{A Few of My Favorite Things...Part 4}

And welcome back to Part 4 and the final post in my series on a few of my favorite kitchen items!

Click HERE for Part 1,

HERE for Part 2,

and

HERE for Part 3!

This week is all about Miscellaneous, random stuff, that I love!

Silicone Baking Mitts:

Getting things out of the oven scares me to death. I don't know why. I have never been burned (well, I mean, severely anyways!), but for some reason, it just scares me!

However, I feel a little safer with these! They can handle super high heat, they grip things really, really well, they wipe off easy, they are even dishwasher safe!

Plus, if you accidentally drop them into your oven, they will not catch on fire or even melt for a while, unlike their competitors - the old fashioned cloth type. 

Don't ask. Just trust.

Anyways, I think these came from Sam's Club. 

Hand Mixer:

For reasons that I do not even know, we never had a hand mixer when I was growing up and learning to cook. I don't know why, we just didn't.

But in the last few years, we have broken down and finally splurged!

I love this thing for making little things - icing/frosting's, dips, some types of cake batters....just small amounts and thin things. Never cookie dough or anything heavy and stiff like that.

Tip:

If you are mixing something with powder sugar, or flour that tends to "POOF" everywhere as soon as you turn the mixer on, place a towel over top your mixer and bowl. Turn the mixer on low, and beat gently for a few minutes until the powder substance is at least lightly incorporated. This helps prevent you and your kitchen from completely looking like the white thing on that movie Big Hero Six.

This particular hand-mixer was purchased at Walmart, but like everything else, they can be found just about anywhere. 

Microwave Plate Cover:

A clean kitchen is a big deal to me. And the inside of the microwave is just as important as any other area. Honestly, it's one of my weird-kitchen-quirks: don't walk on my floor while I'm mopping, clean the inside of the microwave. Thank you.

This thing is a life saver!! You just set it over your food while you're heating it up. Any splatter big or small (because they simply are going to happen), will happen all over this thing, instead of all over your microwave. And this thing is WAY easier to wash off, or stick in the dishwasher, than either trying to stand on your head or climb mount Everest to get all the way inside your microwave, and use every muscle in your arm to scrub all the nooks and cranny's clean.

This one came from Walmart.

Mini Food Processor:

Aww, isn't this thing just the cutest? I love mini-anything's!!

We have a regular size food processor and I do use it a lot. But this one is really nice for chopping small quantities of things like nuts, celery and onions, etc.

This one came from Walmart, but we also had one once that came from the Aldi grocery store...they sometimes have some awesome kitchen stuff in there for amazing prices!

Kitchen Scale:

I always sort of wanted one of these, but wasn't really sure if I would use it or not. My mom found this one at Aldi's grocery store for like $5, so if I hated it and never used it, it wasn't a huge deal.

Turns out I love it!!!! I use it all the time.

Again, a little OCD sometimes, so when a recipe calls for 3 pounds of potatoes? Yep! I totally weigh that out!

It's super easy to use and it's just awesome!!

Kitchen Cleaners:

Bar Keeper's Friend Squeeze Bottle:

This is the cleaner I use for the stainless steel pans I talked about in Part 2.

You just squirt some of this on those pans and they wipe right out. It's awesome! And randomly, it smells pretty good too!

We get it from Walmart.

Bar Keeper's Friend Shaker:

This is by far my favorite cleaner for our flat-top stove. It works way better than all the other "specialty" things I have tried. It's just a powder that you shake on, gently scrub off with a non-abrasive sponge or cloth, and then wipe clean.

Awesome Orange Spray:

This is an all-purpose, multi-surface, de-greaser spray. I use it on the table and counter tops. It smells great and makes cleaning up a breeze.

You can get variations of this cleaner most anywhere, but we actually get ours from Dollar Tree.

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And that's all folks!!! 

I hope you enjoyed this serious on a some of my favorite kitchen gadgets!!!

{A Few of My Favorite Things...Part 3}

Welcome to Part 3 of my series on a few of my favorite kitchen items!

Click HERE for Part 1

and

HERE for Part 2!

This week is all about utensils. And fair warning, I have a weakness for utensils!

I don't know what it is, but I just love them! 

Whisks:

I would have to say that a whisk is a kitchen necessity.

At least one. Preferably more like 2 or 3! And all different sizes!

I use them for everything. 

Blending dry ingredients, eggs, sauces, pudding...big things, little things, all things!!!

These can be found anywhere kitchen items are found.

Misc. tools:

A basting bulb, a meat thermometer, the Rachel Ray Scraper.

I like this basting bulb, because the top comes off, making it easier to keep clean. I use this for basting, obviously, but also for sucking different liquids out of pans. For instance, when I make THIS recipe for baked chicken, sometimes there is too much broth in the pan. So I use this to suction that all out really fast.

This one came from Walmart.

The meat thermometer I use for meat and bread. It's digital, and has a cover for the stick, which keeps it safe and clean. It just saves a lot of time, rather than cutting into each individual chicken breast to see if it's thoroughly cooked or not. As well as steaks, Hamburgers, and other things. We use it for things on the grill, things in the oven, things on the stove.

This one came from Walmart.

This Rachel Ray Scraper is awesome! You can literally do so many things with it. I use it for scraping things from a cutting board to a pan or dish. You can even roughly chop some things with it. It's not super sharp (not for celery or onions), so it's not going to cut your hands.

I had wanted one for a long time, and my aunt gave me this one. They are all over the place though. I know Walmart has them, and I'm sure they are in lots of other stores as well.

Knife Set:

I love a good knife set. And this one is IT!

I do a lot of chopping and cutting, and a good knife can make or break that situation!

To be honest, I don't even know what all of the knives in this set are for, but I do use the majority of them. Especially the largest one, and the smallest ones. As well as the scissors and the sharpener.

This set came from Sam's Club.

Miscellaneous:

-Silicone "flipper." I don't know what these are technically called, we just always called them flippers! Because you do use them to flip things, you know! Pancakes, eggs, hamburgers, all sorts of things! Serving lasagna and casseroles....just anything! This one is the best!

And it's from Walmart, of course!

-Wooden spoons. Can be used in any type of pan, and won't scratch it. They are sturdy, and therefore can handle thicker and heavy batters than some other plastic spoons.

Plus, did you know that if you put a wooden spoon over top a pan of boiling potatoes, it won't boil over? True fact.

Tons of sizes, tons of styles, and you can get them pretty much anywhere.

-Off-set Spatula. Mostly, these are intended for cake decorating, and therefore usually found in that section of a kitchen store. They do work really well for spreading out frosting and icing. But they work amazing for spreading out THIS pizza crust, or brownie batter, cake batter, ice cream for THIS dessert, anything that needs to be spread.

This is the smaller one, and they also make a larger one.

-Silicone Pastry Brush. With this being a silicone brush, you can put it on the dishwasher after you use it, and it cleans so much better.

I use it to brush melted butter or beaten eggs over pastry dough, for brushing BBQ sauce on chicken, even for squishing into shortening, and brushing over the waffle iron (instead of cooking spray).

This one is from a kitchen specialty store.

Cookie and Ice Cream Scoops:

Though they are sold with the false illusion that cookies and ice cream will be the only things these are used for, I'm here to tell you that is the farthest thing from the truth!

Ice cream and cookie dough, yes, of course! But what about muffins, melons, drop biscuits (to keep them all uniform in size), mini-meatloaves, to portion meat for hamburgers, etc.

I'm a little OCD when it comes to dividing things equally. For instance, when I make Lasagna, I have to divide all the sauce evenly between 3 bowls (because I make it with 3 layers), and all the ricotta mixture evenly between 3 bowls. And I use the large scoop to do that. So that every bowl is perfectly evenly.

Yeah, I have problems, but I'm just saying it makes it easy to do that sort of thing with these scoops!

The small one was purchased at a kitchen specialty store, and the large one is from Walmart.

Spatulas:

Ahhh, spatulas. I know I say this about most all of these items, but really, spatulas are my favorite kitchen item! When I say I use them every.single.day for every.single.dish. That means that I can't think of one day, or one dish, where at least one spatula will not be used!

And it's because they are silicone. The spoon and the handle are not two separate pieces, therefore they don't break as easily. They are easier to clean. They can be used for things that are ice cold, they can be used in a boiling pan of whatever!

And do you see all of these? And all the different sizes?

I use all of them.

These came from a variety of places - kitchen specialty stores, Walmart, gifts. And I'm sure they can be found in numerous other stores/websites as well. Just look for silicone spatulas.

....................................

And that's it for Part 3.

I hope you join me next week for Part Four!!!!

{A Few of My Favorite Things...Part 2}

Welcome back to Part 2 of my series on a few of my favorite kitchen items!

If you didn't see last week's post, you can check out Part 1 HERE!

This week is all about cook-wear, bake-wear, and containers.

Stainless-Steel Skillets and Saucepans:

I have always used stainless steel pans for saucepans. But only recently have I started using the skillets. We were getting pretty sick of replacing our skillets multiple times a year, because the Teflon would scratch off (that's kind of gross to think about). However, I was very used to that type of pan, and very comfortable using it, and was pretty skeptical of the stainless steel pans. Either people love them or they hate them...there doesn't seem to be any middle ground!

First, I have to say that they are wonderful!

Second, I have to say that they do take some getting used to.

I started out by seasoning them, because that's what "everyone" says to do.

Skip that step. It wears off after the first use, and they just don't need it.

Tips:

-It's a very even cooking heat

-Because these don't have any rubber type of anything on the handle, they are oven-safe as well.

-After just a few minutes of soaking in some hot, soapy water, they are very easy to clean. You can't use any kind of abrasive sponge or anything, but we found this awesome cleaner that is fabulous! I'll share that with you in a separate post very soon.

-You MUST use the pans over a lower heat. NEVER put them on a burner that is turned on high. I never use them on any heat higher than medium - no matter what I'm cooking. Stainless steel gets much hotter than other pans, so if you have them on high, your food is going to burn almost instantly. And so is your pan. Low and slow is key!

Pyrex Baking Pans:

If there was a single item in our kitchen that we have the most of, and use the most often (besides drinking glasses or forks), it would 9x13 baking pans....with lids!

I seriously use them for everything, all the time! 

For instance, we have 8. The good news is that we only need cabinet space for about 3, because that's usually the maximum number not being used!

I make cakes, brownies, lots of different kinds of desserts, casseroles, jello salads, dips for chips, etc., etc., and etc. I store cookies, muffins and biscuits in them, all sorts of leftovers (like pizza), use them as a nice long veggie tray. I mean, really, you name it, and you can probably use a 9x13 pan for it!!  

I bake things in them, I freeze things in them, I store things in them.

They travel well, they stack well, they store well.

As you can tell from the picture, the top pan is slightly smaller. I'm not sure what the exact size is, but it's a little shorter, and much narrower than a 9x13. It came in a set with another 9x13 pan, and I use it just as much...especially for half batches of different things.

And the lids as well. I rarely use a pan, and not the lid.

You can find this style of pan (maybe different brands) in a variety of places.

We have gotten them as gifts (and they make a fabulous gift, by the way), from Walmart, TJMaxx, Ross, Amazon...pretty much any place that sells kitchen items.

Small Serving Bowls:

These might seem a little strange to some people, but I LOVE these silly little bowls!! 

And they are tiny!! The large ones on the left hold a half cup. 

The small ones on the right hold a quarter of a cup.

I think technically they are small serving bowls. 

We use them for dips, for keeping jello salads and other things like that off your plate and separate from your other food. For all sorts of little things.

And for baking/cooking as well. You know on cooking shows and things like that, how the chef's have all the different ingredients all measured out and ready to go? Yeah, I do that all the time. And these bowls work amazing for that! It helps keep me organized and on track, and I just love it!

I'm sure you can get them other places too, but we honestly got them at Dollar Tree (I love that store). The small ones come in packs of 4 (correct, 4 bowls for a dollar), and the big ones come in packs of 2 or 3, I can't remember exactly.

Custard/Baking Cups: 

These are pretty much up there with the 9x13 baking pans, and just about as useful.

You can bake in them, you can freeze in them. We do both.

Plus use them for leftovers, dips, measuring out ingredients like the other little bowls listed above, freezing small portions of meals, flipping them over and tracing around them when you need a circle of paper that size for something (lol!)....again, you name it!! They are generally the answer to my "small" problems!

They come in a variety of sizes. Pictured here are the one-cup and two-cup sizes.

These were both purchased at Walmart, but again, I'm sure they can be found at any kitchen-specialty store, Amazon, etc., and there are several different brands (Pyrex, Anchor, etc.).

Rubbermaid Storage Containers:

Tupperware is wonderful, don't get me wrong. 

But I have to admit, I may just love these little containers even more. 

We have several different styles of storage containers, but these are by far my favorite.

First, the fact that they are square, makes them so practical for storing in a refrigerator or cabinet.

Second, they stack really, really well. And so do the lids. They basically clip together, which keeps them from getting lost.

They are great to freeze things in, but I do not recommend using them in the microwave, as they can melt and then, you know, they just don't look very good after that.

They come in a variety of different sets. I love the set we have, because it has lots of different sizes...from large to extra small. And I use them ALL!

These came from Walmart, but I have seen them just about everywhere...from Dollar General to Sam's Club, BedBath&Beyond, Amazon...they're everywhere.

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Hope to see you again next week for Part 3!!!

{A Few of My Favorite Things...Part 1}

So, as I was in the kitchen recently (we all know that doesn't happen very often, lol!!!)...cooking, putting away dishes, etc. I found myself thinking 

"Oh, this is my favorite kitchen tool." 

Or, "I definitely want one of these when I have my own kitchen." 

And "Oh, maybe this is actually my favorite kitchen gadget."

Let me just be upfront and honest here...I have a LOT of favorites!!!!!!

I could live in one of those kitchen-gadget-specialty-shops!

I'm sure everyone has their own list of favorites...that's what makes everyone and every dish unique!!

But I thought it might be fun to share some of mine!

So over the next couple of weeks, I will be showing you some of my favorite tools, gadgets, cookware, appliances...even a couple of cleaners that I love to use in the kitchen!

I hope you enjoy!

And I would love to hear what some of your favorites are as well!!

Glass Measuring Cups

I love these things! I use one of them every, single day! 

Pictured here, I have an 8-cup, 4-cup, 2-cup, 1-cup, and the two smallest ones measure ounces, tablespoons and teaspoons.

I use them for cold and hot ingredients.

I use them for measuring, I use them for mixing, I use them for heating something in the microwave.

They may be one of the most practical pieces in a kitchen! 

They can be purchased almost anywhere that sells any type of kitchen stuff. We have found ours in various places - 

Walmart, Kitchen specialty stores, Pampered Chef, even TJMaxx, Ross and Amazon.

 Measuring Cups and Spoons

Okay, so I have to admit that this is not our only set of measuring cups and spoons! 

We actually have 4. 

And I can not tell you the number of times, when most of them are ALL dirty! At once! 

It's crazy!

This set, however, is my favorite. It's a clean and simple design...no little crevices anywhere, and that's why I like it. The handle is pretty much even with the cup, so it makes it easy to use a knife to level off flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, etc. 

Again, measuring cups and spoons are not hard to find.

These were purchased from IKEA.

(Ah, if you are a kitchen-gadget-loving-person like myself, and have never been to IKEA, first I will have a moment of silence for you, and then I would tell you that if you ever have a chance to go to an IKEA....don't pass it up!!!)

 The Wonder Cup

First off, I don't know what this is actually called, but it says wonder cup on it, so I just used that for the title. Honestly, never once have we ever said "please hand me the wonder cup" but I'll get to that later, because it technically has nothing to do with anything!

So, this thing looks crazy, but it's an absolute life-saver, let me tell you!

As you can tell, we use ours....maybe too much!!!

If you are unfamiliar with this gadget, the yellow part is flat on the top. It moves up and down inside the clear part that is marked with measurements for cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces...and other measurements that I'm pretty sure most people in this country do not use and therefore I don't even know what they are!

Anyways, lets say you are measuring 1 cup of honey. So you push the yellow part down to the one cup line, add the honey, and push it right out into your mixing bowl, all the while leaving not one spec of it behind!!!!

It's just "wonder-ful"! 

A life-saver for honey, peanut butter, BBQ sauce, ketchup...anything of that consistency. We honestly mostly use ours for peanut butter (because we use a ton of that), and so it has been affectionately dubbed "the peanut butter cup" (our creativity just blows me away)!!

I do not have the slightest idea where ours came from...it's just always been around, I think....since Adam, by the looks of it!

However, I know that at one point, Pampered Chef had something almost identical to this, and I'm sure other company's probably make it as well.

In fact, I just googled it for you, and yeah, turns out they're not hard to find!!

............................

See you next week for Part Two!!!!

How to Step-up your boxed cake mix:

I'm not a huge cake eater, but every now and then, a nice, moist slice of cake just sounds good.

There are several gluten-free boxed cake mixes out now, and some of them are good, but others are not so fantastic! 

However, I have learned a few tricks that can kick a boxed cake mix, up to a whole new level!

The Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes are definitely my favorite, but these tips can be used with absolutely any brand and size, as well as for a regular non-gluten-free cake mix.

I hope you try it out!

1. When the box says to add water to your cake mix, use milk instead.

2. Always add one extra egg. So, if the box calls for 3 eggs, use 4.

3. If the box calls for oil, use melted butter instead.

4. Adding 1 cup of sour cream, or 1 package of instant pudding mix, is very optional, but will help if you want a pretty rich cake.

Pizza Hut and Udi's:

I don't know how I missed this process, but I just found out that Pizza Hut is partnering with

 Udi's Gluten-Free company

 to bring you a gluten-free pizza that you can now order at Pizza Hut!!!

I just received the e-mail that it was launched today!

I'm pretty excited about this!! I love how more and more places are trying to be so accommodating to gluten-free eaters!!! 

Here is the link to Pizza Hut, were you can find the locations (over 2,000) that are offering the gluten-free pizza!!

Pizza Hut

Unfortunately, the nearest one to me is about 30 minutes away, so I have not been able to try one yet. I hope to soon, but in the mean time, if anyone else tries one, PLEASE leave me a comment or e-mail me and let me know what you think!!!

My Recipe Magic:

 

 

Six Sisters Stuff is one of my favorite websites/blogs!

It's run, obviously, by six sisters and I've gotten so many great recipes from there!

Last year, they started a "sister" website called My Recipe Magic. I've just added a link to the right of my blog, in case you haven't seen it. You may have already heard of this site, but in case you haven't, I wanted to introduce you!

If you click on the link I have provided on the side of my blog, it will take you to my page on the site and all of the recipes I have on there so far (not too many, but I'm working at getting them all up there!). Anyway, what's great about this, is you can click on the "Nutrition" tab, and it will show you number of servings, calories, and more!

 

Plus, you can click on the "search by ingredient" tab at the top of the page, and here you can search by a certain ingredient, number of calories, food allergies, and SO much more!

 

It's a fabulous site and I hope you check it out!

And while you're there, check out all the other great recipes that lots of others have added as well!

Again, it's a fairly new site, and they are constantly updating and making it better and better every day, so make sure to check back often! Plus, be sure to check out my page often as well, because I'm adding more and more of my recipes, as I get the chance!

 

Please feel free to Pin any and all of my recipes from here and My recipe Magic, as well!

 

Tips on making half of a recipe:

I am part of a pretty big family  - I mean, 5 kids (all over 13) at home and two parents. And there's even a 16-year-old boy in there! But still, for some reason, if a recipe serves 4, that's the amount I make and usually there's leftovers! I hardly ever make anything with two pounds of hamburger, and typically only use 4 chicken breast. We're just not big eaters I guess, at least that's what people tell us (unless it's chocolate chip cookies we're talking about!)!! That being said, there is lots of times that I only make half of a recipe or sometimes I even make a recipe and a half, depending on what it is and how many I'm cooking for. We have this fantastic measuring cup that has teaspoons, ounces, tablespoons and cups all marked on it, but after years of use, the lettering is starting to disappear and I was starting to panic!! Then I stumbled across this and was very excited! It may not take the place of my handy measuring cup, but it will definitely help!

Now I know there's people out there that can figure all this out in their head in two seconds, but I am NOT one of them. Plus, I second guess everything, and that doesn't help either. So if you're super smart and don't need this chart, I sincerely congratulate you!!!! If you're anything like me, here's a handy chart to help us out!!

 

 

 

Mixes:

I mix up our gluten-free flour mixture about once a month.

It takes about 30 minutes, and then it's done.

When I do this, I like to pre-measure mixes for things we use often or make on a regular basis. It saves a lot of time later and works great if your in a hurry - you can pull out your mix and get to work! And even if you're not gluten-free, you could still easily do this. There's tons of mixes you can buy, but they can add up in price - especially if you're gluten-free, if you can even find them and even if you can find them, chances are you can't choke them down!!

 

 

Some things we use regularly are:

-Pancakes

-Waffles

-Pizza

-Brownies

-Certain kinds of muffins

-Cakes and cookies

You can do just about anything you want!

 

I have used containers for this and I've used Zip-lock bags as well. I prefer the bags, just because they don't take up much space, but the containers work great too, and you can re-use them.

 

I just measure out the dry ingredient portion of the recipe and put it in the bag.

I mark on the bag what the mix is for and if it's for a double batch, I mark that as well.

Depending on the recipe, you could write the rest of the ingredients on the bag/container, if you wanted or staple the recipe to the bag or something. This is also good if someone else could end up making them, that way they know exactly what to do and don't have to go hunting for the recipe!

 

I hope you take a few minutes to make life a little easier, and go make some mixes!!

Reheating Rotisserie Chicken:

One night, right before closing time at Sam's, my dad found an entire cart full of Rotisserie chickens for $2.00 each!!! We all have a great love of Rotisserie chicken, so he got several and I just wanted to share with you how we re-heated them. They generally aren't very expensive to buy in the first place, especially since they are hot and ready, but we have found them "discounted" at the end of the day numerous times at Walmart and Sam's (I'm sure other places have them as well). 

#1. Oven Method

Wrap the cooked chicken tightly in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. 

This way was very good, although it did dry out the chicken slightly. 

#2. Crock-Pot Method

 Wrap the chicken tightly with foil. Put about 1/2-inch of water in the bottom of your crock-pot. Place the chicken in the crock-pot, making sure that the seams of the foil are on top the chicken, so no water can get in the foil. Cover and cook on low for 3 &1/2 - 4 hours.

This way was AMAZING!! It was SO moist and most of us actually liked it better like this than when you eat it straight from getting it from the store!

So I hope you will get some rotisserie chicken and try out one of these great re-heating methods! They are so nice since they are already cooked and everything!

Note:

-The ones we get are labeled "gluten-free" but I would still strongly recommend checking the label wherever you purchase yours, just to be safe!

Chex Cereal:

Probably most everyone knows this already, but I thought I would just put it up here in case someone doesn't! Chex Cereal has some of the BEST gluten-free cereal out there! It tastes so good, and one of the best parts to me, is that you can buy it at Walmart and most any other grocery store! No trying to get to your health food store and paying an arm and a leg for it! Plus, you can eat what everyone else is eating! Or better yet, you can eat better than everyone else is eating!!
We have really enjoyed all of these! We haven't yet tried the Chocolate or the Apple Cinnamon, but I'm sure we will soon!

I hope if you haven't, you will give these awesome cereals a try!

And it doesn't have to be for Breakfast either!

Try out a chex mix like these (click on the recipe name):

Cranberry Orange,

 Muddy Buddies, 

Crispy Caramel Chex Mix

Update:

I just wanted to let everyone know that if you have looked at or made the Sweet Potato Muffins I had posted a recipe for a week or two ago, I have made some changes to the recipe. I have made them a few more times since I posted it and have made it a little healthier each time! There was WAY too much canola oil and sugar called for in the recipe, so I have adjusted those amounts according to what I am using now. Plus, they are best when the tops of the muffins are slightly crispy, so I adjusted the baking time as well. It has not changed the taste AT ALL and I feel much better about eating them now! I hope this doesn't cause any trouble for anyone and if you haven't tried them, I would have to say they are a MUST!!! They are by far one of the very best muffins I have ever tasted (and that's counting wheat-flour muffins I used to eat!). They are AMAZING warm and FABULOUS cold. I don't really know of another muffin that I can say that about!!!!!!

Self-Rising Flour

Most of the recipes I try are not naturally gluten-free. I adjust ingredients and make them that way! But I have come across several lately that have called for self-rising flour. So I did a little research and I now have a recipe for self rising flour!!! It's super easy. You may have actually made your own self-rising flour before you went gluten-free. In that case, this will be no problem!

For every 1 cup of regular flour (like the flour mixture that I use - click here), you need to add:
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

And now you have gluten-free self-rising flour!!!! Hope you give it a try and enjoy it!!

Experiment that worked!!!!!!!

I made the Broccoli Chowder for dinner tonight. Earlier in the afternoon, I cut up all the veggies except for the potatoes; I thought I would just do those when I was ready to cook the soup. But I completely forgot about the potatoes until my broccoli and carrots were almost done, so there was no time to cook them now. So after I added the milk to the recipe, I also added about 1-1/2 cups of mashed potatoes that I had leftover from yesterday's dinner. I stirred and simmered the soup on low, until the mashed potatoes and cheese were completely melted. It didn't make the soup any thicker than normal or give it an overly potato flavor; just gave it a very creamy texture! The soup turned out great!!!!!

So even though it's not a recipe, I thought I would share that with you!!! I hope someone can use it and get great results!!!!

Note:
-I just added this to my "tips" page, but while we're on the potato thing, if you are making soup and it doesn't turn out as thick as you wanted it, stir in small amounts of potato flakes until the desired consistency is reached!

Flour for the locals

I just posted my bread recipe, and I wanted to tell you where I get my flours. There's a lot of places on-line you can order them, but who wants to pay to ship that? You can sometimes find them in bulk food or health food stores. I get my flours at a Bulk Food Store. Around here, we have several bulk food stores, and they have all the different flours. At this store, we buy 25 lb. bags of rice flour and other things bulk like that. It lasts a long time and is cheaper to buy in bulk. I will give you the information for the store I use, so if you live near you can check it out!!!

Springs Store
1726 Springs Road
Springs, PA 15562
Phone: 814-662-4175
(This is about 1 mile out of Grantsville, MD)

If you have questions about what they carry or any questions about eating gluten-free, feel free to call the store and ask for "Twila." She is very knowledgeable about gluten-free things. The store also has a whole section with tons of gluten-free things like crackers, cookies, pasta, etc.