Almost Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread

As most of you know, I have been gluten free (mostly) for almost a year now. I work with a couple different companies, for which I do reviews and giveaways. I enjoy doing this so much. Sometimes I just try the product as is and review it. Sometimes I make  recipe with the product. I really enjoy doing this. The product I am reviewing today is Glutino Foods Favorite Sandwich Bread. This is a mix, so you must prepare it yourself, but I decided I wanted to use it to make a recipe instead of just making plain bread. I decided to make this Almost Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

It turned out great! And just look how it rose out of the pan! Can you believe that it’s gluten-free?!?! I also love the color, so golden brown… YUM!

Almost Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread (Click HERE to print recipe)

Stuffs:

• 1 box Glutino Foods Favorite Sandwich Bread
• 3 t. cinnamon
• 3 T. Splenda® Brown Sugar Blend
• 1 3/4 c. warm water
• 2 1/2 t. vanilla
• 4 T. oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. softened and well-drained raisins (red or golden)

Steps:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, pour the bread mix and the package of yeast included in the box, Splenda and cinnamon. Start mixer and stir to combine. (You can just use the paddle because this bread will remain pretty loose).
2. Now add warm water, vanilla, oil and eggs; start mixer on low-speed and mix to combine. Once everything is mixed fairly well, turn mixer to med-high speed and mix for about 3 minutes.
3. Once mixed, add softened raisins and mix just until raisins are incorporated.
4. Spoon bread dough into greased 9″x5″ bread pan. Allow to sit while you preheat your oven to 375° F.
5. Once your oven is hot and your bread has risen to the top of the pan, bake your dough for 30m or until golden brown and it sounds hollow when tapped.
6. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes in the pan and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before cutting to serve or putting in an airtight container to store.
7. Best if stored in refrigerator or freezer.

You could totes change this Almost Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread up by using any dried fruit and using different spices to go with whatever fruit you’re using.

My Review:

I am giving Glutino Foods Favorite Sandwich Bread ♥♥♥♥

This bread has great flavor and texture. It isn’t dry and doesn’t fall apart like some gluten-free breads I’ve tried. I really like it. It does have a bit of an odd aftertaste. I think it’s the pea protein. It’s not enough to totally turn me off to this yummy bread, though, which is why I gave it 4 hearts out of 5!

Live, laugh, love and be kind!  xo

Who’s Ready For A Giveaway? (Giveaway Ended)

Ok, friends. Who’s ready for a giveaway? I know I am! It’s been a while since the last one and I am so ready for someone to win some gluten-free goodness!! Guess who’s sponsoring this giveaway…Can you guess? I bet you can!

That’s right! Glutino Foods is. Remember I told you about their Merry Mint Brownie Mix? Well, I talked to the generous people over at Glutino Foods and they are going to give one lucky reader 3 holiday baking mixes! How awesome is that?!? I don’t know which ones they will be but I will make sure one of them is the brownies, because they’re amazing!

Your goodies should include at least a couple of these mixes…

To enter this fabulous giveaway, simply click on the Rafflecopter link, follow the steps and you’re entered! Easy Peasy, right??

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck Everybody!

I’ll be seeing you soon, Til then…

Live, Love, Laugh and Be Kind! xoxo

Gluten-Free Baking Mixes

Some of you may remember that I am part of a group of gluten-free bloggers for Glutino Foods and I have a job to do here. This month they sent me some gluten-free baking mixes. Holiday baking mixes, to be exact. It’s rough but someone’s gotta do it!  I had to suffer this month and try brownies and peppermint yogurt covered pretzels, among other things coming up!

Glutino Foods makes some of the best gluten-free baking mixes I have ever used.  In fact, they make some of the best gluten-free products in general, that I have had the pleasure of using/eating. I am super impressed with the texture, flavor and overall quality of their products. They are consistently superior to any other product in my opinion.  And I have used quite a few.

They recently sent me a few of their new products. Some ‘Snowflake Pancake Mix’.  A ‘Twinkle Sprinkle Cake’ Cupcake Mix. There was a Corn bread stuffing mix as well. There were a few other holiday baking mixes as well. Some sugar cookies and also a bag of yogurt covered pretzels. Those were super tasty!!

I have only had a chance to try a couple of things, but the couple of things I’ve tried have been so good! A lot of gluten-free baking mixes (some pre-made items you can buy are this way, too)produce dry, flat, tasteless baked goods that, in my opinion are not worth the, usually higher price you have to pay for them! If I’m going to pay a higher price for an item, I want it to at least taste good! I don’t mind paying a little more for something I know isn’t going to make me sick, as long as it tastes equally as good or better.

These ‘Glutino Gluten Free Pantry Gooey Chocolate Merry-Mint Brownie Mix’ brownies did not disappoint! They were perfect brownie texture, fudgy and gooey, with a just a hint of mint.  The white fudge chips that come in the box, to sprinkle on top, bring them to their over-the-top perfection. I may or may not have eaten the whole batch of brownies but the two I sent out with my husband and daughter when they went out hunting Saturday. *wipes fudge from her mouth*

I give Glutino Gluten Free Pantry Gooey Chocolate Merry-Mint Brownie Mix ♥♥♥♥♥ (out of 5)

This photo does not do these any justice  at all! Can you see how moist and gooey these are??? YUM! Now, I cooked them until JUST DONE. The toothpick had a little bit of batter on the end of it when I took them out of the oven. Not a lot, just a teensy bit. This is vital for perfect brownie doneness. You must take them out when they are JUST DONE. They will continue to cook for a few minutes after taking them out, so take them out when you think they are just done so you don’t over cook them. You don’t want them raw but you don’t want them over done, either.

Gluten-free baking mixes may be a little more tricky, so I would set the timer for 5-10 minutes less than what the box calls for because everyone’s oven is different. Check them when the timer goes off and adjust baking time from there. Better to check a few times and have them come out perfect than to have them over done. I love gooey brownies!

Stay tuned y’all! We’re getting ready to have a giveaway all up in here, yo! That’s right, Glutino and I are going to have a giveaway and one of my readers is going to be the lucky winner of one or more of these delicious holiday gluten-free baking mixes!  Make sure you come back in the next couple days for all the details.

Or better yet, subscribe by e-mail in the upper right corner of the side bar and get any upcoming posts right in your e-mail inbox, and never miss another post!

See you soon!!

Live, laugh, love and be kind.  xoxo

Let’s Give Some Brownies Away! (Giveaway Ended)

As I said before, these brownies are amazing, so let’s give some brownies away, shall we?!?! Some lucky reader is going to be very happy when these so up at their doorstep, I guarantee that!

See the review for these here.

Ardenne Farm has also decided to send the lucky winner of this giveaway a bonus prize with this brownie mix!!  I know what it is and so do they, but I am going to let it be a surprise to whoever wins!!  It’s kinda cool, though, I will say that!  🙂

So, who wants these amazing brownies?!?!?! Just click on the Rafflecopter link and follow the steps to enter!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everybody!!  xoxo

Ardenne Farms Fudge Brownies

I was pleasantly pleased when the Ardenne Farms Fudge Brownies came out of the oven.  I am always a little leery when I read all-natural, no preservatives, no artificial flavors or colors along with gluten-free on a package.  Just because experience tells me that it is going to TASTE like it’s gluten-free and has no artificial flavors or colors in it.  Which USUALLY means it isn’t going to taste good.  Or it is going to have a weird texture.

That is soooo not the case with these Ardenne Farms Fudge Brownies. NOT.AT.ALL.  And just look at the way they bake up…

Don’t they look delicious? Even better than the ones on the box!!  And the texture was amazing… the flavor was dark and rich and so chocolaty! I added about 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips to the mix just before baking, too.  PERFECTION!

I give Ardenne Farm Fudge Brownie Mix ♥♥♥♥♥ (out of 5)

While brownies are not exactly health food, you can feel a little less guilty eating these since they are all-natural and have nothing artificial in them and they don’t have refined sugar in them, either!   🙂

If you are craving rich chocolaty brownies, give these a try!  They’re great!

Stay tuned for a fabulous giveaway!!

All the best…  xoxo

Muffins

The fine folks over at LetThemEatFoods sent me one of the Blueberry Muffin Mixes the other day and I am just now getting around to reviewing it.  I have so many things to review, it’s getting crazy all up in heeya! Then we just had our Memorial Day Work Weekend here at camp, so I’ve been super busy with that, that’s why I have been MIA the last few days.

It’s important to mention that when the folks at LetThemEatFoods contacted me, they asked what product I would like to try, so I perused their site to check out my options….and can I just say, “YUM”?  Oh and maybe, “WOW!”

They not only sell mixes, but already baked goods, as well!  Yeah, brownies that are HUGE and gluten and dairy-free, too!  They also sell banana bread mix or already baked loaves…YUMMY!  They even sell pans to bake their mixes in.  How cool is that?

Well, since I am a recipe developer (contact me if you have a product you would like me to use for a recipe!) they said one of two recipes they could send would work the best, as some of their recipes are pretty much complete as they come.  So we decided on the blueberry muffin mix.  Which is kind of misleading because it’s actually a plain muffin mix.  It doesn’t have blueberries in it.  You can add ANY fruit you want to it…AND I did!  🙂

Guess what fruit I used… you’ll never guess.  Ok, maybe you will but I’m going to tell you anyway, so no need!  I used PEACHES!  Yep, peaches.  As the mix sat on my counter and I thought and thought, I kept thinking to myself… ‘Self…you must come up with something original.  You have told these people you would and now you MUST’.  And I did… 😉

Here’s the proof!!

Peach Muffins (Click HERE to print recipe)

Get This:

• 1/3 c. coconut oil
• 1/3 c. unsweetened almond milk (can use vanilla or plain)
• 1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen peaches, divided
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 T. honey
• 1 t. ginger
• 1 package LetThemEat Blueberry Muffin Mix

Do This:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Puree 3/4 c. of your peaches; add to a medium size bowl. Dice the remaining peaches and set aside.
3. Add remaining wet ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
4. Pour muffin mix into wet mixture and stir just until everything is moistened and incorporated.
5. Fold in diced peaches.
6. Immediately sprayed or lined muffin tins with muffin batter. Your muffin tins should be a little more than half full.
7. Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes or until just starting to brown and a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.
8. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes in the muffin tins before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are so good.  Not too sweet, but sweet enough.  That little tang of ginger in there is perfect.  I don’t mean to toot my own horn but….TOOT TTTTOOOOOTTT!!  😉

And now for a review of the muffin mix…

I give LetThemEatFoods Blueberry Muffin Mix ♥♥♥♥♥

I loved it!  Great taste, texture and crumble.  I love that I can pronounce everything in the ingredients.  The packaging is simple, plain and attractive.  The product is gluten, dairy and soy-free.  The instructions are easy to read and follow.  And I love the tagline on their packaging… “Life can be better. Eat like you used to.” With these muffins, you definitely don’t feel like you’re giving anything up!!

Live, laugh, love and be kind! xoxo

Celiac Awareness Month

By a raise of hands, how many of you know that May is Celiac Awareness Month?  Raise you hands high!! Ok…we have a lot of smarties out there…

I only recently learned of this information.  Of course, I am new to this whole thing.  Being gluten-free, that is.  I’ve been gluten-free for about 2 months now give or take.  You would be surprised how many people think that means I can’t have cheese or ice cream or any number of other things that have NOTHING to do with gluten whatsoever!  LOL

Can’t really blame people though, for not knowing what gluten is…it’s not really a common thing, to be gluten intolerant or to have Celiac Disease, although it is becoming more and more so.  I think a lot of people suffer from gluten intolerance to some degree and don’t even realize it.  I think I have been sick for some time and didn’t even have a clue.  I’m still dealing with some of my symptoms, truth be told. I think that’s because I’m still being ‘glutened’.

Like yesterday…we went to one of our favorite places to eat…a sandwich shop known for their sub sandwiches.  They will make any of their subs into a salad.  While I had her change her gloves before she made my salad, all of the items she put in my salad (cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, etc) had been handled by hands (albeit gloved) that had handled bread….something that I hadn’t thought of until I started feeling poorly later in the day.  I’m just going to have to realize that some places just aren’t going to be an option for me anymore…

That isn’t really what this post is all about though.  Not really.  What I really wanted to tell you about is this really awesome website called freedible.com.  It’s a site for bloggers and companies and others to join together and share their recipes and stories and whathaveyou.  It’s a place where those of us with new-found food allergies can find companies that offer allergy-free foods geared toward our specific allergy.  Also, bloggers can find other bloggers who are blogging about similar things, because as we all know, it is wonderful to be able to network and build an audience that can relate to what you are writing about!

Also this post is to tell you about Glutino and how amazing they are!  Of all of the companies I have worked with so far, I would have to say that their products have been the most reliable and the most consistent so far.  Everything I have tried of theirs has been good and I would recommend to anyone who is starting the gluten-free lifestyle or who has been eating gluten-free but hasn’t had a chance to try their products. They have a wide variety of products as well.  Everything from pre-made cookies  and cookie mixes to pasta and frozen meals! I haven’t had the pleasure of trying EVERYTHING they have to offer, but like I said, it’s only been a couple of months.

In honor of Celiac Awareness month, Glutino sent me a box of their Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix along with a recipe for Beth Hillson’s ‘Cookies for a Cause’ recipe. As per usual I didn’t make the recipe exactly as written, cuz that’s how I roll, yo!

Her recipe was my inspiration, though. And here’s my version…

Glutino Double Chocolate Chip Cookies For A Cause (Click HERE to print recipe)

Get This:

• 1 box Glutino Gluten Free Pantry Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 3 T. honey (or sweetener of choice)
• 2 t. vanilla

Do This:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper; set aside
3. In a medium size bowl, add first 3 ingredients; stir to combine and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter.
5. Add eggs and beat until smooth.
6. Add honey and vanilla; beat again to combine well.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix just until everything is moistened and combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
8. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop cookies onto prepared baking sheet(s), leaving about an inch in between cookies.
9. Press to flatten slightly.
10. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until just set.
11. Cool on cookie sheets a couple of minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
12. Store in an airtight container.

I really like these cookies! Like I said before, Glutinos has great, quality products.  They are consistently great.  Great flavor, texture, everything.  And the variety of products they offer is just amazing.

And now for the surprise I was telling you about before…

Glutinos is letting me give one lucky reader a prize package for Celiac Awareness Month!!! Not just any prize, though! This prize package will include the following:

·         Toaster Pastries (Strawberry & Apple Cinnamon)

·         Honey Mustard Pretzels

·         Pretzel Chips

·         Instant Pancake Mix

·         Rosemary & Olive Oil Crackers

·         Cinnamon and Sugar Bagel Chips

·         Wafer Bites

·         Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

·         Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

·         Glutino SWAG

Isn’t that AWESOME?!?!?! Yeah, so make sure you click on the link below to enter this awesome giveaway!!!

ENTER HERE!!!

Live, laugh, love and be kind! xoxo

Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

First, let me just say how excited I am to be bringing you another review! The review isn’t of the pineapple upside down cake, but of the baking mix I’m using, that being said… there will be more reviews to come!!  This little blog of mine has really taken off and I couldn’t be more pleased! Thank You to all those who are stopping by this new little clog of mine reading, commenting and subscribing. And to those who have tried the recipes here, THANK YOU! Please come back and let me know how they turned out and how you liked them.  Link up with me if you blog about the recipes!!  🙂

And to those who have sent me products to review and run giveaways for…THANK YOU! I am pleased, humbled and honored to be working with you!  It is truly my pleasure to try, test and review your products.  I love my ‘job’! I look forward to working with more of you in the future so if you have a gluten-free or sugar-free product you would like me to review…please contact me.  My contact information is right up there ^^^ where it says Contact/Work With Me!  On to the recipe and review!

This is an adaptation of my MIL’s pineapple upside down cake. I knew almost immediately what I wanted to do when I saw the yellow cake mix in the box of mixes better batter sent me. Actually I really wanted to make my MIL’s rhubarb upside down cake, but since rhubarb’s not in season, pineapple upside down cake it was! The original cake is a homemade cake, but I knew I could make it work with this! So here’s the recipe!!

Easy GF Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Click HERE to print recipe)

What You’ll Need:

• 4 T. butter
• 8 pineapple rings
• 8 maraschino cherries
• 1 box better batter gluten-free yellow cake mix
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. pineapple juice (drained from pineapple)
• 1/2 c. apple sauce
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. Splenda® brown sugar mix (feel free to use regular brown sugar)

Note: Cake box calls for 3/4 c. oil. I don’t like using that much oil.  If you don’t care,  simply replace 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/4 c. oil for the full 3/4 c. oil.

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan.
2. Melt butter in the bottom of baking pan.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.
4. Place pineapple rings in bottom of the baking pan 4 across, 2 down.
5. Place the maraschino cherries in the center of the pineapple rings.
6. In the bowl of an electric mixer blend cake mix, water, pineapple juice, apple sauce, oil and eggs at low-speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium for 2 minutes.
7. Pour batter carefully over pineapple and cherries in baking pan.
8. Bake 35-40 minutes.  Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Then turn out onto serving plate to cool completely.
10. Serve plain or with a dollop of whipped topping.

FABULOUS!!

Now for the review of the cake mix…

better batter YELLOW CAKE MIX

Important Info:

• fat 0g
• cholesterol 0g
• sodium 270 mg
• total carbs 38g
• dietary fiber 1g
• sugars 23g
• protein 1g

This cake is very good.  Great taste. Great texture.  I love that is says on the box that it is a product of the US. It states clearly that it is gluten-free, kosher and acceptable for other allergies and conditions. Maybe best of all, I can pronounce every ingredient.  The company gives to charities and helps people who can’t afford their products get them.  What’s not to love, friends?

I give ‘better batter YELLOW CAKE MIX’ ♥♥♥♥♥