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Pumpkin Tiramisu

The holiday season seems to be in full swing, judging by the 24 hour Christmas music on the radio in my car and the Christmas wreaths for sale outside the grocery store. How is it already Thanksgiving week?! I feel like I say this every year, but this year it seems to have come up faster than usual!

For the first time in many years, I am not hosting, just bringing dessert. Trying to keep the holidays as simple as possible this year. I am making this version of Tiramisu and maybe brownies, made from a box mix. Simple and stress free 😊

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Feeds 4 to 6 people

Ingredients

About 1 Cup of Simple Syrup, plus 2 cinnamon sticks

1 package of Schar gluten-free ladyfingers

4 ounces of mascarpone (you can omit this and double the amount of cream cheese)

4 ounces of softened cream cheese (very important it is soft! Keep on counter for at least 2 hours)

½ cup of canned pumpkin

1 – 14 ounce of can of condensed milk

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg

½ cup of heavy cream

Fresh whipped cream, see recipe below

Directions

Make simple syrup and let cool while you make the pumpkin mixture.

Whip together mascarpone and cream cheese or just cream cheese. Add in the pumpkin, condensed milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and heavy cream. Whip all the ingredients together for about 5 minutes with an electric mixer or standing mixer, starting on low and once there is no risk of splatter, turn on high.

Dip a ladyfinger into the simple syrup and place in a small rectangular dish, like this 6 cup Pyrex. Make a layer of syrup soaked lady fingers and then top with about half of the pumpkin mixture. Top the pumpkin mixture with half of the whipped cream. Repeat. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon on top if you like. Chill for at least 3 hours. Serve. This can be made the day before and kept in the fridge.

Fresh whipping cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

Check out some of my other holiday dessert ideas: Raspberry Lemon Thyme Tiramisu, Boston Cream Pie Cake, Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Mousse Pie and Apple Crisp! For a great hostess gift, make some chocolate bark. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Overnight Baked Apple French Toast

Last week I shared my gluten-free crouton and stuffing recipe, using the ends of bread that I keep in the freezer. This week, I have another great meal for you that can be made from the same ends or your favorite bread. What is better on a weekend or holiday morning than to wake up to the smells of apple and cinnamon?

Gluten-Free Overnight Baked Apple French Toast

Ingredients

5 cups bread cubed
2 apples finely chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups milk
3 eggs
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons of brown sugar

Instructions

Add bread to your slow cooker.
In a sauté pan, cook apples, butter and sugar with cinnamon for about 5 minutes. Pour mixture over bread in the slow cooker.
In a bowl or large measuring cup whisk milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar. Pour over bread and apple mixture.
Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.

Having breakfast already made when you get up in the morning, especially when you have house guests or are going to be running around for the day, helps to take the stress out of the morning. This one will disappear fast 🙂

What is your favorite easy breakfast? Check out my round-up of gluten-free breakfast ideas! Frittatas, muffins and a breakfast pizza! Oh my!

Gluten-free croutons make the perfect GF stuffing

I’ll admit gluten-free bread has been the hardest item for me to get used to. The kids love most brands when toasted. Since it is more expensive than its gluten filled counterpart, I like to keep all the ends of the gluten-free loaves of bread in the freezer until I have enough to make something, like these croutons, which are perfect to be used for making stuffing for Thanksgiving.

Gluten-Free Croutons and Stuffing

Ingredients

Crouton Ingredients

6 cups gluten free bread cubed
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
½ teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
¼ teaspoon fresh sage chopped

Stuffing Ingredients

1 batch gluten-free croutons
3 ounces sausage omit if making vegetarian or vegan
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
4 Tablespoons butter use Smart Balance to make it vegan
2 sprigs fresh thyme finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary finely chopped
2 leaves sage finely chopped
2 cups stock turkey, chicken, veggie or beef

Instructions

Crouton Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and transfer to cookie sheet.
Toast for 10 minutes, then mix and toast for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside. You can use these as croutons or use to make my stuffing recipe.

Stuffing Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in cast iron skillet and cook sausage in it.
Add onions, garlic and herbs. Sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add croutons, mix and then stir stock into mixture.
Cover and cook in oven for about 35 minutes.
Remove cover and finish cooking for 10 to 15 minutes uncovered.

Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving and with this recipe, I definitely do not miss the gluten. It is delicious. What is your favorite side dish? Try my polenta, acorn squash or slow cooker mashed potatoes.

Gluten-free on the Road and a slow cooker mashed potato recipe!

Cooking in a kitchen that is not your own can be nerve wracking! Whether your home kitchen is fully gluten-free (GF) or not, cooking at a vacation rental or someone else’s house requires an extra level of preparedness to be safe.

If the house is close by, one option is to make the meal at your own house and bring it with you. When driving for a trip, I pack a Rubbermaid tub with the cooking essentials. If we are sharing the house with others, I make sure everyone knows that that box is only to be used for gluten-free cooking.

Checklist for Cooking Meals in a Non-GF Kitchen:

Aluminum foil (and lots of it!) – this can cover cookie sheets, serving platters and grills and wrap around food to keep the chance of cross-contamination low. Don’t forget a sharpie to mark GF as needed.
Cutting board (Bring a large wooden cutting board to double as a serving platter for you’re your Thanksgiving turkey if needed)
Frying pan
Pasta pot
Colander
Paper plates and bowls
Plastic cups
Plastic forks, spoons and knives
Chef’s knife (transport it in a paper towel tube)
Spatula
Whisk (I have used a plastic fork instead of whisk many times, so bring it only if you have space)
Mixing spoon that can double as a serving spoon
Gallon and sandwich size Ziploc bags or containers for leftovers
Chicken stock
GF flour
Sugar, salt and pepper, condiments and other herbs that you like to keep separate
Aluminum cake pans, casserole or bread pans, if needed
Crockpot or crockpot liners (When not using the crockpot, I use the bowl as my mixing bowl for other recipes)
Cheese grater

To separate items in the refrigerator, either designate a separate shelf (the higher the better) and/or a drawer. If it’s a small amount put it in a small Rubbermaid bin.

This seems like a lot. I know. It’s a mobile kitchen. If you are not going to be cooking entire meals, then you will not need all these items. Everyone’s checklist will look different depending on what you are cooking. Keep your recipes simple and bring only what you need to make your recipes. If you are flying, consider buying cheap or one-use versions of what you might need at your destination.

An easy way to keep things simple while on vacation is to make a one pot meal in a crock pot. It will feed a crowd, allow you to enjoy the day and can easily be made gluten-free. This is especially important on holidays. Here is a mashed potato recipe you can make entirely in your crock pot.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

6 medium yellow potatoes washed and diced (peeling optional)
1 ½ cups milk
3 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces cream cheese optional

Instructions

Add potatoes, milk, butter, salt and pepper to slow cooker.
Cook on high for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Add cream cheese if you like cheesier mashed potatoes. Mash or whip with handheld mixer.
Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed and it is ready to serve. To keep warm, pour about 1/4 cup of milk over top, cover and set on low or warm until service. Then just mix in milk and its ready for some gravy!

How do you cook gluten or allergen free when you are traveling? You can try my easy chili or pasta with mascarpone recipe.

Cheeseburger Meatballs

Eating gluten-free due to celiac disease can be challenging in the best of circumstances. So when life throws you a curve ball (or ten) it can be a real struggle. This summer our family was thrown a couple of curve balls. The main cook, grocery shopper and organizer of all things gluten free in the family (me), was out of commission. While recuperating I always had a worry in the back of my mind, how is my son (who has celiac disease) going to stay safe?! I know that my husband is perfectly capable of keeping him safe, we have wonderful friends and family close by who also are “in the know” and my son is great advocate for himself. That still doesn’t erase that voice of worry in my mind.

Other than help from our village and take-out from our favorite local Thai place, we were saved by having some meatballs, homemade sausage and a couple of meals in the freezer and of course Annie’s Gluten-Free Mac-n-cheese, lots and lots of mac-n-cheese.

Whether you are preparing for a known surgery, business trip or the unknown, meatballs are perfect for stocking your freezer. You can bring them to a holiday potluck or serve for a game day appetizer. These Cheeseburger Meatballs are a new family favorite.

Cheeseburger Meatballs

Ingredients

3 pounds of ground meat (75% beef and 25%pork)

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons of spicy brown mustard

2 teaspoons of ketchup

2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

8 ounces of cheddar cheese, cut into ¼ to ½ inch cubes

Directions

Mix all ingredients, except the cheddar, together in a large bowl. Cook a small patty and taste for flavor. Add more spices if needed. Roll into 1 ½ to 2 inch balls and stuff with a cube of the cheddar. Sear on at least 3 sides and then place on a metal baking rack sitting on a baking sheet. Cook for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Serve as an appetizer with your favorite ketchup or mustard to dip, with your favorite pasta sauce and spaghetti or even on mashed potatoes with peas and bbq sauce.

Prepping food in bulk when you have the time and energy so you have it in your freezer when you need it is great for everyone, especially if you need easy allergy-free meals that aren’t available for take-out. What is your favorite freezer meal? If you want to try some other meatball recipes, here are some of my favorites from 2016.

New England Clam Chowder

Fall is a time for new beginnings and a breath of fresh air. The cool, crisp air finally seems to have reached Massachusetts. I love making soup any time of year, but there is something about fall in New England that makes me crave clam chowder. This is a family favorite.

The key to making this recipe is preparing all the ingredients and cookware before you start. Organization really helps when you make any recipe and the bonus is that you can pretend you have your own cooking show…or wait, that’s just me 😉. Preparation also is key to getting kids in the kitchen. If they are not old enough to chop, they can add ingredients and stir. Be their sous chef for the day and do the chopping before you try to involve them.

Gluten- Free New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

About 4 pounds of large Quahog or Cherrystone clams, cleaned

Water

7 sprigs of fresh thyme

6 slices of bacon, diced

2 Tablespoons of butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

4 cups of liquid/stock (usually about 3 cups of cooking liquid from the clams and make up the rest with seafood stock).

5 medium sized butter potatoes, peeled and diced

5 sprigs of thyme

¼ teaspoon of black pepper

Pinch of white pepper

1 cup heavy cream

Juice of ½ a lemon

Directions

Add clams to a soup pot over medium high heat and pour in enough water to cover the clams. Place thyme sprigs in water and put the lid on the pot. Bring to a low boil and cook about 10 minutes until all the clams open. Drain and save cooking liquid. Set clams aside to cool, rinse out pot. Place pot back on the stove and add bacon, onion, garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add cooking liquid, potatoes, thyme, black pepper and white pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes are soft. Mash potatoes to thicken the soup. Add the heavy cream and lemon juice. Stir, simmer for about 5 minutes and serve!

I haven’t yet found an oyster cracker that is gluten free, so I serve this with gluten-free Schar Table Crackers, Glutino Premium Rounds or with a gluten-free corn bread.

What is your family’s favorite soup? Follow this link for my favorites from 2016.

Bold and Flavorful Marinade!

Marinades can add a great flavor to your grilled meats, vegetables or even tofu. Recently, I shared with you my Steak Rub recipe. Today I’m sharing a marinade bursting with flavor that will make your taste buds zing! Gluten-free food does not have to be boring! Just make sure that your soy sauce, vinegar and spices are free from gluten, so that the marinade is safe for you and everyone to enjoy!

Bold and Flavorful Marinade

Ingredients

¼ cup of olive oil

1/8 cup water

3 Tablespoons of soy sauce

3 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

zest and juice of one lime

3 to 4 Tablespoons of brown sugar (depending on your taste)

1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary and/or thyme

1 clove of garlic minced

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Place steak, chicken, pork or tofu into marinade and let sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours up to overnight. Remove, dry off whatever you marinated and cook how you like. This is great for the grill!

You may be wondering what that strange green thing is holding up the ziploc bag? I got it as a present for Mother’s Day. It makes filling a ziploc bag for any reason, so much easier and folds away.

Are you grilling this weekend? What is your favorite tool for grill prep? What is your favorite item to grill? Let me know in the comments!

Here are some of my favorite grilling tools:

Here are some other recipes if you need some inspiration for your weekend bbq:

Haddock on the Grill

My favorite bbq sauce recipe

Tomatillo Salsa

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This doesn’t cost you any extra, but if you like something I love and buy it, I get a small percentage and can continue blogging.

Refreshing Fresh Dill, Feta and Greek Yogurt Dip

A good party always needs a good dip! Some friends and I recently celebrated a big birthday! We were fortunate to spend the weekend at one friend’s brother’s house directly on the beach in Cape Cod. AMAZING! We all brought our favorite snack/comfort foods. One friend brought this greek yogurt feta dip from Marzetti. It was sooooooo good! I couldn’t stop eating it! We also had some Hood Chive Cottage Cheese, Pub cheese and Onion Dip, of course. For dinner we enjoyed lobster, steak and burrata with tomatoes and basil.

I decided I had to try to recreate the feta greek yogurt dip when I got home. After a few trials, I found one that was just as tasty.

Fresh Dill, Feta and Greek Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

½ cup of plain greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

8 ounces of cream cheese

4 ounces of feta, crumbled

Zest of ½ lemon

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Whisk together or mix on high for about a minute. Place in a container to allow for dipping. Enjoy!

You can try crackers, pretzels or veggies with this fresh, yummy dip!I used one of our favorite gluten-free crackers from Crunchmaster.

What is your favorite dip?

Shop my favorite items I used to make this!

Here are some other dips that would be a hit at any party!

Guacamole and a Layered Dip

Salsa Verde (and the Taco Meatballs you can dip into it!)

Simple Recipe for Simple Syrup

Do you enjoy fun cocktails, flavored iced coffee or tea in the summer? Then you will love this recipe! It is so easy and you get to control the ingredients!

This is a great basic simple syrup recipe that you can add your own flavor to. I like to add basil, rosemary or thyme for an herbed simpled syrup that can be used in a cocktail with limoncello and vodka or in a dessert like my Raspberry Lemon and Thyme Tiramisu. Add a vanilla bean and you can make vanilla iced coffee. Add mint and you can sweeten your iced tea or make a mojito. You can even add fruit and make a blueberry simple syrup to mix with your lemonade.

Simple Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

Directions

Add water and sugar to small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour into a glass container and allow to cool. Cover and keep in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

If you are adding flavors:

Blueberry Simple Syrup: Add about 3/4 of a cup of blueberries with the water and sugar. Follow recipe above and strain blueberries before pouring into container.

Vanilla Simple Syrup: Add a vanilla bean with the water and sugar. Follow recipe above and strain before pouring into container.

Mint, Rosemary, Thyme or basil Simple Syrup: Add herbs with the water and sugar. Follow recipe above but allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes in sauce pan then strain before pouring into container.

Your imagination is the only limit! What is your favorite summer drink?

Cheeseburger Pizza!

Pizza is definitely tops on my kids’ list of dinner choices. Most nights it is just cheese pizza or one olive and one cheese, but the kids like to invent pizzas on the nights when we have more time. One of my twins (who just turned 7!) came up with Rainbow Carrot pizza, which is amazing! You have to check out that recipe! We made it again last week for their birthday, along with a cheese pizza, mushroom pizza and this new-to-us, Cheeseburger Pizza. It will now be a part of our regular rotation! It was delicious!

Cheeseburger pizza

Ingredients

½ sweet onion, chopped finely

1 clove of garlic, minced

About 1 ¼ pounds of ground beef

3 teaspoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

1 Tablespoon of ketchup

1 teaspoon of spicy brown mustard

1 pizza crust (My favorite is the Against the Grain GF Crust)

1/2 cup of tomato sauce (more or less, depending on your personal taste)

4 ounces of shredded mozzarella

4 ounces of shredded cheddar (I have had even better results with 2 ounces of cheddar and 2 ounces of aged gouda)

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Add olive oil, onions and garlic to a large sauté pan and cook on medium high, stirring for about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef to the pan and sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Once browned add the ketchup and mustard and stir until cooked. Take crust out of the freezer and cook for about 8 minutes. Remove and add sauce, cheese and then top with ground beef mixture and cook for another 15 to 18 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown. Slice up and enjoy!

Pizza is such a great bridge recipe! You can have a basic cheese pizza and add whatever ingredients you or your family like. Meatball pizza is another favorite in our house. I use my simple meatballs or even have used my Italian stuffed meatballs. What is your family’s favorite pizza topping?

Shop Amazon for some of my favorite ingredients and gadgets for making pizza night spectacular!