Stamping & Scrapping with Jen

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

We have been getting lots of blueberries from our CSA share and my kids don't eat them.  Occasionally my husband or I will eat some with breakfast, but usually they sit in the fridge or I pop them in the freezer.  My friend Jen reminded me of this yesterday as I was making GF pizza dough and she told me to "just make some blueberry muffins since I already had the over on."  And so I did!!  Since it's been awhile since I shared a recipe with you, I thought I would share!!

The recipe is adapted from the Gluten-Free Baking Classics Cookbook.

Muffins

• 2 C Jules Flour
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1 1/2 C fresh blueberries
• 1/2 C milk (I used coconut milk to keep it casein free too)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t vanilla

1. Heat oven to 375.  Grease muffin pans or line with cupcake papers.
2. Combine all dry ingredients.  Fold in blueberries.
3. Combine milk & oil in small bowl.  Remove 1 T of liquid & discard.  Beat in eggs and add vanilla.  Add to dry/blueberry mixture and stir.
4. Fill muffin pans.  If you use regular sized muffin pans - fill 2/3 full.  If you are using a mini muffin pan (pictured above) fill about 3/4+ full.  Sprinkle batter with topping (recipe below). Bake regular muffins about 20 minutes; bake mini muffins about 17-18 minutes.

Topping

• 1/2 C Jules Flour
• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 3 T butter, melted

1. Combine dry ingredients.  Pour in butter and stir until small chunks form.

I have to admit, they were yummy!!!  We are now off to our Annual Neighborhood Block Party!!  Have a great day everyone!!

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I'm Back and a Sunday Scrapbooking Sketch

Okay, so I didn't end up posting like I thought from Puerto Rico.  And actually, it wasn't because I was spending lots of time by the pool or on the beach - it was kind of the opposite.  After the flight there I was a little queasy and just didn't do much for the first 36 hours of the trip other than rest in bed.  I didn't even eat any of the yummy food those first 2 days.  However, I did take the opportunity to catch up on some MUCH needed sleep!!

But by day 3 (yesterday), I did feel better and we split the day between the pool and the beach.  Since I wasn't really tired, I read a lot of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I also finally got to enjoy some of the local cuisine, which I was happy to find was largely gluten free!!!  I'm thinking of changing my diet to all seafood, rice & beans. :)

In case you are wondering, some traditional Puerto Rican gluten free dishes are: mofongo, rice & beans, flan, and lots of seafood.  There are lots more, and lots of variations on these, but these are the things we sampled and liked.  Places we ate at were: El Jibarito in Old San Juan, Cafe de Angel on Ashford in San Juan, and Ropa Vieja also on Ashford in San Juan.  I would recommend any and all of them for your gluten-free or not gluten-free appetite.  oh, and DEFINITELY try the sangria!!  We had it at all 3 places and it was yummy.  I think El Jibarito had our favorite!!

Because I didn't feel well, my high hopes for a nice, long run were squashed.  I did manage to run a very boring and torturous 3 miles on a treadmill at the resort.  Even the view of the beach & ocean weren't exciting enough to distract me from my misery.  But I did it.  We've been home for about 4 hours and I've already got another easy 3 in despite the fact that it's raining here.  It felt good to get back on the road again!

Without any further ado, here is this week's scrapbook sketch/inspiration for you!!!  I hope you can use it to create something great!

If you are able to create a layout based on this sketch, send it to me!  I'd love to see what you come up with!  And if you are a fan of sketches, you have several choices on how you can get more:

• the eBook, Scrapbookers' Shortcuts
• Kindle Books, Scrapbook Sketches by Jen Peel

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Gluten-Free Eggplant Casserole Bake

Over the summer, with our CSA, we were getting a lot of eggplant.  Did you know New Jersey is the state that produces the most eggplant?  And it also grows here 10 months out of the year?  Apparently it's true, so eggplant should be one of those things that is pretty readily available wherever you are!

I made lots and lots of Eggplant Parmesan over the summer, but this recipe was a side dish that was a combination of my own thoughts and a eggplant/zucchini casserole recipe I found online (and have since lost).  It was pretty yummy!!!

I made it gluten-free with the bread crumbs, but you can substitute any bread crumbs if you don't need to watch the gluten.  Other than the bread crumbs, the rest of the ingredients do not contain gluten.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large eggplant, peeled and sliced in rounds
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs (I used Corn Flake Crumbs which are gluten-free) tossed with 2 tablespoons melted butter

Preparation:

Heat the oven to 350°.

Put eggplant in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Drain well and place back in pan.  Add tomatoes, salt & pepper and toss to mix.

In a small skillet, saute the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon of butter until tender. Combine with the eggplant mixture.

Spoon half of the vegetable mixture into the prepared casserole. Top with about 2/3 of the cheese then 2/3 of the bread crumbs. Top with the remaining vegetable mixture and the remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned and the casserole is bubbly.

Enjoy!!!

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Pear (Pizzazz meets Cherry) Cobbler??

Okay, so this is really a recipe for a Skillet Peach Pudding, but those words don't fit into Stampin' Up! colors.  The closest I could find was Pear Cobbler, but you get the picture.  ;) And I know it's a little past peach season, at least here in NJ it is, but this recipe ROCKS and I bet it would also be good with apples, too!!!  Mmmmmmm.....

This recipe came from my CSA at Alstede's Farms.  It was a recipe that was the farm market manager's great grandmother's, so it's been around forever.  Because of that I slightly altered a few of the ingredients.  You'll see my notes below.

Melt in skillet:

• 1 c. sugar (I actually used about 2/3 cup)
• 1/2 c. butter (I actually used about 1/3 cup)

Slice 4 peaches (leave the skin on) on top of the sugar/butter mixture.

Mix:

• 1 c. sugar (I used about 1/2 cup)
• 3 beaten eggs
• 3 T. milk
• 1 c. flour (I used Jule's Gluten-free flour)
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• pinch salt

Pour mixture over the peaches.  Put skillet in oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  Put tin foil or a cookie sheet under the skillet in case it runs over. (I didn't have a skillet that could go in the oven, so I poured the melted sugar & butter into a 9x13 baking pan and then followed the rest of the recipe.  Next time I would put it into a smaller baking pan, maybe 9x9 so it would be a little thicker.)

Hmmm, so maybe tomorrow I'll have to come up with a project that uses Pear Pizzazz & Cherry Cobbler, just so I can use the title again and totally confuse everyone!!!

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Happy Birthday America & Mommy!!

My mom's birthday is today and we celebrated it yesterday on the 4th of July.  It's funny - my mom was born on the 5th of July and my mother-in-law was born on Flag Day, and both of them are VERY patriotic.  You can never go wrong by getting them something red, white, & blue for a gift!!

We had a picnic yesterday at my parents' house and my mom made my family gluten-free cupcakes.  Here is how she had them decorated.  Pretty cool, huh?  (And pretty clever considering the recipe only makes 12 cupcakes.)

And here is the card I made for my mom.  I used it as my sample for my last Technique Tuesday Class.  It's a pop-up card, and I actually used the snowflakes in a Christmas stamp set (Snow Swirled) to be fireworks. This was the outside of the card...

...and this was the inside.

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July Holiday.  It's always a good day to reflect on how lucky we are to live in such a great country.

Potato & Leek Soup: Gluten & Casein Free!!!

For about two years, I have been thinking about joining a farm co-op, but just never got around to it.  If you've never heard of a farm co-op, what you do is pay a one-time fee and then you pick up whatever the farm harvests that week.  It's a great way to get fresh locally-grown vegetables, fruit, and herbs.  At the very last minute (and I mean the day before the "season" started), I joined the Harvest Club at Alstede Farms.  We are only two weeks in, but it has been wonderful!

With eating gluten-free, I've been reading lots of labels over the past 2 years, and I don't like what I read.  I'm convinced that eating more fresh vegetables and less processed foods is the way to go.  Not to mention the fact that as a kid growing up, my dad and grandfathers (both of them actually) had HUGE gardens and they grew everything. So, being around homegrown vegetables reminds me of summers when I was little.  It also reminds me of my grandmas and all the baking, cooking, and canning they used to do.  Brings back good wholesome memories!

With the co-op, though, I knew there would be things that I might not know what to do with, and/or that I might not like, but that is also kind of the beauty of it.  I did take my beets to my parents' house last weekend, but we got more this week, so I guess I have to figure out something to do with them!

We also got leeks last week (and this week) and I searched around for something to do with them.  I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that I tweaked a little, and I have to say, it was pretty yummy!  It's a creamy soup, but it has no milk or cream in it (which should make anyone with casein or lactose issues happy)!!  It's probably more of a winter soup, but I made it last week when it was a little cooler, and I'm going to make more this weekend and freeze it.  Here is the recipe:

2 pounds white potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 cups chicken broth
2 leeks, bulb only
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white wine
salt to taste
1/4 pepper
parsley

1. In a dutch over, cook potatoes in chicken stock until soft. Remove from heat, but do not drain.  Using an immersion blender, blend potatoes until chicken stock is creamy. It's okay to leave a few small chunks of potato.
   
2. Half the leeks lengthwise, and soak in water to clean. Finely slice. Saute in butter until transparent. Add white wine, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add sauteed leeks to dutch oven.  Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.

Enjoy this yummy recipe and check back tomorrow for some more samples!!!

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Happy Valentine's Day - And My Birthday Celebration Continues!!!

Our dinner last night was delicious!  We went to Attilio's in Denville, NJ.  If you need a local Morris County place to eat, this is a good pick!  They even have a gluten free menu and it was so yummy!!!

Here is a shot of our whole group.

Since it's rare that all the Peel brothers & sisters get to spend time together, we decided to leave all the grandkids with the grandparents overnight & go out on the town!!  We went to the Office in Morristown with all the 21 year-olds!!!  It was a lot of fun - and we should really do it more often!!!

Here we are!! (I should photoshop those two people out of the background, huh?)

When Jeff went to pick up the girls this morning at his parents house, I put out all their Valentine presents.  Here is Jeff's (isn't he a lucky guy?).

Yesterday while Jeff & the girls were at ice-skating lessons, I made some gluten-free  Valentine chocolate-covered pretzels.  This was (and still is I suppose) one of my most FAVORITE things in life.  The only problem now is that if I want them, I have to make them myself.  So that is exactly what I did!! Here is a close up!!  Mmmmm - they are so yummy - I totally licked the bowl with the pretzels as I was making them!!!

Okay, on to more birthday festivities today!!  I'm heading up to my mom & dad's for birthday dinner and gluten free birthday cake!!!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

A Valentine's Birthday Card (with Fifth Avenue Floral)

I didn't post this yesterday since I actually spent very little time on the computer!!  Yeah!!

But I wanted to show you yet another great technique with my favorite stamp set, Fifth Avenue Floral.   This card is from my friend Dana.  I LOVE it!!!!  And paper piecing is one technique I hadn't thought of doing with Fifth Avenue Floral, but it's so great!!  So here is the sample for you to enjoy.

I am on my way up to my parents' house for a birthday dinner.  My sister's birthday was last Tuesday so every year we celebrate together.  This year my mom is making pot roast, gravy, mashed pototoes, homemade rolls (and I am sure more) - and all of it will be gluten-free!!!  Yeah!!  Oh, and I almost forgot my traditional birthday cake, which has been the same since I was little.  My mom has these cake pans in the shape of a heart, so every year I have a vanilla cake with pink food coloring swirled throughout.  There is usually pink icing and white writing.  This year, the cake is gluten-free (from Namaste), so I am looking forward to a yummy dinner with my family tonight.  Hope you are enjoying your long holiday weekend!!!

A Gluten-Free Recipe: Italian Penne with Shrimp

It's been awhile since I have mentioned my gluten allergy, so I thought I would provide you with one of my favorite (healthy) gluten-free recipes.  Even my 6 year-old loves this one!!  It's a pasta dish, I guess I would call it Italian Penne with Shrimp.  And, this also happens to be casein-free, also.

16-ounce package of gluten-free penne (I use Tinkayada brown rice pasta)
Olive Oil (maybe 2 T, I don't measure)
1 medium onion, diced
3 small zucchini, thickly sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
1 t. dried basil (or if it's summer and I have fresh, I use about 6-8 leaves chopped)
1 t. dried oregano
1 T plus 1 t. dried parsley
salt to taste
1 pound raw shrimp, thawed (tails on or off, doesn't matter)
1/2 cup Romano cheese (can substitute Parmesan, but it's no longer casein-free)

Cook pasta according to package directions.  While it's cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, zucchini, and garlic.  Saute for about 5-10 minutes, stirring often.  Add diced tomatoes, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low & cover.  Add basil, oregano, parsley, & salt and continue to simmer.  Boil a separate pot of water for the shrimp.  Once water is boiling, toss in shrimp & boil for about 4-5 minutes.

Drain pasta.  Combine pasta, vegetable sauce, shrimp, and Romano cheese in a large serving bowl.  Gently toss so everything is mixed well.  Add additional cheese if desired.  And that's it!!

It's a really easy recipe and has lots of ingredients you probably have right in your house.  It does make a lot of dishes, though, so make sure you have plenty of clean-up time!!  If you don't eat gluten-free, I'm sure it would taste great with regular pasta, too, but I dare you to try it with the GF pasta.  I bet you would never know the difference!!!!  Next time I make it, I'll take a picture of it, so you can see it, too.  Oh, and if you try it, make sure you let me know what you think!!

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My Gluten-Free Journey - part 1

I know there are some of you who know this, but I suspect a lot of you who don't, but I recently (6 months ago) found out I have a gluten sensitivity.  Considering my diet used to consist of a bagel every morning for breakfast, pretzels as my favorite snack, and beer as my favorite "adult" beverage, (not to mention the fact that I also love sandwiches, pasta, & pizza!) this was quite the blow!!!

I won't go into the whole story, but for years (as far back as when I was 14) I had suffered from stomach problems.  I had gone to many doctors over the years, because sometimes the pain was more bothersome than others.  I had been "diagnosed" with everything from "possible ulcers, so stay away from soda & spicy foods" to "you have IBS", to "there is nothing wrong with you".  After spending almost one complete night of our past Winter Crop Weekend up in my hotel room (to spare you the gory details, I'll leave it to your imagination as to why), I decided I needed to get some alternate help.

My good friend Heather suggested I see a holistic practitioner.  She had taken her son who was severely asthmatic to one, and by changing his diet, he is now 100% off medication & doing great!!!  So she referred me to Fran who I made an appointment to go & see.

As I suspected, I had a sensitivity to gluten and (this part I didn't suspect) casein.  For any of you who don't know (and are still reading this) gluten is the protein found in wheat, barely, & rye and casein is the protein in cow's milk.  So imagine overnight giving up bread, pasta, crackers, pretzels, AND milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream (among many, many other things!!)  THIS was my new life.

I say sensitivity and not allergy because I was never tested by an allergist.  And, oddly enough if I was tested today, it would not show that I have a gluten problem.  There are many factors that have to be in place for allergens to appear in tests, the most variable of these being your environment.  So, if I was tested and hadn't had any gluten in the past few days, it would probably show up negative, even if I WAS allergic.  So the fact that I feel so much better now than I did 6 months ago is "test" enough for me.

I'm sure that most people reading my blog are stampers & scrapbookers, but I wonder if there are any other gluten-free readers.  If so, let me know!!  I think this is the longest post I've actually written, so I am going to end soon, but every now & then I'm going to give you an update on my gluten-free life, and even throw in a couple recipes or products that I have found that I like.  And even if you are not living a strictly gluten-free life, you might even want to try them!!  Overall, I can't believe how much healthier I (and my whole family - more on them in a future post) am eating, and I've even lost a little weight (although I really wasn't trying to) and some body fat.

So given all that, I'll close by giving you my FAVORITE gluten-free, casein-free ice cream.  The brand is called Purely Decadent (and I'm pretty sure it's made by Edy's).  In my Shop-Rite it sells for $4.49/pint (I know, its not cheap - but last week it was on sale for $2.99!!!) and my absolute favorite flavor is Cookie Dough (and yes, it is gluten-free).  It's AWESOME!!!!!  I eat anywhere from a third to a half a pint almost EVERY night.

Thanks for coming along on my gluten-free journey - more to come in the future!!
-Jen