Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year!! This week is the 3rd anniversary of discovering Gracie has Celiac. She has grown into a lovely 12 year old, is trying new things every week and has taken responsibility for her gluten free diet. Since I broke my ankle she has really stepped up and been a great help to everyone - she won't rub my nasty foot but I still love her!! :) I am healing, everyone is healthy and still in one piece and even though we have had our struggles we are still very thankful for what we do have.

Some other things we are thankful for - THANKSGIVING FOOD!! I want to share some of our favorites for the holiday. I say "ours" because picky Gracie won't eat everything but we love it and it is GLUTEN FREE! I am also throwing in some things we won't be making but look great - good for everyone AND gluten free!

Pumpkin pie!

Mashed Potatoes!

Turkey (of course)

Ham

Chess Pie!

Creme Brûlée

Roasted Vegatables - carrots, brussel sprouts, potatoes - you name it!

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes with honey butter

Green Beans with almonds OR bacon

Udi's Gluten free Stuffing!

Cheebe Bread!

Cranberry Sauce - the "good kind" AND the canned kind :)

Rachael Ray's Chocolate Cups

Really the list could go on and on and on and on... Feel free to add your favorites.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ummmm - Cinnamon rolls!

This morning I made biscuits for Troy, Sam and I and Gracie had her usual cereal. I was in the other room getting ready and I heard SOBBING coming from the kitchen. Sam was eating his biscuits - which is our usual Sunday breakfast - and all the sudden Gracie had "missed" biscuits. She cried for a while - it broke my heart.

A while back I purchased some Chebe Cinnamon Roll Mix - I thought tonight would be the perfect night to try it.

It was really easy to make - egg, oil (I used melted butter), 3 Tbsp apple sauce and some milk. I only had blueberry/pomegranate apple sauce and it gave the mix an interesting color. The package had several recipes on the back - I chose the "spiral" way because it just looked easier. In a nutshell I made thin "ropes" out of the dough then placed it on a plate w/some brown sugar. I pressed a little brown sugar against the rope then coiled it together where the sugar was in the middle. I put a small dot of butter on top and placed it on the baking sheet and baked according to the package directions - it took the full 30 minutes.

The end results looked like - well... you be the judge! :) However it was DELICIOUS!! The butter caramelized the sugar on the bottom which added to its yumminess. The top was an interesting color - it didn't' really "brown" but since the dough already had a brown color it wasn't unappealing. It had a crisp texture on the outside and a chewy texture on the inside - similar to the Chebe Cheese Bread.

Some tips: My friend Jennifer said she made the rolls but the outside burned before the inside cooked. Because of this I made my "ropes" thin and the rolls small. It made about 20 rolls this way. I used my Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer w/the dough hook attachment - I use it for the cheese bread as well. I had to add a small amount of water (2-3 Tbsp) to get the dough to come together in a ball - it was sort of crumbly before that. Use two hands to roll the rope - pulling apart as your roll - it is "springy" and will try to pull back together.

I am glad I made it! Gracie was happy and satisfied. She had a dessert for tonight and a breakfast for tomorrow. She may always miss "real" biscuits but at least she knows there is still yummy baked goods to be had.