Peanut Butter Bars
As a child, my favorite school lunch treat was the peanut butter bars. I still crave them all the time but can never figure out how to make them. Today, these cravings sent me to http://allrecipes.com/, where I found several recipes for peanut butter bars. I got the main idea from these recipes, but tweaked them a little bit to create my own GF/CF version. My 2-year old loved these, but the other two wouldn’t touch them because of the texture of the frosting. I guess next time I’m going to have to make some with frosting and some without.
If you ever find a recipe that you want to make but it doesn’t work with the diet, you can always email Larraine or me and we will help you figure out a way to make the recipe GF/CF.
GF/CF Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups GF flour
1 tsp guar gum
Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
Casein-free milk (I used soy, but there are other choices including rice milks and almond milks)
Directions:
Cream together shortening, sugar, peanut butter, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt until well mixed. Spread on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Let cool.
To make the frosting, mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla and then add just enough milk for the consistency that you desire. Frost after the peanut butter bars have cooled.
Filed under Recipes by on Sep 13th, 2010. 4 Comments. 
I don’t know if I’m the only one out there, but I used to feel like I was just dumping my grocery money down the trash every week because as soon as I would put the groceries away, my children would be getting in the fridge and the cupboards and eating anything they could get their hands on or thinking it would be fun to sit with the groceries and line them up on the floor or hide them in secret spots. I can’t tell you how many times I would find rotting fruit in some odd place or catch my child trying to get into the raw meat or eat cheese or something that wasn’t on their diet.
Luckily, I figured out that I could buy fridge locks at the store (i.e., Wal-Mart or a home improvement store). There are several options that are usually found in the childproofing aisle in the baby department. My favorite lock for the fridge that usually runs around $5 is Safety 1st’s Multi-Purpose Appliance Lock.
It works great for my younger kids. Just a tip though, make sure your refrigerator is very clean or the adhesive tape on the back won’t stick. Also, we usually use super glue as well because my kids figured out that if you pull really hard, you don’t even have to know how to undo the lock because it will just pull right off of the fridge.
These worked for a couple of years; unfortunately, my oldest son recently figured out the real way to unlatch these fridge locks, so we have had to upgrade to a more expensive fridge lock. I could only find it online at marinelock.com. These are great because they come with a padlock and key, as well as an adhesive back and super glue, so there is no need for drilling into the fridge to install the lock.
As far as the cupboards go, the simplest locks for those work with cupboards that have handles. I drilled holes in my cupboard doors and then screwed in handles. The cabinet locks that work the best for me and are the most difficult for my kids to figure out are the Safety First Grip N Go Cabinet Locks. I love these because not only can I use them for my food cupboards, but I can also put them on the cabinets that have medications or household cleaners and other things that my kids might ingest that would be dangerous for them.
Filed under Autism by on Sep 9th, 2010. 3 Comments.
My sister – the Gluten Gal – was coming for a family dinner. We were doing meat on the grill, along with salads, fruit, baked beans, etc. For dessert, I had pie and ice cream, but also wanted a gluten-free dessert. I picked up a Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mix at the store and planned to make the frosting Larraine told us about in a post.
Then I thought, why not make something a little more special? I went to the Betty Crocker site and found recipes that use the gluten-free mixes. I decided on Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It turned out so pretty and tasted delicious! Many of the guests tried it and were surprised at how moist and yummy it was.
(Note: Larraine also eats casein-free, so I used shortening with a dash of salt instead of butter in the recipe.)
You can check out the recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake and other Betty Crocker gluten-free recipes at:
Filed under Gluten-Free Info by on Sep 4th, 2010. 2 Comments.
What most people don’t know about me is that the REAL reason I create recipes is that I just LOVE to eat! And truthfully, MOST of the meals I make are made with regular items found in regular cupboards, fridges and regular stores! During a month of meals, there are probably only about two that I make that use ingredients that are actually “gluten-free,” such as gluten-free pasta or flours. Now I also eat casein-free, so I choose things, like olive oil or shortening, instead of butter. And it’s amazing how I don’t miss cheese, like I thought is would!
Today I created a new and very EASY recipe, using sweet potatoes. You’ll love this sweet and vitamin packed treat! Find my new Sugar & Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries under “Side Dishes” in my Gluten-free Recipes. They’re a hit with my family!
Filed under Gluten-Free Info by on Aug 28th, 2010. 3 Comments.
I LOVE the buttery quality of yellow flesh potatoes! This dish is quick and easy, and can be made extra flavorful just by adding a few mushrooms and a red bell pepper.
My daughter-in-law, Louise has made us her delicious baked “potato chips” several times. I have added my version to my recipes – “Sliced Yellow Potato Bake.” Look for this under Side Dishes in my Gluten Free Recipes.
For our family dinner today, I added fresh corn on the cob and baked lemon-herb chicken breasts, which went well with these potatoes!
This shows my assembly line. And here’s the pan – ready to bake.
Filed under Recipes by on Aug 22nd, 2010. 2 Comments.
I LOVED the movie FRIED GREEN TOMATOES 
Since I have a garden full of tomatoes this year, I thought I’d try some! I also wanted to do some eggplant and some zucchini, and make them all gluten free and casein free!
I didn’t know when I started out that it would turn out to be such a big project! I had just one small eggplant, so I bought one more, and it was quite big! I was surprised when I went out to my garden for a zucchini and found three large ones! I used two of them. I picked three medium tomatoes, like I created my recipe for. I ended up with two cookie sheets of sliced vegetables, two layers thick, waiting for me to prepare and fry them! It was a big job, but also lots of fun!
My daughter, Kayli baked chicken while I fried. We were rather fascinated, watching these vegetables fry, bubble and brown before our eyes. When it was time to eat, we definitely had eyes larger than our stomachs! We got full on just our tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini! The baked chicken had to wait!
This was a fun “experiment” to add to our summer recipes! You can find “Gluten Free Fried Green Tomatoes (also Zucchini & Eggplant)” under “Side Dishes” in my gluten free recipes!
My assembly line… ready to cook!
Filed under Recipes by on Aug 18th, 2010. 2 Comments.
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