Gluten Free Goodies

I played around with a couple of gluten free recipes earlier this week and I am proud to say they turned out pretty good.......

The first experiment was smurf muffins, a.k.a. blueberry muffins. The fact that these muffins turned out edible is a huge accomplishment for me. I have tried numerous gluten free blueberry muffin recipes and my husband, the "glutard", has turned his nose up at every one. They are always too dense, too cardboard like or just plain gross. This one however, is really good. How do I know? Well Ben came home from work during lunch and ate three at one time. He is really good about humoring me and at least taking a bite of everything I make but for him to go back for seconds or even thirds........ well it's kind of a big deal. Anyway here is the recipe:

2 cups Arrowood Mills Organic Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix ( I will be honest, I normally hate using this brand, but the muffin recipe is worth a try)

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1/4 cup honey

2/3 cup water (the recipe on the bag only calls for 1/4 cup of water but I felt the batter was still too thick so I kept adding water until I got the desired consistency)

1 tsp Xantham gum

1 tsp Vanilla (make sure it's gluten free, I always use McCormick)

1/4 cup Canola or Vegetable oil

1 cup blueberries ( I tossed them in sugar before I got started and let them sit while preparing the batter.

Preheat oven to 350, Mix together all dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix all of the wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until lumps are gone. I tend to over mix every thing and in this recipe it didn't seem to hurt the outcome :) Fold in blueberries. In my case mix them in until the batter is purple.

Fill 12 ct muffin pan and bake for 15-17 minutes until tops are golden brown.

mmmmmm you would never know they are gluten free by looking at them

And for Dinner............

Shrimp and tomato pasta with pesto sauce. This recipe I just made up as I went along. I've pretty much got the hang of creating pasta dishes and feel much more confident that the outcome will be edible.

This is the BEST gluten free pasta we've found. The consistency holds up much better than rice pasta. This one is a combination of corn and quinoa. It is delicious

Shrimp and tomato pasta recipe:

8 oz. Quinoa Spaghetti

2 cups raw shrimp (I used tail on but you can use whatever you have)

1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes

1 T minced garlic

2 T olive oil or butter

Splash of dry white wine

Salt to season pasta water

McCormick Pesto packet (almost all McCormick spices and packets are gluten free but of course I had to double check on this one. I googled it first and then called McCormick directly and they assured me it was gluten free)

Add salt to pasta water and start boiling. In large skillet add olive oil and garlic. Simmer on low to sweat the garlic. Add shrimp and tomatoes and cook until shrimp is pink. The tomatoes will take about the same amount of time. Add a splash of white wine. Prepare the pesto sauce as directed on the back of the packet. Add the shrimp and tomatoes to cooked and drained pasta and then toss with pesto sauce.

It was delicious and didn't seem too heavy, even for a pasta dish.