Lemon Cream Pie

...make a lemon cream pie! A neighbor of ours, gave us a 10 pound bag of their lemons fresh from their tree. Wow! Immediately the kids wanted me to make lemonade. Well I knew it wouldn't take all of these lemons so what else could I make? I've made lemon bars last time with all of my lemons so I wanted something different. PIE! I found this recipe and it sounded great. I used my gluten free pie crust recipe and decided to use my tart pan instead (I love that it's easier to remove the slices). I also opted for a chilled pie because our oven heats up this little house so the less time I have to use it, the better. You do use a pre baked pie crust though, but it doesn't take too long in the oven.

This pie is just wonderful!! It's cold, creamy, fluffy and melts in your mouth. I really loved it. It's not too tart, it's perfect. A perfect end to Summer and to welcome Fall. Oh, and yes I made them lemonade, and I'll blog that soon too. 

Lemon Cream Pie
adapted from Welcome Home 

1 pie crust recipe, pre baked and cooled (gluten free recipe here)
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 egg yolks slightly beaten
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup frozen butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup sour cream

Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolks and milk in saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thick (should take a few minutes). Stir in the frozen butter until melted, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the 1 cup of sour cream and pour into baked pie shell. Chill 6 hours or more, top with whipped cream before serving.

enjoy,

Quinoa Spring Rolls

Quinoa is still a grain that I am trying to get used to liking since the last few recipes I've tried haven't been so great. I've had this recipe in my pinterest folder for some time now and thought this weekend was the perfect time to try them! I recently went back to work (sorry my blog is far behind!) and sometimes I get to take lunch breaks. This was lunch this past weekend. I am so glad I gave this recipe a try, because it is now a keeper. I love asian foods, flavors and egg rolls so these were perfect.

I made these spring rolls up the night before and was a little worried they would turn soggy, but happily they held up so well. I even rolled them between pieces of wax paper so they wouldn't stick together. The flavors was fantastic in these and I loved the quinoa.


Quinoa Spring Rolls
adapted from The Healthy Haven Blog

1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup or so of each: bean sprouts, grated carrots, shredded cabbage, sliced green leaf lettuce
6 rice paper wrappers

 Dressing:
 2 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
 2 Tbs. soy sauce (or Tamari for gluten free)
 1 tsp. minced garlic
 1 Tbs. minced ginger
 2 tsp. sesame oil

Combine the quinoa and all the veggies in a medium bowl. In another small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and then toss with quinoa and veggie mix, set aside.

Before assembling the spring rolls, fill a pie dish with warm water. Then soak a wrapper for 30 seconds or until it begins to soften. Don’t let it sit for too long because it will soften too much and fall apart. Place the wet rice wrapper on a plate and add a couple of tablespoons of quinoa veggie mixture. Fold the edges over and roll into a spring roll. Repeat by soaking another rice wrapper and wrapping it. Keep going until all the filling has been used. Eat right away or roll between pieces of wax paper and refrigerate.

Dressed quinoa and veggie mix

let's eat!

 enjoy,

Homemade Gluten Free Pasta

I am so glad to have finally tried making pasta from scratch. Gluten free pasta even!! This recipe is so easy once you've made it you'll think "that was it??" Best of all it tastes so much better than any boxed brand, fresh is always better though, isn't it? I know my kids like it, but I finally got Mr. to try it and even he loved it more than the boxed gluten pasta!

I have had to adapt this recipe because I just cannnot get the dough to come together by hand on the counter top. I have also had to add an extra egg or two plus some oil for it to come together, using my mixer. In the end it came out lovely, and the dough is very workable but I doubt it would work in a pasta roller, so this is really made by hand! I can get 3-4 servings out of this (being diabetic I can't have a big bowl of pasta).

My Grandma's Italian Noodles

Homemade Gluten Free Pasta

adapted from No Gluten, No Problem, serves 2-4

2 Cups Gluten Free Flour Blend

1 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

2-4 eggs (depends on your dough)

Drizzle of olive oil

In a stand mixer combine the flour and xanthan gum on a medium speed, then slowly add in 2 eggs and drizzle in the oil. The dough will turn to a dry sandy stage, if it doesn't seem to come together and look like dough, slowly add another egg and a little oil (depending on how it works for you, you may need up to 4 eggs). Once the dough combines and "cleans the bowl" it is ready.

Cut dough into two pieces, cover and let it rest up to 10 minutes. Roll out as thin as you can and cut pasta into desired strips (see below). Allow cut pasta to dry out, up to 10 minutes then it's ready to boil or place in the fridge, covered until ready to cook (up to a couple of days). Let boil about 10-15 minutes, or until your desired doneness. (mine seems to take the longer 15 minutes)

I have to mix min in the stand mixer. Roll out onto counter as thin as you can get it, then slice into desired pasta shape (usually a thin fettucini/spaghetti or lasagna sheets)

After rolling out, you can either roll it up like a log and slice circles and then unroll each little circle to make pasta strips, or roll it out and slice thin strips, or roll it out and cut large lasagna sheets like I have.

I have made this pasta a handful of times, using it for Lasagna, Cajun Chicken Pasta and my Spaghetti and well pretty much any pasta dish lately.

Please share this post if you liked it. =)

enjoy,