Awesome Christmas Gift--Namaste Baking Mixes!

Happy New Year!! Maybe I'll write more this year...and maybe I won't ;). We'll see!

I did, though, want to share about an awesome Christmas gift I received from my mother- and father-in-law: a gift certificate for Namaste food!

I used up the gift certificate shortly after Christmas and received the big box of food last week. I ordered a cookbook (it uses their mixes with a variety of added ingredients...some really great suggestions!), bread mix, brownie mix (I've had this one before...it's great!!), blondie mix, pizza crust mix, sugar-free muffin mix, pancake/waffle mix, and cookie mix. I made the blondies last night for a small dinner party we had with a couple of friends. They tasted pretty yummy! Oh a whim, I added some crushed pecans to the batter, and sprinkled some more crushed pecans and brown sugar on top. Success! :) (I just ate a leftover one a few minutes ago ;)).

I would highly recommend checking out the Namaste website....they have a ton of great products. They also have many of their products available here in Bloomington at Naturally Yours. I've also tried their Biscuit/Pie Crust mix (used it to make a great pie crust for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, to rave reviews from my father-in-law ;)), and their Taco Pasta (comes with pasta and a seasoning packet; I added tomato soup and ground beef to it for a yummy dinner!). I have truly loved all of their products! :)

Namaste's website says, among other things, "...Our facility contains no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy or nuts. It is our attempt to try to eliminate any chance of cross-contamination so you can enjoy Namaste Foods products worry-free...." Awesome!! :) :)

GF French Toast

So my brother, Dan, and his girlfriend, Laura, stayed with us Saturday night so I made a big breakfast for all of us on Sunday morning. I performed an experiment (risky, I know ;)) that ended up being decently successful. I used slices of my Whole Foods Cinnamon Raisin Bread (kept in the freezer section at Whole Foods and stays in my freezer at home) and dipped it in a mixture I made of 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, and some cinnamon...then cooked each side in a frying pan (I used non-stick pans so I didn't need to add any butter or anything for frying). I served the slices with the obligatory maple syrup...and they were actually pretty good! I'd say it's definitely a viable GF breakfast option...pretty tasty, and really easy! :)

Also, this past week I performed another experiment...gluten free cheesecake brownies. I used a Namaste mix (I hadn't used that brand before; I found it at Naturally Yours here in Bloomington) and prepared it as instructed on the package. After spreading the batter in a 9x13 pan, I mixed 1/2 brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese with 1 egg and some powdered sugar (maybe approx. 1/2 cup; I just sprinkled some randomly in there ;) That's how I tend to bake/cook!!) until it was well blended. Then, I spread this out in a swirly pattern on top of the brownies. I baked the brownies as directed on the package...and they turned out pretty yummy!

Ok, as long as I wrote about 2 success stories, I should confess that approx. 1 1/2 weeks ago I did have a baking failure ;). I wanted to try to make a pound cake (from my 1000 Gluten Free Recipes book) but didn't have eggs...so I substituted banana for the egg (something I had read online was a viable option for people with egg allergies). Well, it may work...but I under baked it and didn't realize it until about 30 minutes after I had removed it from the oven and was cutting a slice for Jeremy (I planned to serve it with vanilla ice cream and strawberries...good thoughts, right?!)...I realized that the center was kind of gooey...in a really odd way. So, I threw it back in the oven for a while ;). Let's just say, it never really recovered ;). I sulked, as is my typical reaction when I fail at something, and left it on the counter for a good two days before throwing it away. What, did I expect that it would miraculously turn into something edible?! ;)

Oh well, 2 for 3 isn't TOO bad, now is it?! ;)

Have a great day! Happy GF eating to you :)