Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

"More Chocolate is always better."  Hannah Bray

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

The dry goods, wisk together in bowl, set aside:

2 1/4 cup gluten free flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp xanthan gum

1/3 cup cocoa

The egg replacer, wisk together in a small bowl and set aside:

3 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer

5 T. water

The moist goods, cream together in a large bowl until creamy:

1 cup Spectrum Shortening or Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread, or a combination of the two

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

The 2nd chocolate:

1 10 oz bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips ready to add last.

Slowly add the egg replacer mixture to the creamy sugary "butter" mixture.  Gradually add the dry goods.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 12-15 min.

Do not overbake.  Less time, softer cookies; more time, crunchier cookies.

Makes about 5 dozen small cookies (as seen in the photo above) when I used a 1 tablespoon small scooper.

Tacos (Hannah Safe)

These are Tacos I have made from scratch before Hannah even came along.  They are Hannah safe and yummy!  Serve them up with corn tortillas, crunchy shells, or gluten free tortillas.

Filling:
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. instant minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp crushed dried red pepper
1/4 tsp instant minced garlic
1/8 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup water

Toppings:
shredded lettuce
Daiya cheddar style shreds, optional
La Victoria Red Taco Sauce (Hannah likes Mild)
Guacamole, optional

crunchy taco shells, oil fried corn tortillas, or warmed gluten free tortillas (Hannah's favorite is crunch shells)

Brown the ground beef over medium-high heat in a skillet.  Strain off excess fat.  Add remaining filling ingredients; stir to combine.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 min. to thicken the sauce.

Fill shells or tortillas with taco filling, cheddar style shreds (optional), lettuce, and guacamole (optional).
Enjoy!   Serve with Spanish Rice.  (Sorry no picture of the completed Taco.  Hannah took it away and ate it faster than I could get out the camera to take the picture.  Maybe next time we make them I will get the picture. . .)

Easy Guacamole

This is by no means an authentic guacamole.  It's just my fast and easy version to serve with Tacos, Enchilada Bake, Taco Bake or just plain tortilla chips!

1 or more avocados, almost ripe or ripe
1 or more tablespoons La Victoria Salsa
1 or more long squeezes of the yellow lemon full of lemon juice in the fridge

Cut the avocado in half.  Twist it open into 2 halves.  Spoon out the half without the pit into a small bowl.  Remove the pit from the other half.  (I just use my thumb nail and fling it out.  The one time I tried to use a knife to "stab" it out, the knife when clear through and cut and my hand!)  Spoon this other half in the small bowl.  Using a fork, smash the avocado.  Add the salsa and lemon juice.  Stir it up and serve it up or cover tightly and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.  Any longer and it starts to look funny.  Mine does not last much longer than that anyhow.  Hannah LOVES this with tortilla chips

My trick to buying a good avocado:  I only buy bright green avocadoes.  The bright green one are still green (obviously) and hard.  They are not all bruised up.  I take them home and let them ripen on my counter for 1-4 days depending on their original greenness, when I want to use them and how ripe I want them to be when I use them.  They are ripe when they turn dark, almost purple and are somewhat soft to the touch.  I frequently use them in guacamole before they are completely ripe.

If you only want to use 1/2 an avocado, leave the pit in the un-used half, put in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you go to use it the next day, it won't be too very brown.  Remove the pit and use as you like.

Spanish Rice

I like to serve this rice whenever we eat a Mexican or Spanish themed dinner.  It's fast and easy and not too spicy if you use mild.  You can pump up the spice by choosing medium or hot salsa or enchilada sauce.

Makes 2 cups

1 T. olive or canola oil
1 cup long grain white rice
1/2 cup salsa or La Victoria Enchilada Sauce (contains soybean oil)
1/4 cup chopped onion if using Enchilada Sauce
2 cups water or chicken broth

Heat a non-stick 2 quart saucepan over med-high heat.  Add oil, allow to heat a moment.  Add rice and onion, if using; stirring occasionally to brown the rice.  Be careful not to burn the rice. Add the water and salsa or enchilada sauce.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer about 18 min.  Rice is done when you see "holes" in the rice when you lift the lid. Fluff with a fork and serve.

(I'll get a picture the next time I make this!)

Biscuits and Gravy / Creamed Beef on Toast

This dinner serves as Hannah's equivalent for two of our families favorites; Creamed Beef on Toast and Biscuits and Gravy.  I use ground beef when we have Creamed Beef on Toast and ground sausage when we have Biscuits and Gravy.

When I make this for the whole family, I start with 1 to 1 1/2 lb. ground beef or sausage.  For Creamed Beef on Toast, I add 1/2 cup chopped onion to the ground beef.  I brown the meat over Med-High heat in a large skillet. To make enough gravy for Hannah for 3-4 biscuits or about 2 toasts, remove 1/4 cup of the browned meat to a separate saucepan.
Add to the browned meat in Hannah's saucepan:
1 T. potato starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup beef broth
3/4 cup rice milk

Cook and stir until bubbly and thickened.
Serve over appropriate allergy free toast,  Biscuits or Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Biscuit Mix prepared into biscuits.

To make more gravy- Alternatively:
1/4-1/2 lb ground meat (beef or sausage)
2 T. chopped onion
2 T. potato stach
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup beef broth
1 1/2 cups rice milk
This makes more, approx. 2 1/2 cups of gravy to cover 8-10 biscuits.