Dinner & Dessert Recipie

We had a great dinner last night and I had to share the recipie!  Also - I am so happy to have found the Glutino crackers at Walmart this week for 3.98 a box (as oppossed to $6 a box at EarthFare).  They seem to have come down on the Bob's Mill flour products also....yahoo!  My husband was SHOCKED to hear me say something nice about Walmart.....so, I guess pigs must be flying somewhere!

Mexican Meatloaf  (Cooking for Isaiah Cookbook)

1 (12 oz) jar roasted red peppers - drained, split, seeded and patted dry
1 1/2 cups finely crushed tortilla chips
6 tblsp. chopped fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 lg. eggs. lightly beaten
1 (16 oz.) jar Salsa

Preheat oven to 375.  I spray a 9-inch pie plate with organic olive oil spray and line it with the red peppers.  In a small bowl; mix together 1/2 cup of tortilla chips and 2 tblsp. parsley;  season with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper.

In a large bowl, mix the beef, eggs, 3/4 cup salsa, the remaining 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, the remaining 4 tblsp. parsley, 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper until just combined.  Press the meat mixture into the pepper-lined pie plate.  Spread the remaining salsa over the top, sprinkle with the tortilla chip mixture and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Let cool for about 15 min. before cutting into wedges and serving.

I use all organic & natural ingredients.  I also serve it with a side of broccoli or mixed veggies.  Yum!

Awesome Brownies   (adapted from recipie in Cooking for Isaiah)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/3 cup veggie oil
3 tblsp. water
1 cup sugar
2 lg. eggs, at room temp.
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour (see 2nd day entry)
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted chocolate, oil, and water until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar & eggs.  Whisk in the chocolate mixture.  Fold in the flour & salt until just combined; transfer the batter into the prepared pan and spread to edges.  Bake until set and the brownie edges pull away slightly from the sides of the pan; about 35 min.  Let cool in the pan.  Remove by using the edges of the paper and set out on a flat surface to cut into squares.

My family actually likes these brownies better than the boxed kind.  The inside of the brownie will be very moist but they harden with cooling.  The taste is wonderful!

GFCF & Egg Free Cooking

I did some experimenting and a bit of research on Saturday about cooking egg free.  One thing I have found is that you can use Egg Replacer (a flour like substance) when baking breads, cookies, muffins, pancakes.....it seems 1 tsp. of egg replacer is equal to 1 egg in a recipie.  I also wondered about egg beaters but have not looked at the ingredients list yet to see exactly what is in it (hoping to do that today)
I put a few recipies together for a pancake mix that does not use eggs.  My two year old loved them & ate them up quickly.  My older kids thought they tasted great but struggled with the consistancy.....the inside of the pancake was a little flatter & more moist than regular ones.  I think you could experiment a little more with this and make it closer to a "regular" pancake:

Dry Mixture:          2 cups  All Purpose Flour (see day 2)
                                2 tblsp.  Sugar
                                2 tsp.  Sea Salt
                                1 tsp.  Baking Soda
                                2 tsp.  Egg Replacer
                                1 tsp.  Ground Cinnamon

Wet Mixture:        2 cups Rice Milk
                               *4 tblsp.  Peach Nectar
                                4 tblsp.  Veggie Oil

First mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a wire whisk.  Mix the wet ingredients until combined.  Add the two mixtures and mix together with the wire whisk.  Spray a pan or waffle iron with organic cooking spray.  Pour batter and cook (about 4 min. per side)

*  The original recipie calls for 2 tblsp. of applesauce

To continue "tweeking" the recipie; you could use egg beaters (if ingredients check out), you could increase amount of egg replacer, and you could decrease the amount of peach nectar/applesauce (I used 4 tblsp.).

I am sure there are several "egg free" cookbooks available and you could  substitute the GFCF All Purpose Flour and Rice Milk for regular flour and milk if you want to keep things Gluten & Casine Free.  I can continue to do some more research if it would be helpful....just let me know!