Gluten Free Pizza Muffins with homemade tomato sauce

 These little gems might become a new family dinner-time favorite. The boys were craving pizza- and being gluten free, pizza can be a time consuming task (I hate that pre-packaged stuff when I can avoid it, so I usually make my own). I found this recipe, adapted my own flour blend and was on my way...

 

I served it with some homemade tomato sauce that we made from our surplus of tomatoes this past summer. As we added all of the meats we just processed to the freezer, I needed to make room, so out came the sauce! If I can figure out where I put my sauce recipe, maybe I'll post that too. I'll link them together when the time comes.

 

So here is the recipe that will make your GF family as happy as mine :)

 

Pizza Muffins, Served with homemade tomato sauce

GF, CoF, SF, NF (Contains eggs and dairy/casein)

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca starch

2 Tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup Italian seasoning (I used my own dried garden blend from this past summer)

2 Tbs garlic powder

3 cups skim milk

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese  

3 cups pepperoni

Let's get cookin':

Preheat the oven to 350

Coat a muffin tin with a non-stick spray or oil of your choice.

Combine dry ingredients (flours, xanthan, baking powder, seasoning, garlic powder)

Combine eggs and milk in a small bowl.

Slowly pour the egg mixture into the dry, combining thoroughly as you go.

Stir in the cheese and diced pepperoni pieces.

Pout the mixture into the prepared cups, keeping in mind that they rise. I aimed for about 1/4 inch below the rim.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden on edges.

I used a silicone muffin tray, so cooking times might vary, keep an eye on them.

Serve with tomato sauce.


It makes 24 standard size pizza muffins.


I'm sure you could add multiple other fillings. I think next time I might add mushrooms, as that is a fan-favorite in our house. If you find some great additions, feel free to share!

Naturally,
Raych

Agave Sea-Salt Caramel

Oh. My. God.

Words could not possible describe how absolutely amazingly delicious this recipe is... Now I have to admit, the original caramel recipe was courtesy of Simplygluten-free.com; only minor adaptations were made due to what I had available in my house the day I was craving this.

I should also point out that I am ALWAYS craving sea-salt caramel items.

I am not going to pretend that because this is made with agave instead of refined sugar it has suddenly become a health food; but doesn't it just make you feel a smidge better?

 

So here it is...

 

 

Agave Sea-Salt Caramel

For sake of honesty, this is a stock picture, I can't seem to track mine down,
but this is how the recipe looks when done, in the same type of jar I used :)

GF, CoF, SF, NF (Contains dairy/casein)

1 cup organic raw blue agave

1 cup light agave

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

2 teaspoons sea salt

 

The original recipe says:

"Combine the agave and cream in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Transfer to a bowl or jar and let cool completely. "

I'm going to say... it took me a little over 5 minutes to get the consistency I wanted AND when they say occasionally, it does not mean you should walk away from the pan. It needs to be stirred, maybe just slightly more than occasionally?

 

I served it over ice cream and stored the remainder in a mason jar in the fridge. It has dairy, so I would not keep it for too long unless you want go through proper canning, but we did use it up to a week later with no food poisoning, fun.

 

If you try this out, let me know what you think!

 

Naturally,

Raych

 

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

While I haven't posted in a while that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy trying out MANY new recipes. I have been jotting them down in multiple blog drafts and on a little notepad I keep in my kitchen. My camera is full of food shots ready for the posting.

 

So why not post?

 

Well, life has been... busy! My oldest is now in kindergarten, my youngest is in year 1 of 3 for "preschool". We've started sports... that's right, I'm a *gulp* "Soccer Mom". I have even voluntarily added some time to my work commute. Most significantly, though, is my husbands ability to convince me that just one more critter eating my front yard would be not only beneficial financially, but a great learning and life experience for our kiddos. 

 

Now, five  (more) laying chickens, a rooster, six turkeys, and two pigs later... we're becoming pretty darn self-sufficient. And, as of Christmas Eve, we are down to just the five chickens; with a full freezer of course. This, and the snow days we are currently experiencing, has left me with both a little time for myself and some new VERY homemade recipes to post.

 

So to start things off, I decided to post one that would actually be easy for anyone, you would just need to reduce the recipe (below) down in size, buy store-ground pork and not worry about casing anything. OR, just purchase chorizo, but where the heck is the fun in that?

 

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

GF, DF/CF, CoF, SF, NF- basically, very "paleo" but not very vegan :)

First, the Chorizo...

 

 Ingredients:

5-lb ground pork      
1-cup cold red wine  (I used a merlot I had on hand)
8-tsp paprika
2 Tbs Chili Powder

We purchased hog casing at a local butcher-
I'm all for fresh home-grown food,
but you were not going to see me
processing intestines... They were
VERY salted, so soak and  rinse well

2 Tbs Chipotle Chili Powder
2-tsp cinnamon
1-tbsp cumin
3-medium onions, finely chopped
2-tsp dried oregano
1-tbsp garlic powder
2-tbsp salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

 

We needed one full "hog casing" for this recipe, but if I had been better at stuffing them it would have taken less. Be sure to rinse the casing very well and drain, and dry a bit... you could also just freeze uncased small freezer bags of the sausage filling.

 

Using a sausage stuffer/press... stuff into hog casing

 

 

When we closed down the bakery- did I mention that we closed down the bakery? I talk more about that after- we had an industrial-type sausage press that we had been using to speed up the

As my husband so eloquently
posted on his Facebook page, here I am,
"stuffing sausage like a boss."
Yeah... you can imagine the comments.

"handmade" pie filling process. Another hubby convincing... we decided to "purchase" it. What we did not anticipate... if you are splitting the various types of sausage into smaller batches, you waste a little of the meat that would be left at the bottom of the press and not forced into casings. After all, it IS intended for very large batches. After making my first attempt at Chorizo, I had about 3-4 cups of the filling remaining. Coincidentally, I also had one red and one green pepper in the refrigerator.

 

And so, creative (er, lazy) me decided that if I took said chorizo filling and packed it into the peppers, I would have a delicious dinner, with no more fuss than I had already gone through.

 

I lined the pan with parchment, stuffed the halved peppers... and baked at 350 for about 25 minutes (until golden on top). They were GREAT! I served it with a homemade broccoli risotto, because my kids think it's veggie Mac 'n cheese pieces :) While the chorizo was a little spicy for them, my youngest did eat a good amount.

 

Let me know your thoughts if you try it out!

 

Naturally,

Raych