Cold Stone

On Saturday night my husband took me to Cold Stone creamery and as I was eating my ice cream I turned to him and asked "have I posted about Cold Stone yet on my blog?"  He told me no.  I feel like such a schmuck!  This is something that everyone should know about!  Yes there are options for ice cream, and a lot of them too!  Right now my favorite is the salted caramel ice cream with snickers in it or some kind of nuts.  If you would like to know what you can have go to Cold Stone Gluten-Free Menu.  I hope you enjoy your wonderful experience going out for some delicious ice cream!  Have fun!!

Balsamic-honey Pork.

Because of the fact that I haven't really gone out to eat at a new place recently, I thought I would write some of my favorite recipes down so that everyone who lives a gluten-free lifestyle can continue to have some flavor in your life. ^-^  This recipe is my husband's favorite Sunday meal.  He practically inhales it.  If you're not into Balsamic Vinegar this is probably not the recipe for you, but I can tell you this, my husband wasn't a fan of it until I made this for him, and now he is converted. ^-^

Pork:
1 to 2 lbs pork tenderloin
Oil for searing
Salt and Pepper

Glaze:
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (if you only have garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of that will work as well.)
1 TBS chopped rosemary
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TBS honey
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 TBS mustard (I use honey dijon, but I've used others, and it usually works out just fine.)

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
*Mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.
*Slice the pork into small squares/rectangles (whatever suits your fancy ^-^) about and inch thick.
*Cover the bottom of a skillet with a thin layer of oil and heat until hot.
*Add pork slices in 1 layer and season with salt and pepper and sear for 1 minute.  Turn and sear on the other side for 1 minute (adding salt and pepper to that side as well.) until lightly browned.
*Transfer the pork to a shallow baking dish in one layer.
*Pour the glaze over the pork and turn the pieces to coat.
*Put it in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes until the thermometer reaches your desired doneness.  I usually go for 160 because I'm a little bit of a worry wort, but the FDA says that 145 with a 3 minute resting period is ok for pork.
*Remove from oven and keep warm until ready to serve.
*Serve over rice and spoon the balsamic-honey glaze over the pork.

I hope you really enjoy this recipe.  It is really good.  Enjoy!!

Apple Cobbler

Ok, so here is a recipe that is absolutely amazing!  It doesn't have any "gluten-free" taste at all!  Both my husband and I were totally shocked at how good it was, and how easy it was to make!  I thought it was going to be an all nighter, but it really is quick and easy.  So here ya go, delicious apple cobbler.

Apple Part:
3 medium apples (go for ones that are more tart than others.)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Batter:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Extra Things:
1 stick of butter

For the Apples use an apple corer (mine cuts apples into 8 pieces) and then cut the pieces twice for thin crescent shaped apple slices.  Cover the apples with the 1/4 cup sugar and 2tsp cinnamon.  (I used a large zip-lock bag and just shook the bag with apples and the sugar/cinnamon mixture.)

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together, then add the milk.  Mix well.

Cut the stick of butter into slices and place in the bottom of a baking dish.  I used a large circular casserole dish.  Place the dish in a 350 preheated oven (not too long, don't scortch the butter, just until it's melted.)  Take the dish out of the oven and pour the batter into the baking dish.  Put the apples on top, and press them into the batter.  Put as many as you would like.  Then pour the remaining cinnamon and sugar over the top.

Put the pan back into the hot oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Check every so often to see if it's done early.  (Start doing it around 45 minutes.)

This is amazing with ice cream, so make sure there's lots of that around as well.  I hope you totally enjoy this amazing recipe!

Cafe Zupas

Wow, it has been way too long since I've posted something on here.  Unfortunately for me, I live in a small town and the options are kind of slim...so when I do get out of this town I try to go to new places that don't kill my bank account.  One such place I got to go to was a place called Cafe Zupas.  I was with friends that loved the place, and not wanting to be rude I went along with them.  I told myself that if there wasn't anything to eat I would run down the street and get something really fast and come back so no one felt obligated to eat where I wanted to eat (or could eat.)  I was shocked to find out that there were options for me, and good ones too!  I got a vermont maple salad, and the tomato bisque.  Both gluten-free and absolutely delicious!  You also get a free chocolate covered strawberry (and they went and checked for me to make sure the chocolate was gluten-free for me).  I did splurge and get a creme brulee when I found out that was gluten-free as well.  (how often do you get to have dessert too??)  Unfortunately they don't have anything posted on their website to give an exact gluten-free menu, but the staff is very willing to go and check on things for you.  I had a wonderful experience and highly recommend it to everyone.  So go out and enjoy!!

Park City Pizza Company

For my birthday my husband took me to a hotel in Park City Utah.  The next day we were looking for something to eat for lunch.  During our search we found "Park City Pizza Company".  They had a giant sign on the front of their store that said "try our gluten-free pizza!"  I was craving pizza, so this was awesome.  It was a small restaurant, but they were really friendly, and knew exactly what we were talking about when we brought up Celiac disease.  When the pizza came I was not disappointed.  The size of the pizza was what they said it would be (A lot of pizza places I go to the gluten-free pizzas end up being half the size of what they say it will be.) and the sauce was wonderful.  Of course I got the supreme pizza which was quite lovely.  The meat was really good and the spices made the pizza just divine.  If you would like to see the menu to Park City Pizza Company go to Park City Pizza Company Gluten-free Menu.  The menu that they have at the restaurant itself has a lot more options, so I suggest going to the restaurant instead of ordering it online.  True, it's out of the way for most people in Utah, but if you're ever in Park City, I would highly suggest going to their Pizza Company.   

Amazing Chocolate Brownies

So I thought I would share one of my favorite deserts that even people that don't eat gluten-free love.  They're absolutely amazing chocolate brownies. ^-^  I hope that you all enjoy!


Mo's Amazing Chocolate Brownies:

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted (1 1/2 sticks)

2 TBS water

2 large eggs  

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup gluten-free flour (recipe at the bottom)

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 13x9 in pan.  (my favorite pan I use is 8x11x1.5 in, it makes the brownies nice and fat.)  Combine sugar, butter and water in a large bowl.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.  Combine unflour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum in a medium bowl.  Stir into sugar mixture.  Spread into baking pan.  Bake for 18 to 25 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  

Gluten-Free Flour:

3 cups rice flour (I prefer brown rice flour)

2 1/2 cups cornstarch

1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

Pizza Pie Cafe

So, after some gentle prodding (which I'm grateful for) I'm back at my blog to update it.  Sorry to everyone that has been waiting for a while, life has gotten really busy, and I haven't been able to keep up with my blog.  Anyway, I thought I would rave about a new place I've found.  Unfortunately, if you don't live in Utah or Idaho, you can't experience the awesomeness that is the "Pizza Pie Cafe".  My husband and I were driving and saw a tiny sign (no joking, if we weren't stopping at a stop light we probably wouldn't have seen it.) that said "try our gluten-free pizzas!"  That Friday night we were at Pizza Pie Cafe. ^-^  The way that Pizza Pie Cafe works is that it is a buffet of pizzas, and a lot of them.  The problem is, is that all of them have gluten in them.  To get the delicious gluten-free pizza you special order it when you pay before you enter.  Here's the amazing part, a full gluten-free pizza is the same price as a person going in to the buffet.  It's a big pizza, and you don't have to pay extra!  The amazing part was that I got to have a desert pizza too!  You don't get all the choices for desert pizza, but having a few flavors is better than having nothing.  They are very knowledgeable, so ask questions if you're worried. I found out that they really don't make any money from selling the gluten-free pizzas at the price they do, so make sure you let them know how grateful you are, and tell them how amazing they are for doing this for us!  There really is no menu that I can find online that I can send you to, but you can ask them what has gluten in it and what doesn't.  I love getting the supreme pizza, it is so good!  So, if you're craving pizza, and you don't want to sell the clothes on your back for it, Pizza Pie Cafe is definitely the place for you.  So go out and enjoy!!