Cookbook Review: Pampered Chef Favorites Made Gluten Free

  
    I am super excited to have the opportunity to bring you a review of a new cookbook. I'm a huge Pampered Chef fan to begin with. I have tons of their products and love them. However, I always hate going to the parties people throw because the food made is NEVER gluten free. So you just have to sit there drooling and wishing you could have some. Until now.....Pampered Chef has finally come out with a gluten free cookbook!! YEAH THEM!!
     To say I was excited about this book was an understatement. I couldn't wait to get my copy to see what they had come up with for us. They did not disappoint!! The book itself is smaller than expected, which initially shocked me, but now I love it's size. It's the perfect size to sit on the counter while you cook and it doesn't take up ALL the space. It is 8 in. by 6 in. and is spiral bound. I love the binding because you can lay it out flat and not have to sit a sugar bag or rolling pin on it to keep it open.
     Each recipe has a picture of what you are making. The food photography is amazing. Each picture makes your stomach growl and your mouth drool. I love a cookbook with pictures!
     Oh, and let's talk price. According to the pampered chef website this book is only $8!! It is well worth $8. I have spent far more on lesser cookbooks in my gluten free time.
      I decided that I of course had to TEST a recipe to see if there was any merit beyond pretty pictures and yummy titles. I tested Jalapeno Popper Pizzas and Taffy Apple Pizza. I tried to stick as closely as I could to the instructions. However, I don't own every pampered chef accoutrement that is mentioned to use in the recipes so I had to improvise some. No big deal though.
     The recipes use mostly Bob's Red Mill and Betty Crocker's gluten free line of mixes. So it is nice that the ingredients are easy to find, and use some short cuts. We all need short cuts once in a while!
     The Jalapeno Popper Pizzas were a hit. They were easy to make and turned out great. The only difference from my recipe to theirs was that mine made 15 pizzas and theirs said it would make 24. I guess I made mine bigger. OOPS! The flavor was good and they were loved even by non gluten free folks. I would call them a success.

Jalapeno Popper Pizzas

     I also made Taffy Apple Pizza which is a dessert pizza. It was easy to put together. It used a Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix for the base (not mixed according to the box). The taste of this recipe was good, but the base was very crumbly and didn't hold together as much as I would have liked it to. This recipe doesn't really make great leftovers, so it would have to be made for an occasion where you knew it would all be eaten. That all being said, it tasted good, looked pretty, and was enjoyed. I would make it again, but with a few tweaks.

Taffy Apple Pizza

     There are several other recipes that I can't wait to try out in this new book. One that I see being used for multiple uses is a recipe for Crescent dough (crescent rolls) that is used in their recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Braid. I can't wait to try that out! Their picture looks amazing for that. The book has recipes for Appetizers, Main Dishes and Desserts. Lots of yummy ideas.
      So if you are looking for a new gluten free cookbook, or maybe even a gift for a gluten free loved one, this cookbook is well worth your $8. I hope this is just the first of many gluten free cookbooks put out by Pampered Chef.
     If you are interested in getting your gluten free hands on this book you will either need to order it through a Pampered Chef consultant, or you can order it online at PamperedChef.com . Just FYI.... I have not been compensated for my review, other than receiving the book to review. So this is just my opinion on the book. I hope my review was informative for you and maybe even helped you to decide if you need a new cookbook in your kitchen.

-Jessica
    

Country Manor Mixes: Product Review

     I was recently introduced to Country Manor Mixes. A friend had brought three packages of dip mix back from her vacation in Minnesota. I was excited that they were gluten free. I decided to contact Country Manor and see if they would like to send out some product for me to review. They were more than happy to do that.
     Country Manor carries a variety of Dippin' products. They have dessert mixes, spreads for bagels or dessert, dipping oil mixes, fruit dips, and veggie/chip dip mixes. They have a great variety. I would say that just about everybody could find a flavor that they would like to try.
     I have chosen two of the products that I was sent to talk about today. I have chosen the BLT Mix and the English Toffee Cheesecake Mix. The BLT retails for $4 and the English Toffee for $6 on their website.

BLT Dip Mix from Country Manor Mixes

     Alright, let's talk BLT Dip Mix.....

     The BLT Dip Mix required 1 C. Sour Cream and 1 C. Mayo added to the package of Dip Mix. All I had to do was stir that all together and chill for a few hours or over night. I loved that the dip was simple to make. I was a little leery of how the mayo would taste in the dip, but it was great. I would definitely make this dip again. I dipped gluten free bagel chips into it, tortilla chips, and even pieces of lettuce. It was very yummy.



     The second mix was the English Toffee Cheesecake Mix. The package says that the mix can be made into a cheesecake, cheese ball, or dip. I decided to make mine into a cheese ball. However, after mixing the ingredients, it was far too soft and fluffy to form into a cheese ball....soooo it ended up being a dip. I had no problem with it just being a dip.

To make this mix it required a package of cream cheese and a container of cool whip. Easy Peasy.

I mixed the cream cheese with the dip mix first. Then I folded in the cool-whip.

My dip is a little too fluffy to make a cheese ball....oh well :) Still tastes yummy!

I dished up a little of the English Toffee Cheesecake Dip and topped it with some crushed English Toffee Candy Bar pieces. I used Mi-Del Arrowroot Animal Cookies for my dippers.

The result was YUMMYNESS!

I would love to make this again sometime. It was very good. I would love to try it in a pie shell next time. I would also like to figure out how to make it thick enough for the cheese ball, because that would be AMAZING rolled in the English Toffee Candy Bar pieces (my original plan for using the mix ha).

     Country Manor sells their mixes online and they can also be found in some stores. Look for them and check them out. They are yummy!!

-Jessica



Tater Skins.....Baked, not fried

     My family absolutely loves tater skins. Most restaurants fry them in their deep fryers. Which most likely have been contaminated by other gluteny fried foods. UGH!
    A few years ago I was craving tater skins....so I decided I would make my own. I make mine slightly healthier by baking them. There is no frying involved and I think they still Rock my socks off!! They are also super easy to make, you just have to block out some time to bake the potatoes.
    This is a super easy appetizer recipe for New Years Eve, Super Bowl Sunday, or even for those not so special occasions!

Tater Skins

8-10 small to medium sized potatoes, scrubbed and dried
1 package Real Bacon pieces or bits
Shredded Cheese

Toppings: Ranch, Sour Cream, Chopped Green Onions, ketchup

Wash and dry the potatoes, place on a baking sheet in a 375 deg. oven for 50-60 min, or until completely cooked. Let the potatoes cool for about 30-60min before handling them for the rest of the recipe. Otherwise you will end up with burnt fingers.

Once the potatoes have cooled down, slice each potato in half length ways. Using a spoon scoop most of the potato out leaving the skin and a thin layer of "meat".  (use the scooped out potato in another recipe or as leftovers the next day)

Place the potato halves back onto the baking sheet. Fill them with shredded cheese and bacon bits. Bake in a 425 deg. oven for approximately 20 min. or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Serve with your favorite toppings and dippers.

Bake your potatoes on a cookie sheet without wrapping in foil gives them a nice crispy skin.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise.

Use a spoon to scoop the insides of your tater out.

Save the scooped out part and use the next day to make mashed potatoes.

Place the scooped out taters back on the baking sheet.

Fill with cheese

And bacon. Bake at 425 until cheese is melted and browned (20-30 min)

Remove when cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Serve while smokin' hot out of the oven.

I love my tater skins with ranch!

 

Enjoy!!!

-Jessica