Gooey Butter Cookies

Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis tradition. The story behind this cake is that a baker was trying to make a cake and mixed up the proportions of sugar and flour. The resulting mistake was so good that people asked for it. Recently Paula Deen has published a recipe causing people not from St. Louis to give her credit for the cake. Now I love Paula Deen, both of her boys and everything she deep fries or butters, BUT she did not invent Gooey Butter Cake.

St. Louis bakers are not content with just making the cake and now make Gooey Butter Cookies. I love these cookies and try hard not to buy them because I will eat them until they are gone. Please understand how honored you all should be are for me to attempt making what, if it is successful, a borderline addictive substance

All of the recipes that I found online started with a cake mix. Seriously that is really cheating. So I found a recipe that claims to be the original St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe and I will attempt to make cookies out of it. (Also I hope to make the cookies Gluten Free, Dairy and Egg Free --- wish me luck!)

This is the recipe I started with....

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

1 c all-purpose flour

3 tbs sugar

1/3 c butter or margarine

1 1/4 c sugar

3/4 c butter or margarine

1/4 c light corn syrup

1 egg1 c all-purpose flour

2/3 c evaporated milk

powdered sugar; optional

This is the recipe I used (invented/ made up)

Allergen - Free Gooey Butter Cookies

that are just plain delicious

1 1/3 cup rice flour + up to 1/4 cup more

2/3 cup corn starch

1 1/4 cup + 3 T sugar (I was going from the recipe above so it was a weird amount)

1 t. Baking Powder

1 t. salt

1 T. Egg Replacer (I use EnerG brand)

Combine all dry ingredients. (I put mine in a bag so I could make the cookies more quickly later that day.)

In a stand up mixer.

1 cup Dairy Free Margarine

Cream until soft then add

1/4 cup white Corn syrup

Sift in dry ingredients. (I like to sift any flour but I find rice flour has a much better texture when sifted.)

Add 1/4 cup Coconut milk (I used the top part of the can which is mostly cream.)

I tested a couple cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes. They spread out just a bit too much so I added the 1/4 cup of rice flour and I chilled the batter in the fridge in between batches.

Results:
Was the recipe easy to follow?

It was as easy as any cookie recipe. Making the dry ingredients ahead of time made the mixing quicker.

Did the dish taste good?

It was so VERY VERY good. Oh my!

Would you make it again?
Definitely we will make this again. I think next time I might try a bit less sugar and then roll the cookies in powdered sugar.

Whip it Up 2009 - Holiday Favorite

This summer I am shopping in a new and different way. I am supporting local harvest by purchasing a share of a farmer's crop.

I have also discovered Angel Food Ministries . This is an awesome way to make your food budget go further. I love their Allergen Free Box. For the first time in a long time, I can go to my freezer for an easy meal of Chicken Nuggets for the little geeks. They are very happy too.

They have several choices of food to purchase and the last few months I have bought the "Latin Flavors" produce. It contains a little different variety each month and has key limes, jalapenos, pineapples, mangos and lots of other stuff.

This month it contained Yucca Root. I have seen these in the grocery store but I had no clue how are what you could use it. So I went (of course) to google.

I found a great possibility at this blog

Cassava Heavy Cake

First I peeled the Yucca root (also know as Cassava and Manioc and probably other names). I was afraid that was going to be difficult but I used a vegetable peeler and it was easy.

Unfortunately the second root was rotten on the inside, so I had to adjust ingredients on the fly (and cross my fingers).

I used my food processor to shred the yucca root. I looks like it made about 1 cup shredded.

1 can coconut milk

1 Tablespoon Vanilla (I LIKE vanilla)

1 Dash cinnamon (I like cinnamon only a little)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix two heaping Tablespoons of Cornstarch with just enough cool water to make a mixture and add to above.

Melt 3 Tablespoons of Margarine (to stay dairy free) in the pan -using the microwave.

Pour batter into the melted margarine.

Bake at 350 for 1 and 1/2 hours.

The result

This cake/ pie was delicious. It has a texture like Pecan Pie or Chess Pie, very smooth and slightly gooey. Fabulous!!

This is also my first entry for Whip It Up 2009

Menu Plan Monday

I finally got a coupon from Saving Dinner, Thanks Leanne. I downloaded several new freezer meals and hopefully this week i will have an evening to put those together. Meanwhile, I am assuming we will still have to eat this week, ugh.

Monday - BLT's

Tuesday - Lasagna

Wednesday - Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Corn Muffins

Thursday - I think I might try this Southwestern Pasta , only I will make it hot and add chicken.

Friday - Pizza and Chicken Wings

What Really Happened Last Week

You all know I traveled last week. But Mr. Geek and the little geeks seemed to have found something to eat.
Monday - Sloppy Joes per LG's request.

Tuesday - McDonalds

Wednesday - ?? I think my mom brought food for Mr. Geek. What did the poor children eat?

Thursday - Far East grilled chicken. The last of the freezer meals

Friday - Junk food

Saturday - Spicy Nacho Bake This was a new recipe and I LOVED it. The little guys liked it okay (That means success in my book.)

Sunday - Zippy Peanut Steak Kabobs - If you have a peanut or tree nut allergy in your house, don't worry I substituted Sunbutter and these were really good.

Menu Plan Monday

I am traveling this week, so prayers for Mr. Geek and the children (and me and the airplanes, etc.) I am leaving hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken wings and lunch meat. I would not be surprised if McDonalds is visited at least once.

Mr Geek, here is the schedule: (Bear with me, I know he reads my blog, but I am not sure he looks at the calendar.)

Monday - LG has drama practice after school, pick up at 4:30
Tuesday - I canceled MG's tutor. LG has soccer practice. Parent-Teacher Conference for LG. (I can't believe I am missing this, I want a full report.)
Wednesday - I don't believe we have anything scheduled. Don't forget to pick me up at the airport.
Thursday - The Littlest Geek has Piano, Middle Geek has Soccer Practice. We will have grilled chicken.
Friday - ?????

What Really Happened Last Week

Monday - Corn Bread Chicken with Cajun Vegetables The chicken was wonderful and will definitely be repeated. It was basically using corn bread mix as a breading for chicken breast and then pan frying. Be sure to either have the chicken fully thawed or after you brown it in a pan, you can put it in the oven to completely cook the inside, or you may get the outside of the chicken too brown. The Cajun Vegetables were not good, so the less said about then the better.

Tuesday - Soccer Practice. Havana Hash with Black Beans and Yellow Rice from saving dinner . Yummy

Wednesday - We went to Chili's for dinner. It was nice, but the Middle Geek had a stomach ache for two days and the Littlest Geek was off also, leading me to believe there was something in the food that did not agree with them (Milk or gluten in the French Fries perhaps?) I did not check as closely as I ususally do. I don't think we will eat there again.

Thursday - The Littlest Geek has Piano, Middle Geek has Soccer Practice. Spaghetti and meatballs in Crock Pot. I also cooked the chicken that I had thawed out for dinner on Wednesday and made what we call at the Geek house - Cut and Throw Pasta. The recipe is as follows: Take everything in your refrigerator or pantry, cook it, add to pasta. We had chicken, zuchinni, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, tomatoes, basil.

Friday - Leftovers.

Saturday - Burgers

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Cherry Tomato Tilapia.

Tuesday - Horseback riding

Wednesday - Oranged Tofu StirFry.

Thursday- BBQ Meatloaf , the Littlest Geek has Piano.

Friday - Healthy Bok Choy Noodles and Skillet Turkey with Browned Onions (I am using the Heart Heathy Menu this week from Saving Dinner (except for the meatloaf which is from a freezer menu) and sometimes I know these recipes are too light for the boys in this house. I am making two "dinners" using the recipe for inspiration and then improvising. I wonder what the results will be?

Weekend - Fiesta Artichoke Chicken

What Really Happened Last Week

Monday - Rescheduled Swim Party - I thought there would be hot dogs for the kids, but instead they had pizza. I had given the boys a snack before hand but ended up going back home to get hot dogs. We had Grilled Portobella Mushrooms with cheese on buns. Note: Use the large portobella mushrooms if you try this because the mushrooms will shrink a bit and not cover the entire bun. (They were deliscious)

Tuesday - Horseback Riding for the boys they ate McDonalds. I ate scrambled eggs with sun dried tomatoes.

Wednesday - We had to pick up Middle Geek's school schedule, it was not the nightmare that last year's was and we were finished in 45 minutes (this included finding the locker and practising the combination). Kickin' Dirty Rice - This was yummy, however I used Zatarain's Creole Seasoning, and while I like the flavor it is a bit salty for me. Does anyone have a recipe for Creole/ Cajun seasoning or another brand that you like?

Thursday - Middle geek had his first visit with his new reading tutor and the Littlest Geek started Piano again making it a good night for a crock pot meal. Chicken with Orange Couscous - Somehow when I went to make this I was short some ingredients (SavingDinner gives a shopping list that I must have misread) and I was out of Quinoa. I attempted to throw together something inspired by the name and it was just okay, so I will not be sharing that recipe.

Friday - Buffalo Chicken Wraps - Best meal of the week. Since I also created my own recipe inspired by the title, I think I can share this very simple recipe.

Two chicken breasts cut into strips.

Put the chicken in a ziplock bag with 1/4 cup rice flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt and shake to coat.

Pan fry in canola oil in small batches so tha the chicken gets crispy. (Be sure to shake excess flour from chicken before frying.)

Pour several tablespoon of hot sauce over the top of the chicken and lightly toss to coat.

Serve with tomatoes and lettuce on a wrap or on a plate. (For those not GFCF, I made a Blue Cheese/ Sour Cream sauce.)

I server this with potato salad and cole slaw.

Saturday - We went to Six Flags (story in itself).

Saturday - Southern Stir Fry-- Another big hit this week. Look at the picture, doesn't that look summery and delisious. I made it with smoked chicken from our local grocery story.

Sunday - Mr. Geek's night to cook. We had Ribs and asparagus on the grill. Yum.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Portobella Burgers - Rescheduled Swim Party - There will be hot dogs for the kids.

Tuesday - Horseback riding

Wednesday - Kickin' Dirty Rice -We have to pick up Middle Geek's school schedule.

Thursday- Chicken with Orange Couscous (I will use Quinoa instead of couscous) , Middle geek has his first visit with his new reading tutor and the Littlest Geek is starting Piano again.

Friday - Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Weekend - Southern Stir Fry (I will make this with chicken instead of pork.)

What Really Happened Last Week

Monday - The last Swim meet of the Summer! I made Beef Burgundy in the crockpot. This was really really good but way too heavy of a meal for a hot night. I think this should be just on the winter menus.

Tuesday - Horseback Riding for the boys they ate McDonalds. I went out with my two AbFab friends to see Mama Mia. (WONDERFUL!!) and then we went out to eat. Review to follow.

Wednesday - Swim Team Party was canceled because of Rain, I had Band Practice - I just could not cook that night, I am not sure why but I had a complete brain freeze of ideas. So the family went out to eat, All the Geek family went except for College Geek who was out of town. We do not eat out much as a family so this was a real treat and lots of fun.

Thursday - I was going to make the Thai Chicken that was on the menu but I decided instead to remake the Red Curry Chicken

Friday - I had dinner alone. (What? It was very weird.) I had picked up some irregular sliced bacon (hopefully the slices were irregular and not the bacon) during my travels last week to the Swiss Meat and Sausage Company . I combined that with one huge home grown tomato, add mayo and plenty of salt on toast -- mmmmmm. (Wait I just need a minute----okay I am back.)

Saturday - Beef Skewers with Pineapple Jalapeno Sauce -- College Geek was home and asked if I would please make him a home cooked meal. Was this the same kid that when he was HighSchool Geek used to look at the dinner and and plead "Why can't we eat normal food like everyone else?" I even asked "what do you think is normal food?" He said, "Pizza, chicken nuggets." Apparently after a year of eating what everybody else eats for a year at college and he began to appreciate (his words) "food with taste".

Sunday - Dinner out with friends - OMG that make three dinners out this week, but part of the join of having the College Geek home, is that Mr. Geek and I can continue our tradition of Sunday night dinner dates.

Menu Plan Monday

This Week
Monday - Ginger Chicken Breast with Chinese Cole Slaw
Tuesday - Caribean Steak

Wednesday - South African Chicken

Thursday - Paprika Pork Chops (Chicken) with Corn Relist

Friday - Fried Chicken (postponed from last week)

Last week - What really happened.

Monday - Marinated Beef Kabob with Wasabi Sauce - We had this on the grill and even though we had to eat it quickly because we had a SwimMeet that night, OMG, it was yummy. Changes from recipe - I made the marinade with mayo instead of yogurt to make the meal GFCF. I put onion on the skewer with the meat instead of Cherry tomatoes. To make the Wasabi Dip, I mixed Wasabi powder with sour cream since I figured the boys wouldn't eat it anyway.

Tuesday - Galicky Garbanzos, Broccoli and Pasta -This was a recipe that did not excite me at all reading it but the finished product was worthwhile. It is basically a combination of chopped brocolli, garbanzo beans and pasta. I added some tomato sauce. The big surprise was how the Middle Geek shoveled it in. I quote, "Mom it has everything I like, brocolli, butts and noodles." Yes he calls Garbanzo Beans - butts, Go look at one and I think you will understand why.

Wednesday - We had hamburgers (I didn't feel like cooking)

Thursday - Tex-Mex Chicken Wrap I made this in the crock pot, it was good and made good leftovers.

Friday - I was home alone for dinner. I found a steak in the freezer and threw it on the grill. I ate just that, no veggies (don't tell anyone). I followed it up with homemade Chocolate Chip Coffee Ice Cream. (Mr. Geek made this Ice Cream and it deserves a post all on its own.)

Saturday - Just me and Middle Geek, he had Chili and I had a Chili Cheeseburger.

Sunday - I made Lasagna for my Mom's Birthday Party (the actual day is later this week). It must good cause I didn't have any leftovers (or maybe I didn't make enough).

What's for Dinner at the Geek House?

For summer, I have switched from using Freezer Meals and I subscribed to the weekly meal planner from Saving Dinner. Each week has six meals planned with a detailed shopping list on the front.

Last night we had a memorable dinner (memorable in a really good way) .

The menu called for Red Chicken Curry.

I should probably tell you that I love cookbooks and new recipes, and sometimes I follow them exactly and other times I use them for inspiration. This leads to some really good dinners that will probably never be repeated in my life time as I am not always sure how I got there. For that reason alone Mr. Geek was excited that I was blogging about this meal, so that there would be some sort of written record and maybe he would see the same meal again. (I agree with him on this, I can't wait to make this again.)





First I sliced the chicken breast relatively thin (about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick) and cut the slices into squares. I placed the chicken in a bag and added salt (~1 teas) and Coconut Powder (a purchase from the International Food Store, it is coconut ground into a coarse powder). I shook the bag to coat the chicken and pan fried it until it was crispy. (I saved some of the chicken at this point for the picky Littlest Geek.)









After the chicken was cooked, I added a bag of frozen peas and 1/2 bag of frozen mango to the same pan. (Do not rinse or clean this pan before this step.

Then I added one can of coconut milk and a seasoning packet of Thai Red Curry and a bit of water. (I did not follow the instructions on the seasoning packet either, I am that much of a rebel hah.)

After the mixture came to a boil and had thickened a bit, I poured it over the chicken, stirred it and served it over Jasmine Rice.

I rounded out the meal with some watermelon.











The only thing I would like to do differently next time is I plan to look for plain red curry at the International Food Store instead of using the spice mix. Although the mix is GFCF, I like to keep the amount of processed food we eat to a minimum.

Did you hear that? It was Mr. Geek screaming, "NOOOOO! Please, can't we have the same meal more that once?" heheheheh

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Our family tradition has always been Pancakes for breakfast on Sunday Morning.

When our family switched to GFCF and (even more difficult) egg free, pancakes were our biggest challenge. I say challenge because you have never seen anything like two engineers in a kitchen full of ingredients and recipes. (Try making the pancake thinner and turn up the heat. Hmmm, now try cooking it more slowly. What about more baking powder?) When we found the successful combination obsevers might have thought that our favorite team had hit a home run, actually it was a home run and a touch down all in one with high fives flying all around.

You want to know the secret, don't you? You know you do...

Okay we settled on the Pancake and Waffle recipe in this book. There may be newer cookbooks that are great, but this is our go-to book.

Here are our modifications-- we add 2 cups of buckwheat flour or sorghum flour to the dry pancake mix. To replace the egg, we use ground flax seed mixed with water, heated until it becomes the consistency of raw egg (eeww).

The pancakes are cooked on a nonstick skillet at a much lower heat than conventional pancakes.And the results.

YUM!

Shake and Bake

Wow, this morning we were woke up by an earthquake. Those of you in California are probably thinking, "What wimps!", well you probably are right. This is how we handle an earthquake in my house:

Me (feeling the bed shake, grouchily): WHAT are you DOING?

Mr. Geek : It's four thirty. (That explains THAT.)

Then he goes and stands in the door way, alone. I stayed in bed wondering, what did he do to make the bed shake so badly that it didn't stop even when he was gone.

Midwesterns are not good at handling earthquakes.


Here is some random information about my week.

Dinner

There was much interest in my post on Sunday Dinner, so I decided to take more pictures of our food. I rely completely on freezer meals that I make once a month, freeze and pull out each day for dinner. Saving Dinner is the best, it includes a shopping list and all the recipes. Sometimes even when the recipes don't sound like something we would like, we are pleasantly surprised with a great meal. This meal was one of those. The dinner was Chicken with Apples and Leeks, which reminded me of Kalynne's Week of Leeks . No final picture, but it was so good there were no leftovers.

Lock-In

Tonight is a Lock-In for the Youth at church. Wish me luck. We have so much fun stuff planned - Sand volleyball, two bands are playing, and we are going to play Nerf Dart Tag, a game I stole from Drewpy Drew . (Actually he sent me the directions).

Have a GREAT weekend!

Thirteen Things I bought at the International Food Store

We have many small international grocery stores throughout this area, usually specializing in Mexican, Indian-Pakistani, or Chinese items. However we have one large grocery store that carries, I believe, every food available across the world. It is not very close to my house, so I only get there a few times a year. I mainly like to stock up on flours that are not made with wheat, but I love to wander up and down the aisles and see how other parts of the world eat.

I went to that store yesterday, and I couldn't beleive it, I bought exactly thirteen things. That must be a sign I thought so I will share them with you.

First the various flours and cooking basics.

1. 8 Pounds of Rice Flour

2. Glutinous Rice Flour - This is like Rice starch or Sweet rice flour

3. Gram (Besan) Flour - This is Chickpea flour, not Graham Flour.

4. 5 Pounds Rose Rice

5. Ginger Paste - If you like fresh ginger, this is a nifty short cut.

6. Yellow Split Peas

7. Dried Dark Kidney Beans

8. 6 pound can of Chick Peas



Next I bought a few unusual items that we enjoy.

9. Preserved Mango - Dried Mango rolled in sugar and chilis

10. Wasabi Rice Crackers - Crunchy with a real WOW. they are great fun at parties.





And then there are the items that I bought just out of overwhelming curousity

11. Toasted White Chick Peas - They look a bit like corn nuts.

12. Instant Tapioca/Taro - Tapioca Pearls with instant coconot milk. I made this last night and I threw the Taro away (I am not sure how it should have looked after it was cooked but it didn't really taste very good), drained the pearls and mixed with the coconut milk. It was not a pudding consistency like I thought it would be but tasted really good. (The boys HATED it.)

13. Coffee Agar Mix - Can you believe this: Coffee Jello!

The Birthday Cake

This was my son's birthday cake. It is a penguin because he likes penguins!!

It was my first time using a silicone baking pan and I was really sketical if it would turn out or not.


I used the recipe for my boy's favorite (gluten- free casien-free egg-free) Brownies.

The big question was - Would the cake come out of the pan?

I cooled the cake completely (as long as I could stand it, I am not very patient), turned them over and...

Well see for yourself, they came out perfectly!

I used homemade butter icing (so much better than store bought). I didn't have any decorating stuff, so I used a ziplock bag with a hole cut out. (Now you know why when my niece and I decorate cakes, she does the icing.) Even so, I think he turned out pretty cute. (and artifical color free also.)

Comfort Food

When the temperature starts dropping and January seems to stretch on endlessly, I crave food from my childhood. My number one comfort food is not only from my childhood but also from my dad's childhood, a comfort food that has spanned the generations.

My dad grew up in the depression, the only son of a divorced woman, uncommon in the day. My grandma worked in a dress factory when she could and my dad was not embarassed to tell me of the time they gladly took food from the Salvation Army.

Knowing this you should guess that my dad's boyhood food was simple, cheap, and filling. Here's the recipe:

Beans and Hamhocks

1 pound dried navy beans
1-2 Ham Hocks (I substituted smoked chicken breast because of my son's pork allergy. It was a delicious substitution however I am sure it would not acceptable to my grandma if she were still with us)

That's it, that is all the ingredients.
Soak the dried beans over night. Rinse and add fresh water and cook over low heat until the bean are cooked through. (no al dente, I mean mushy) Add hamhocks and continue cooking. Add salt to taste.

Serve with (and this is important) fried potatoes and onions. Pour a couple tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add thinly sliced potatoes and onion. Cook until the potatoes are very crispy. Add lots of salt and pepper (this is comfort food, salt and fat do not count). You can eat corn muffins with this as long as they are made sweet corn bread, such as those made from Jiffy Mix.

For a GFCF, egg free version, see following:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon egg substitute
Mix the dry ingredients with
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup water
Makes 2 dozen mini muffins baked 15 minutes at 375

What's in your kid's lunchbox?