Chocolate Easter Bunny

This year in Honor of Easter and Hannah, for the first time, Hannah got a

CHOCOLATE EASTER BUNNY!

Why I did not think of this before, I have no idea.

Tools and Ingredients

A bunny chocolate mold, I used Wilton brand
Enjoy Life Mega Chunks

Use the amount of chocolate the mold calls for.  The mold I used for Hannah calls for 8 oz.  It made 3 bunnies and 3 baskets.  I melted 4 oz. of the chocolate in my microwave on a preset melt 4 oz. chocolate setting.  I removed the chocolate that did not even look melted.  With a rubber spatula, I stirred the chocolate and it melted perfectly!  I poured the melted chocolate into the mold and tapped gently to remove bubbles.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  They popped right out!

I had a leftover decorated bag from other lollipop candy I had purchased.  I place 1 bunny and 1 basket into the bag, tied with a bow and VOILA!  a Chocolate Bunny to go in Hannah's Easter Basket!

Happy Easter Hannah!

Cinnamon Snack Cereal

Cinnamon Snack Mix

Ok, it can be a finger breakfast food too!

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 T. Earth Balance Soy Free Natural Buttery Spread

4 cups Corn or Rice or combo cereal such as Chex, or Crispix

Combine the sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.
Melt Buttery Spread in a large microwaveable bowl for 40 seconds.  Swirl the bowl to help melt the remaining solid bits.  Stir in cereal.  Stir well to evenly coat cereal.  Microwave on high 1 min. Stir.  Microwave 1 more minute.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar evenly over cereal.  Mix well.  Microwave on High 1 minute.  Spread out to cool.  Store in an airtight container if you don't eat it all now.

Makes 4 cups.

Updated Muffins and Rice Flour Mix

This morning I whipped up a new batch of Brown Rice Flour Mix to make Hannah some Chocolate Chip Muffins.  I realized I did not have Chocolate Chip Muffins on the Muffins, with Variations page.  I have added Chocolate Chip Muffins to the Muffins, with Variations page, with a photo.

I encounter a thick batter problem with this morning's batch of muffins.  Maybe it's because I used a fresh fluffy batch of Brown Rice Flour Mix?  Or maybe because I didn't use the spooning method, but the dipping method instead.  As a result, my muffin batter was too thick.  So I added an additional tablespoon or two of rice milk to thin it out a little.

This muffin batter is slightly thicker than a traditional muffin batter.  I used two spoons to spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Also, the 10-12 muffin recipe makes 12 mini- muffins and about 5 regular muffins.  Cook the mini-muffins about 15-20 min.

I have made these changes on the Muffins, with Variations page.

I also added some notes about quantity and storage on the Rice Flour Mix page.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

Makes 1 regular pie, in either a pie pan or a 2 qt casserole dish

Prep time: approx. 2 hours

2 crust pie dough, chilled

2 boneless chicken breasts, diced and cooked or 1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/3 cup chopped onion
olive oil
12 oz mixed frozen vegi's such as peas, carrots, corn

1/3 cup potato flour
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup rice milk

Step 1.  2 hours prior to serving time, prepare the pie dough recipe. Divide it into two balls.  Place these in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

Step 2.  While pie crust is chilling, dice the chicken breasts and the onion.   I like to use frozen chicken breasts that are still slightly frozen. The chicken is easy to slice into 1/4 in thin strips and then dice the strips.  Heat a deep saucepan over med-high heat.  Add a touch of olive oil. Wait a minute for oil to heat, then add chicken carefully, it may spatter a bit. Add chopped onion now too. Cook and stir chicken and onion about 3 min. to brown and cook through. (If you are using pre-cooked chicken, just brown the onion.)  Add the frozen vegetables.  Cook until frozen vegetables are heated.  Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

Step 3. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove 1 ball of pie crust dough from refrigerator.  Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 min. to warm slightly.  Lay out one pie of wax paper large enough to cover your pie pan.  Place the pie crust dough ball on this piece of wax paper.  Lay out another piece of wax paper on top of the pie crust dough ball. Use a rolling pin to roll out the ball flat.  Roll it large enough fit your pie pan.  Remove the top sheet of wax paper.  Grease your pie pan.  Carefully flip your pie dough over into your greased pan, dough side down, wax paper side up.  Carefully peel away your wax paper and press and form the pie dough into the pan.  Trim the edges if any pie dough is hanging over the edges.  Poke the pie dough with a fork throughout the bottom of the pan.  Place the pie pan in the oven and bake the crust 10-12 min.  Remove the 2nd pie dough ball from the refrigerator to warm up.

Step 4.  Return the chicken/onion/vegi pan to medium heat.  Sprinkle the potato flour over the mixture.  Add sage, salt and pepper.  Stir this up a bit.  Then add chicken broth and rice milk.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened.  Once thickened, set aside.

Step 5.  When the bottom pie crust is done, remove from heat and set aside.  Reduce oven heat to 425 degrees.

Step 6.  Roll out the 2nd pie dough ball in the same manner as you rolled out the first, between 2 pieces of waxed paper.  Pour the chicken/vegi filling into the pre-baked pie crust in the pan.  Flip the 2nd pie crust onto the chicken pie with the dough side down, wax paper on top.  Carefully remove the waxed paper.  Trim any dough hanging over the edges.  Use a sharp knife to cut 3-4 steam holes in the top crust.

Step 7. Carefully place the pie in the oven.  Bake for 25 min. or until top crust is golden.  Remove pie from oven to a rack.  Allow to cool 15 min. prior to cutting and serving.

For individual pot pies, use individual pie pans.

Pie Crust from Scratch

Pie Crust

Makes 2 pie crusts

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 cup sweet sorghum flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. salt

dash sugar (if using for a sweet filling, omit for savory fillings)

1 cup spectrum shortening

6-8 T. ice water

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in shortening until crumbly using a pastry cutter or two knifes in a criss-cross fashion.  Add the ice water 1 T. add a time until it stirs into a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times.  Divide the dough into 2 balls, wrap in parchment or wax paper, chill at least one hour or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator and allow to stand for 5 min. to warm slightly.  Roll each ball of dough between two sheets of parchment or wax paper.

Remove the top sheet of wax paper.  Gently flip and place uncovered side of dough onto the center of pie plate so the remaining wax paper is on top. Press the dough down to fit the form of the plate.  Carefully peel away the 2nd piece of wax paper.

 

Use a knife to cut around the outside edges of the pie plate to trip the excess dough.  Prebake or fill as desired.
Repeat the rolling processes for the 2nd ball of dough and use it for 2nd pie, or top crust on the first pie.
To prebake, prick with fork, bake for 10-12 min. at 450 degrees.

To make the fluted edges shown, I push down on the edge of the dough with my index and middle finger of my left hand, my fingers pointing into the middle of the pie, the fingers spread apart slightly.  I use the index finger of my right hand and place it between left fingers.  I pull the dough up and push inward gently with my right index finger while holding the edges under my left fingers down.  This makes one flute.  Reposition your fingers so your left index finger is where your left middle finger was and your middle finger is pressing on unformed dough.  Repeat the lift and push with your right index finger between your left index and middle finger.  This makes the next flute.  Continue in the manner around the edge of the whole pie.

Use a sharp knife to cut steam holes in the top crust, if desired.

Chowder

Chowder

1 bowl of chowder for my girl!

1 c. rice milk

1 c. diced potatoes

1/4 tsp. dried minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic

1 T. dried onion, or 2 T fresh chopped onion

1 T. cornstarch or potato starch

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 c. corn, canned, fresh or frozen (thawed)

Combine rice milk, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a medium saucepan.  Boil down to about 1/2 c. remaining and it is slightly thickened and creamy.  In a small container with a lid, combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup of broth.  Cover with lid and shake until cornstarch is dissolved.  Stir cornstarch mixture into potato cream mixture.  Add salt, pepper and corn.  Cook and stir 1 min. more until creamy.  This might make 1 bowl with leftovers for 1 more, or maybe serves 2!

Serve with Garlic Toast Sticks.

Fruit Smoothie

Fruit Smoothie

It's winter/sprimg, so fruit it a bit scarce.  But with a bag of frozen mixed fruit, I can still make Hannah a nice fruit smoothie.  If you are new to smoothie's let me just say, add what you want and what you have!  There is not a set recipe.  Experiment!  This is fun in spring when the berries are in season and throughout the summer with all the colorful produce in season.  I personally like to add greens and vegi's to my smoothies. This morning Hannah would not have gone for it, so I left it out.

Today, this smoothie contained:

1/4 cup orange juice with calcium concentrate  (I use it to add the Vit.C and Calcium to Hannah's diet and tang to the smoothie)

1 ripe banana

1/2 a left over apple, cored, peel left on- it was reddish yellow apple, possibly Gala.

about 2 cups of mixed frozen fruit (pineapple, mango, peach, strawberries, red grapes)

1 medium carrot, snapped into about 5 pieces

Rice milk

water

some stevia

I use a  Blendtec Blender.  I added all the solids then filled the container with Rice milk to about the 3 cup line and water to the 4 cup line.  I usually add some ice, but I just realized I skipped the ice today.  I sprinkled in maybe a 1/4 tsp. stevia to keep it sweet.  I blended with the pre-set XL Smoothie setting on my Blendtec.  This made 3 large glasses of smoothie and served 3 of us.  Had Papa been home, it would have served 4 comfortably.