Merry Christmas!

I know this is a day late but I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! I hope the new year brings you much happiness and peace and I pray for a symptom free year.

The Bagwells

Now for the Udi's Blueberry Muffins...

Grace says "these are great - but I like the Lemon better." They are good - really good - and I like the blueberry better! Troy said "blueberries are made for muffins" and these prove it. I think the blueberries made it moister and gave it a nice texture.

We have solved the "crumbly" problem. When we first tried the Udi's Lemon Strusel Muffins we tried them straight from the box. The Udi's Blueberry Muffins were put in the freezer then heated at 50% power in the microwave for 1 minute. The microwave provided the moist heat these needed - they tasted moist, fresh and delicious.

As with the Lemon Muffins the Blueberry Muffins had a nice texture - not grainy. That is so important since it seems EVERYTHING we have tried that is gluten free (other than the cheese bread) has been grainy.

We really do love the muffins! The quality and flavor is FANTASTIC!

Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins

When Gracie was first diagnosed we found the Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins at our local health food store. We got the plain almond ones and she didn't like them. I tried them - they were ok but I didn't love them.

Fast forward to this past weekend. We had a babysitter over - my friend Melissa's daughter and she sent along some Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins Cheddar Flavor. The powdered cheese dusted on the crackers made ALL the difference! They were flavorful, crunchy and satisfying. She ate a whole box.

They have several different flavors to choose from - we haven't tried the others but look forward to doing so. They were right around $3 a box - not bad for GF crackers.

Tortilla Soup - Yummmmmm

I made Tortilla Soup tonight - it is one of my favorites. A spicy chicken soup made better with the addition of crushed up corn chips, cheese and/or avocados - perfect for a winter day.

I have made Tortilla Soup for years and it just dawned on me tonight that it is gluten free! Not that Gracie would touch it with a 10 foot pole - but it still is gluten free :)

I have made it so many times over the years that I no longer have a recipe - you can look up one online if you want more specifics or "wing it" with my recipe - it is really forgiving. It calls for chicken but I used left over turkey for mine tonight.

Tortilla Soup

6 cups of chicken stock (I had homemade turkey stock on hand that I used.)

2-3 cups of cubed or shredded cooked chicken.

One can of Rotel Tomatoes and green chilies

one can of diced tomatoes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garlic powder (or fresh -to taste)

1 tsp onion powder (or fresh -to taste)

1 can sliced carrots (or fresh sliced)

Throw it all in a pot and simmer. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and/or crushed tortilla chips and/or sliced avocado.

Add more or less stock, more or less chicken, corn or other veggies (left over roasted veggies work really well.)

I have made this for family and company - it freezes REALLY well and can be easily doubled or tripled.

Enjoy.

Udi's Gluten Free Muffins

Last week I reviewed the Udi's Sandwich bread (which Grace devoured and we had to buy more!) A day or two later I got an email from Heather who is the Marketing Coordinator for Udi's Gluten Free Foods. She had seen my previous post and offered to send me some more of their baked goods to try. I was cautious at first because I think one of the things that makes this blog work is I go to the store to try something - post if I like it or not and go about my business. Would free muffins make me a cheater? I decided they would not - mainly because I am cheap and I love free stuff! So with full disclosure I will give an honest review of the Udi's Gluten Free (and dairy and soy free) Lemon Streusel Muffins.

They were REALLY good! I mean honestly really good. A bit crumbly but not too sweet and a light lemon flavor. Grace decided she wanted it with milk since it was a bit dry - I was thinking it would go well with coffee. Troy's comment was they were not "over done" as in many gluten free baked goods try to over flavor their stuff to mask the fact they really taste like crap. The texture was also very good - not grainy or sandy as other things we have tried.

Even though they were a bit on the dry side they were not "too" dry - they just were not sticky like muffins often are. They were big with a satisfying "muffin top" which Gracie loved. She ate 3/4th of the large muffin with a glass of milk she immediately wanted another. I convinced her it would be best to wait until morning. This however is the golden "thumbs up" from Gracie - if she doesn't love it she doesn't eat it willingly.

These run about $6 for a box of 4. This comes to about $1.50 a muffin. Not bad for bakery muffins but more of a treat in my house than a staple. That said - we will be buying them again.

As we try our goodies (muffins and bread) I will report back and let you know what we think. Thanks to Udi's for the goodies! We do appreciate it.

Gluten Free Jello Cake

I was looking at "Gluten Free Steve's" blog and the question was asked "How else have you used the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix. This is what I posted:

I recently made this cake using "regular" cake mix for work however it would work REALLY well with the BC Gluten Free Yellow Cake mix. This was popular in the 80's but it needs a comeback! :)

In a 9x13 pan bake the cake according to the mix directions. Let cool.

Mix up a large package of Jello (any flavor) according to the directions. I prefer strawberry but whatever flavor or color you want would be good.

Using the back of a wooden spoon poke holes in the cake - I like to do a pattern so every piece has the same design. Pour the hot Jello over the cake and refrigerate. Once the Jello has set "ice" with Cool Whip (which is gluten free!) and serve.