Weekend in Review

I am completely in love with summer. Everything is more alive when the days are longer. There's nothing better than sleeping in, spending the day by the pool with my favorite boy and having a few drinks on the porch in the shade. August weekends are full of lazy relaxation and happiness. I completely recharge so I can be productive once again on Monday.

One thing no one wants to do when its hot outside is spend a lot of time in the kitchen. As much as I love to bake and try out new recipes, I just can't do it for hours at a time when its 100 degrees outside. Plus, why waste time inside, when you can be outside enjoying yourself? But a girl's gotta eat! So I managed to have a weekend of tasty meals without spending too much time with the oven on.

Summer Crisp Salad

This salad is crunchy and light. Easily prepared in about 10 minutes, its perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. I used Romaine lettuce, mini cucumbers, Gala apples, Feta cheese, chopped walnuts and Bolthouse's Raspberry Merlot Vinaigrette. 

Polenta with Marinara

Use pre-cooked polenta sliced into strips to create a fun appetizer or light meal. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan on medium high, season polenta with Italian seasoning and cook on each side until crispy. Serve with marinara sauce. 

Sweet & Sunny Breakfast Bowl

Top instant or quick cooking brown rice cereal with a chopped banana, walnuts and honey for a filling and nutritious start for the day. This filled me up for hours and almost felt like dessert for breakfast!

Margherita Pizza

I used a pre-made frozen pizza dough (Gillian's Foods) for this amazing gluten free pizza. Roll out the dough, top with marinara, fresh mozzarella and basil and bake according to directions on package. This is by far the best gluten free pizza I've had to date! It's nice to have it fresh from the oven!

Rice Chex Treats

Of course there has to be dessert! These treats are made by melting one stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add one package of Jet Puff marshmallows (regular or mini), one TBS vanilla extract and melt. Once melted, remove the pan from heat and stir in an 8oz box of Rice Chex. Pour the mix into a greased 13x9 pan, press down (with greased hands!) and let cool before cutting. You'll want to have a couple of people around to share these with, or you will surely eat the entire pan!!

Summer Shortcake

When June rolls around, I tend to get nostalgic. I think back on growing up in Texas...especially the summers (which was nine months out of the year anyway, right?), and can't help but think of the food. One reason I enjoy cooking is the memories it brings back. There is nothing like the taste, smell and texture to snap you back to a different time. 

As a kid, I remember always having fresh fruit in the house. Apples, pears and persimmons that grew on our trees, ice cold watermelon, and especially the strawberries. My mom would cut them up (I would try to eat them as fast as she could cut), sprinkle sugar on them and let them soak for a few hours so we could spoon them over yellow sponge cakes with whipped cream.

Well, gone are the days of yellow sponge cakes, but I knew I wanted to have some old fashioned strawberry shortcake to celebrate summer and the beginnings of my new blog. So I set about my research and went about creating new memories in my own kitchen. I hit up Whole Foods and gathered the good stuff. I don't really slack with ingredients in my cooking anymore. If you've already tasted any gluten free food, you know it can taste like something is missing or just not...right. So I always spring for the good stuff so I really enjoy the food I CAN eat.

Now, I have to admit, the first time I made this it did not work for me. I combined several recipes and hoped for the best, but it turned out flat and burnt. I think there's a saying, "if at first you don't succeed, throw things and cuss really loud. Then take a deep breath and call your mom. She will tell you to try again". So that is what I did, and second time around it turned out really great! The only thing I would do differently next time (and there should definitely be a next time!) is put the batter into a round cake pan instead of trying to make individual cakes. I think it would look nicer that way.

ONWARD!

Toppings:

2 quart Strawberries

about 1/4 cup sugar

whipped topping

Shortcake Ingredients:

2 cups of Better Batter Flour (or other cup for cup gluten-free flour replacement)

4 TBS sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sweet cream butter

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup milk 

Prepare:
Cut strawberries and coat with sugar, stir until sugar is melted and place in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Directions:
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until the mixture is crumbly, like so:

Add the wet ingredients all together and stir just until everything is combined. Don't over mix. I wanted individual shortcakes, so I made little mounds on a greased cookie sheet. Like I said, next time I would just use a cake pan because they did flatten out anyway.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let these cool for a few minutes before assembling. To build your dessert, just layer shortcake, strawberry mixture, whipped cream, more shortcake, more strawberries and more whipped cream.

TA-DA!! I'm glad I didn't give up after the first time, because it turned out great and tasted wonderful! I couldn't eat it all, but I sure did try! Here is the aftermath: