Baking-phrenia and Chicken Meat-cakes (hehe, I said meat-cakes)

So I changed the name of my blog back to “Baking for Sanity”.  Because I decided that no matter what baking I do, whether it’s gluten/dairy free, regular old baking, cooking dinners, or whatever I do in the kitchen, I do it because it helps keep me grounded and prevents me from sitting in a mom-coma while the kids throw food at my face.  And also, trying to invent gluten/dairy free recipes on my own is too darn hard (I had a tray of inedible gluten-free brownies and gluten-free snickerdoodles to serve as an example).  I’m just going to take what other people have done and report on how it is.  I do apologize for the multiple baking personalities.  I’m starting medication.

That being said, this is the saddest baking blog I’ve ever seen!  Three posts and not one thing about baking yet.  I think that’s because I’ve tried to be too organized with it, looking for a certain ‘type’ of baking blog.  Really, all I’m going to do with this is use it to record what I bake, what I make for dinners if it’s something that has worked well, and go from there.

So, speaking of dinners, yesterday I made Chicken Meatloaf Cupcakes…or Chicken Meat-cakes as I like to call them.  I whipped these bad boys up out of stuff I had lying around and baked them in a cupcake tin.  They were awesome!  They were also gluten free (unless there’s gluten in Worcestershire sauce) (there isn’t!  I just checked!  yay!) (not sure about some of the spices, though…).   I Had good ol’ mashed potatoes as a side (skin on, made with Earth Balance butter substitute and Almond milk!).

Here is the recipe.  Sort of.  I’m going to have to get better at this, because when I cook I don’t measure, I add ingredients and I smell/taste.  If it’s good, I stop.  If it isn’t, I add.  So these are best estimates at measurements…

Chicken Meat-cakes – makes about 8 meatcakes
Pre-heat oven to 375F

1 lb ground chicken
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2  medium red onion
1/2 green pepper
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup brown/wild rice mix (I used the ‘microwave in the packet for 90 seconds’ kind)
2 eggs
about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of smashed up gluten-free crackers (I used Schar brand just because it’s what I had)
Canned diced tomatoes, about 1/4 cup without the juice
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cardemom
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp seasoned salt (I used Tastefully Simple because I had it)
Cupcake pan

Chop up the onion and pepper and press the garlic and saute together in the olive oil until the onions start to get clear (just to make sure they’re tender when the meat-cakes are done).  In a large bowl, add the sauteed vegetables to the ground chicken.  Add remainder of ingredients (I did eggs first and saved spices for last).   Using a spatula, spoon the mixture into the cupcake pan (my pan was non-stick so I didn’t grease it – use your own judgement here).  They won’t rise or change shape, so I gave mine a nice ‘cupcake’ shape.

Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.  They will be bright yellow because of the tumeric!  Mine had a nice browning going on on the top and sides, very pretty for a meat-cake!  (Pics will be on here as soon as I get them off my phone).

For regular meatloaf I would normally drown it in ketchup.  I didn’t think ketchup would go well with these flavors, so I actually added a little Goddess Dressing (Annie’s) on top and it was very yummy.

So that’s it, my first recipe!  Not quite baking in the way I thought my first recipe would be, but that’s ok.  Gotta start somewhere…

Switching Gears…

We took my son to an acupuncturist this weekend because he keeps getting ear infections and the doctor told us it was nearing time for tubes.   We’re going to try to avoid that if at all possible, so my husband took him this weekend to see if we could get some advice on natural remedies/preventions we can try before we dive into surgery for the poor dude.  Well, she told us we should take him off of dairy, wheat, sugar, and food coloring because all of these things promote excess mucous and that’s what causes so many problems with his ears.  I had heard about dairy, but not the other stuff.  To make this easier and keep from having to make yet additional separate meals for the kids, the household will be following these guidelines.  Needless to say this is going to put a cramp in my baking style.

So this blog will be changing to document an even MORE uncharted territory in my culinary skills, that of the deletion of the aforementioned evil ingredients.  I’m slightly bummed because 1. all of those things taste really good (well, except food coloring) and 2. I felt like I was just getting the hang of baking, starting to understand what ingredients did what, that sort of thing.  Now I’m dealing with a whole new animal.  Howevah, there are lots of people both young and old that are cutting these things from their diet, so hopefully this will be of use.  I guess I’ll be changing the name of this blog too, just don’ t know what it will be yet.  On the brighter side, I think this is a healthy step for the whole family, and I won’t have to worry about gaining weight as much with this new menu!

I have to do some research, and will be heading to the grocery store this week to see what I have to choose from…

It’s Time for Some Bakin’!

Some of you know me from my other blog, At Home With Carissa.  For those not familiar with it, that’s my ‘get the angst out’ blog after I started being a SAHM a little over a year ago.   In between the angst I’ve been doing a lot of baking, and it’s somehow turned into a very enjoyable hobby.  Hence, the blog.  Because really, you can’t do anything without having a blog to write about it.

I’ve always enjoyed baking, and cooking.  It relaxes me, and I enjoy creating something that brings joy to others’ taste buds.  In November 2008 we had our first child, our daughter Nyima.  In November 2010 we had our second child, our son Kai.  After Kai was born I decided I wanted to try to stay home to take care of the kids.  I found that while being home can often be quite difficult (see other blog for proof of that), it also awakened the 50′s housewife in me that enjoyed having a hot meal ready for the hubby when he came home from work.   Then it came time for our first combo birthday party – Nyima turned 3 and Kai turned 1, their birthdays are only 3 days apart and so they will get combo parties for as long as they will tolerate it.  For their party I went way outside my comfort zone and did my first fondant cake (along with some cake pops, cupcakes, homemade decorations – maybe, POSSIBLY went a bit overboard).  Since then I haven’t had the opportunity to do more fondant cakes, but have experimented with all sorts of other baking items (cupcakes, cookies, coffee cakes, etc.).  I’ve discovered that when baking I find brief moments of peace in the chaos that is my life.  Sometimes I really do feel like I’m baking for my sanity.  I’ve also discovered some fabulous recipes.  So before I get too far into this new baking extravaganza, I thought I’d start this blog to bring everyone along for the ride.  I’ll try to provide recipes, tips, and pitfalls along the way.  It will mostly be limited to baking, but sometimes I whip up some dinner out of the remnants of my cupboard that tastes pretty fabulous and I might throw those in here too, if anything to remember what I did so I might be able to do it again someday…

So come along and join me on my new adventure (and watch me try not to gain 100 lbs along the way!)!  This blog will be free from angst, but will have a whole lotta calories…