Oat Flour Apple Blueberry Crisp

Since I "went wheat-free" again recently, I have, for the most part avoided sweet treats. The few sweets I have baked, I have used oat flour, which I really like using. It doesn't have the same properties as wheat, by and large, but in some dishes it really doesn't matter. And it takes great -- far superior to wheat in the taste department. It doesn't create the same crumb in cookies and cakes, but in the fruit crisp it creates a perfect "crisp" on top of a bed of lovely fall fruit.

I decided to add a cup of blueberries to my apple crisp because a) I love blueberries in anything, and b) I had them in the fridge and they needed to get used. You could certainly go sola malum (a rough translation of "only apple" in Latin), but I do love the combo of apples and berries. I checked with my youngest son who has peanut and tree nut allergies to see if he had any intention of enjoying my crisp, and he responded "I hate blueberries." Gasp! Blaspheme! Anyway, I added walnuts because I knew he wouldn't even be tempted. They were a wonderful addition.

If you are not watching your calories, enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of this crisp right out of the oven, and if you are, just drizzle with half & half. {wink}

I create my own oat flour with old-fashioned oats and the food processor. It makes a rather texture flour. If you prefer a smooth flour, by a certified gluten-free oat flour, and, of course, wheat-free oats.

Do you see how the ice cream melts and becomes one with the apple crisp? Yum. Half & half does the same thing. Yum, yum.

Oat Flour Apple Crisp

serves 6

3/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

4 T. salted butter

3 T. coconut oil (solid)

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

5 medium sweet-tart apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if using fresh, rinse)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In an 8 x 8 glass plan, place apple pieces and rinsed blueberries. Squeeze lemon juice into pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Toss gently.

In a medium bowl, place oat flour, first two measures of sugars, cinnamon and salt. Add butter and coconut oil. Cut butter and coconut oil into flour with fingers or fork. Add oats and walnuts, and toss to combine. Sprinkle topping over fruit and bake for 45 to 60 minutes until fruit is bubbly and tender. Serve immediately with ice cream or cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

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Mexican Puppy Chow

Before I get started, I have to beg technical help from any of my readers that might navigate blogger with less trouble than I do. I used to be able to figure these things out, but medication has either made my brain foggy or blogger is getting more difficult to navigate.

I changed my photo at the top of this blog and now my blog title needs to be a different color. Trouble is I can't figure out where to do that -- I think blogger switched things. If you know where to make the changes, take pity on me and leave a comment. Thanks.

Puppy Chow, that yummy peanut butter, chocolate, crunchy cereal treat, is one of the snack foods that my kids have never enjoyed, since one of them, my youngest son, has a peanut and tree nut allergy. Not that anyone ever needs to enjoy Puppy Chow, but it is an easy-to-make, tasty treat.

Recently I came across a cinnamon version of the original treat and I was so happy that I would finally be able to make it for my kids. My allergic kid was particularly happy with the new version because he is a cinnamon kinda guy. I modified the recipe I found, mostly because I only had half of a bag of cinnamon chips, but I also think this version has to be better because it has chocolate, hence the name. Mexican chocolate is a cinnamony chocolate and this one has a great combination of both flavors.

If you buy gluten-free cereals, this is a gluten free snack.

Mexican Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex cereal (I used 4 cups of corn and 5 cups of rice Chex -- just the store brand)

1 cup cinnamon baking chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Place cereal in a large bowl -- larger than you think you need because you have to toss it.

In a microwave safe bowl place all the chips and heat in micro for one minute. Stir. Repeat, heating for 30 seconds each time and stirring after each heating, until smooth and melted.

Meanwhile mix cinnamon and sugars in a small bowl.

Pour chocolate/cinnamon mixture over cereal and toss until coated. 

Pour about half of sugar over the top and toss some more.

Dump mix onto a large sided baking sheet. Toss with remaining sugar. Cool and enjoy.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives

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Last week I made the best crock pot chicken I have ever made. I often don't like crock pot chicken because it has a tendency to get so mushy that it's almost dry. The juices just cook right out of the meat and into the sauce and you end up with loads of sauce and dry meat. Know what I mean?

This chicken was not like that at all. Possibly it was the shorter cooking time on high, instead of a longer cooking time on low. Whatever it was I wouldn't change a thing. The recipe came from Cooking Light and I followed it pretty much to the T. There were five of us for dinner (four adults) and there were a few thighs leftover, so if you have a smaller crowd, definitely cut back on the meat quantity. I think you could leave everything else the same.

If you are tempted to leave out the olives, I would advise that you make it one time with. They add amazing flavor.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives

serves 6

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12  chicken thighs (about 4 pounds), skinned

1 t.  kosher salt, divided

1/4  t.  freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 T. olive oil

1 1/2 T. minced garlic

1/4  cup  dry white wine

3 T.  tomato paste

2  t. crushed red pepper

1  (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1/4  cup  sliced pitted kalamata olives (I just smashed and roughly chopped them)

2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. 

Place chicken in an electric slow cooker. Add garlic to pan, and sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; cook 30 seconds. Place wine mixture in cooker. Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper, and tomatoes to cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, olives, and parsley.

Suggested sides: mashed potatoes and sauteed sugar snap peas

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Reindeer Mix

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This yummy snack mix is based on a recipe I found in a Betty Crocker Christmas cookbook. And though it is called Reindeer Mix, I guarantee we still eat it all year long (I actually can't figure out why it is called reindeer mix, I believe it was just a gimmicky name due to the holiday nature of the cookbook). I made a big batch for New Year's Eve and when I was eating a little bit of the leftovers the other day I realized that if I lefty the pretzels out (not hard to do since they don't add that much to the flavor or texture of the snack) it would actually be a gluten-free treat. Yay!

I make mine a little bit differently that the original recipe -- just because I prefer more popcorn  than Bugles, but this is a flexible recipe -- do your own thing. I make my own popcorn because I don't eat microwave popcorn (too many chemicals) so I have listed the quantities for making your own -- it ends up being 4 to 5 cups of popcorn). The seasoning is tasty, but mild -- nothing spicy here.If you leave out the pretzels to make it gluten-free, just substitute with one of the other ingredients or something else that is gluten free (some rice chex would be nice).

Reindeer Mix

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1/3 c. butter

1/2 t. chili powder

1/4 t. garlic powder

salt to taste

heaping 1/3 c. popcorn kernels

2 T. corn oil

2 c. Bugle snacks (regular flavored are gluten-free; I don't know about the flavored ones)

2 cups pretzel sticks, broken in half

1 c. potato sticks (like these)

 Heat oven to 300 degrees F.

Heat oil in a large pot over high heat and add popcorn kernels. Heat until first kernel pops and then cover, sliding pot back and forth on flame to keep kernels moving in the pot. As popcorn pops, occasionally lift lid slightly to allow steam to escape. When popping slows down, remove from heat. Scoop popped corn into a large mixing bowl, taking care to not transfer and unpopped or half-popped kernels. Add Bugles, pretzels and potato sticks.

Place butter and seasonings in a glass measuring cup and heated until butter is melted in the microwave (or on low in a saucepan).  Pour melted butter over dry ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly. Pour onto a large baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring twice. Cool.

Adapted from Betty Crocker Best Christmas

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Wheat

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My second oldest son Joshua was recently tested for celiac disease. We are very fortunate that he does not have it -- the doctor called yesterday. But the funny thing is, even though he doesn't have it, the doctor still suggested we cut back on wheat. "We really eat way too much," he said, meaning we as a society.

During the days while we were waiting for the test results I started thinking about what would be involved in cutting wheat out of my son's diet and I was really startled at how drastically our meals would change around here. Because of Noah's tree nut and peanut allergies I am accustomed to reading labels and being careful, and as scary as potential accidental ingestion is I always feel that peanuts and tree nuts are a pretty easy allergy -- just avoid peanuts and tree nuts. But wheat? Wow! That is a life altering adjustment, like avoiding milk and eggs and soy. I would have to really limit the foods I could buy and prepare.

I am relieved that he does not have celiac disease, but I am also going to attempt to cut back on wheat. My personal philosophy on food has always been "everything in moderation." A few years ago I started reading about soy, and not being one that thinks soy is healthy I started reading labels more carefully. I realized I would have to cut soy out of our diets in order to eat in moderation -- it's in everything! But I never thought of wheat as being a bad thing, in fact, I thought of it as a good thing, not realizing that we were not at all eating it in moderation.

So I ask you -- if you eat gluten free or cook for someone who eats gluten free, how do you do it? Or even if you just cut back for health reasons -- do you substitute other grains, or just cut foods that include wheat? I know that I don't want to just straight up substitute one grain for another because that would defeat the purpose of cutting the wheat in order to eat it in moderation (because then we would be eating another grain in abundance). But I don't think I can convince my kids to give up as much of their favorite foods as we probably should. Just curious...what are your thoughts?

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