some carrots, basil, etc.

Carrot comparison

The above photo shows the difference between thinning carrots or leaving them crowded.  We did a bit of an experiment in the community garden this year.  The ones on the Left were thinned (planted further apart) and the others were not.  Those were the larger ones too ~ most were very tiny and cute to eat, but not that productive.  The kids at the Community Garden will now plant theirs a little further apart ~ fun lesson learned!

Pickled Dilled Carrots

 Pickled Dilled Carrots OR Beans
1 large piece of dill (head) per jar
1 bay leaf per jar
2-4 cloves of garlic per jar
4 quarts firm carrots OR beans, washed and cut, etc
 4 cups water
4 cups vinegar
8 tbsp pickling salt

Put first 3 ingredients in your sterilized jars.  Pack with clean and prepared carrots or beans.  Bring water, vinegar and salt to a full boil.  Pour into jars and seal with sterilized lids.  Hot water bath for 15-20 minutes.
This recipe is basic and you could add different spices as well.

Look whooo showed up in the garden today, my daughters little creation!

Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations Cook Book

They've done it again!  Another great cookbook... I have their first cookbook and while you don't have to be Mennonite to enjoy these recipes, they bring back such fond memories.
I especially like the Gluten Free options and the healthier versions to all those rich creamy dishes that we grew up on.

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Thanks!

Gluten Free Cranberry Oat Loaf Bread

I once made this bread for the local Fair and took home 1st prize of lots of honey!  It is moist and delicious and now that we strive to be more gluten free, I adapted it to gluten free.

GF Cranberry Oat Loaf Bread

3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (could actually omit this for dairy free)
2 1/2 cups flour (GF store bought mix, or a mixture of rice flours, etc worked for me.  I didn't get fancy with it)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup chopped nuts (also optional, but really make this bread great)

Combine honey, oil, eggs and milk in large bowl and mix well.
Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and then add to the wet ingredients.
Fold in the cranberries and nuts.
Spoon into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350F for 50+ minutes.
Cool in pans for about 15 minutes and remove to eat!

*** This loaf is very moist, so that's why nuts are a nice addition, you could probably reduce some of the honey as well.

Gluten Free Fruit Crisp Recipe ~ Apple, Rhubarb, Peach...

I love this recipe I have been using from my dear friend in Manitoba.  Now what to do about gluten free?  Well, it only had 1 cup flour in it, so I substituted 1/2 cup corn FLOUR and 1/2 cup brown rice flour.  Delicious!

Apple or Rhubarb Crisp

4 1/2 -5 cups chopped fruit ( I have used ANY fruit I have on hand, frozen or not)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp water (omit if fruit was frozen)
1/2 cup sugar (try honey too!)
1/4 tsp ginger
Combine all the above in mixing bowl.
In another bowl,
melt
1/2 cup butter/marg
1 cup brown sugar
Stir
Add:
1 cup other gluten free flour (either a mix, or 1/2 cup corn flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour as I tried)  UPDATE:  We like a blend of coconut flour/arrowroot flour better.  It is more expensive though.  Any other GF flour mix works, but I have actually reduced this to 3/4 cup.
AND 2 Cups Rolled Oats.

Put fruit in pan, pour crumb mixture on top.
Bake 350F for approx 45 minutes.

This recipe has never failed me ~ the secret may be in melting the butter and brown sugar together first.

Gluten Free Crepes Recipe ~ Flat or Skinny Pancakes

Just starting our journey into the world of "Gluten Free" cooking and this is the start of my blogging on what has worked and not worked so far!
On Sundays we have a tradition of eating "Skinny Pancakes" or "German Pancakes" or Crepes.
What to do now?
I used my regular recipe and substituted the flour for the gluten free flour mix in the picture below.

For you Mom ~  Save On Foods had it

Crepes, Skinny Pancakes, German Pancakes Recipe
3 eggs
beat in blender
add 1 1/4 cup milk (I do part water)
Add a splash of vanilla
Then a dash of salt
Whip up in the blender again
Add 1 cup of the gluten free flour mix
Whip up in the blender again
These cooked up a little more fluffy and with some air bubbles ~ maybe from being in the blender?  They taste good!!!
 

 These rice noodles above were VERY tasty, but they were constantly running over in my large pot.  Some others told me later to "soak" them in hot water instead, so I will try that next time.

Don't under cook anything Gluten Free... I think it needs more baking time!