Thumbs Up for Nature's Path New GF Cereals

The Nature's Path Organic Foods company recently sent me two packages of their new Crunchy Maple Sunrise and Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise cereals to sample and I am delighted to report that both were excellent. My husband already enjoys their Peanut Butter Panda Puffs that we find in the gluten-free section of our local Hannaford Supermarket, and these two new GF cereal varieties are a welcome addition to the repertoire of breakfast foods he can safely enjoy.



Both new cereals are delicately flavored with maple and vanilla and are truly crunchy, even after hanging out for a while in their milky bath, so that is also a positive factor in my mate's enjoyment of his morning meal. He abhors a soggy cereal and I like the whole grain additions of flax, amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat, as so many other breakfast options for the gluten-free diner are lacking in fiber.

You can find out more about the Nature's Path line of organic foods, and their gluten-free foods, at their website. I just bookmarked their recipes tab too as they have a lot of great ideas for smashing up their GF cereals into yummy-sounding baked goods and side dishes.

Savory Rice and Cheese Muffins

Most mornings, the Crispy cantina is kind of slow. I need two mugs of coffee before I am able to think clearly so the kids are used to grabbing a yogurt or some cereal for breakfast before school. If they want something more substantial, it is my Dear One, Dan, who cracks any eggs or goes near electrical appliances to whip up lumberjack breakfasts.

On weekends, however, I am more likely to be creeping about the kitchen in a post-caffeinated state and the other morning, when our daily snowfall started, I decided to whip up a batch of hot muffins. I had some leftover rice, some cheese and some of Carol Fenster's Bean Blend left from my holiday cooking baking projects to use up, so I came up with these lovely muffins:

Savory Rice and Cheese Muffins

2 cup bean flour mix (if you are not cooking gluten-free, use regular wheat flour and leave out the xanthan gum below)

2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup leftover cooked rice
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used Asiago)
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. onion powder
5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten lightly


Grease 12 cup muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)

Mix together dry ingredients.

In separate bowl, mix together milk, cider vinegar, oil and eggs. Mix into dry ingredients until everything is just blended. Add rice and cheese.

Pour into muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Delicious served hot with butter.

Store leftover muffins in an airtight container when cooled.

Makes 12 savory muffins.



I am sending a virtual batch of these delicious muffins off to Joelen's Culinary Adventures, where this month's Tasty Tools event features measuring cups and spoons, which were put to good use in this recipe. You can join in the fun by submitting a measuring tools recipe by the January 31st roundup over at Joelen's blog, where she is always cooking up a storm.

An Election Day Breakfast

Anticipating longer lines at Town Hall for this exciting Election Day, Dan and I needed a sustaining and warm breakfast. I have had a box of Arrowhead Mills Rise and Shine Hot Cereal in the pantry for a few weeks now and decided to crack it open for a test run in the Crispy kitchen. It is made of brown rice grits so there's a nice bit of fiber and a warm belly full of hot cereal sounded like it would get us energized for all that lever pulling.

I was immediately tempted by the Rice Pudding recipe on the back of the box, and with the addition of some raisins and maple syrup, this did indeed provide an excellent start to our day. I am reprinting the recipe below with my minor adaptations, as I couldn't find it on the Arrowhead Mills website, which does have a lot of other delicious gluten-free recipes on it that I will have to explore further.

Rice Pudding with Raisins

1 cup Arrowhead Rise and Shine cereal (brown rice grits)
1/4 tsp. salt
2-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup maple syrup
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins

Spray 1 quart baking dish with cooking spray or grease lightly with shortening or butter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix cereal and salt in saucepan. Add milk and stir. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then lower heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Gradually stir in beaten eggs, then maple syrup, vanilla and raisins. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. We ate it warm with more maple syrup drizzled over, so it was sort of like an Indian Pudding.

Don't forget to vote today!

Gluten-Free Blueberry Pizza

It's blueberry season in upstate New York so I am programmed to buy an obligatory couple of pints to play with in the kitchen. In my pre-caffeinated state this morning I was attempting to find my gluten-free blueberry pancake recipe (is it one of the dog-eared pages in one of a hundred or so cookbooks? Or in my piles of bespattered papers that are going to be typed neatly and organized into plastic-sheeted notebook SOMEDAY?). Too daunting.

On the way I pulled out Carol Fenster's "Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus" (Littleton, CO: Savory Palate, 199) and was diverted by a recipe for Peach Clafouti (rhymes with Doug Flutie), which I thought could be easily converted into a bluer concoction. After sucking down some more java, I was able to adapt Ms. Fenster's peachy recipe into this delightful breakfast blueberry pizza, which was eaten by four hungry humans in less than eight minutes.

Blueberry Pizza

2 Tbsp. shortening

3 Tbsp. white rice flour
1 Tbsp. potato starch (don't confuse this with potato flour, which is a different animal)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. corn oil

1 pint blueberries, rinsed and free of stems

Powdered sugar

Grease an ovenproof skillet with shortening. I used my trusty 10 inch cast iron frying pan, which made this blueberry pizza wonderfully CRISPY, but a smaller 8 or 9 inch skillet would be alright, and would just make the pizza a little softer and thicker.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Blend together white rice flour, potato starch, salt, eggs, milk, vanilla, oil and cinnamon in mixing bowl or blender.

Heat skillet over medium heat on stove. Add 1/3 of the pizza batter to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes, or until it looks like a mostly cooked pancake or crepe. Sprinkle blueberries over the top and pour on the rest of the batter.

Place in oven and bake 35-40 minutes or until nicely browned and puffy. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to taste (3-4 Tbsp. should do for the whole pizza).

Cut into 6 wedges (so 4 people have to fight over the extras).

We ate this warm, but I would imagine that it is also nice cold.

Go Ahead Honey, Those Taters are Gluten-Free

Naomi over at Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried is hosting this month's "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free" cooking challenge. The May theme is breakfast and we certainly love to have our breakfasts in our house; sometimes a second breakfast too, if we're feeling hobbity. Come to think of it, breakfast for dinner is a good idea also.

The naturally gluten-free potato is often featured on our breakfast table and the recipe below is a versatile favorite. We have two well-loved cast-iron frying pans which we wipe out carefully after use to preserve the layers of seasoning that keep foods from sticking. If you don't have this kitchen staple on hand, another kind of frying pan will do, but you may have trouble getting the spuds crusty enough.


Breakfast Fried Potatoes

5 potatoes, peeled (Save the peels for tomorrow's secret recipe!)
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced (other color peppers are lovely too)
Canola oil for frying
3 Tbsp. seasonings of your choice. We like sage, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and chili powder, but adjust to your mood)

Cut potatoes in half and then cut into medium dice. Place potatoes in salted water in a medium pot and bring to boil. Lower heat and cook until softened, about 15 minutes.

Drain and reserve.

Get your frying pan heated up and then add 2-3 Tbsp. canola oil. Let the oil warm up and then toss in onions. Cook until soft (5 minutes), then add peppers and seasonings. Cook until peppers are softened (another 3-4 minutes), then add potatoes. Keep an eye on the stove and stir up potatoes every couple of minutes, so that a nice crust forms on the bottom of the pan that can be scraped up and mixed in with the rest of the vegetables. When this fry-up is at its crustiest peak (5 more minutes) adjust seasonings and serve.

Makes 4 hearty breakfast servings.


The Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free Challenge will continue through tomorrow, so there's still time to get cracking (those eggs) and join the fun. Check out Naomi's great gluten-free blog for more information http://milkforthemorningcake.blogspot.com/2008/04/go-ahead-honey-its-gluten-free-may.html.

Apple Nut Muffins (Gluten-Free)

The always hungry folks over at the Greedy Gourmet are hosting the Snack Shots blog event and the theme is the trusty muffin. You can find out more about the event, which runs until May 6, 2008 here.

We always seem to have some substandard apples lying around the house. When apples aren't in season, they really go mushy quickly and then nobody wants to eat these mealy fruits. Luckily, even when they lose their crisp texture they are suitable for cooking, so I whipped up a double batch of these muffins to get us through a busy week. Here's my recipe:

1-1/2 cups brown rice flour
1-1/2 cups white rice flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup tapioca flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/2 cups milk
2 tsps. cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

3-4 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Turbinado sugar

Grease 2 12-cup muffin pans or use paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together dry ingredients (except nuts and Turbinado sugar). In separate bowl, mix milk, vinegar, oil and eggs. Stir both together to combine. Fold in apples and nuts.

Fill muffin cups with batter about 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops with Turbinado sugar.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

The tops get nice and crusty from the sugar. This recipe can stand a bit of over-baking, as I forgot all about my poor second batch and left them in for another 20 minutes! They were hard as rocks at first, but I froze them and then they calmed down to perfect texture when thawed.

Makes 24 muffins.