Corn Free Candy Corn

Ever since the Halloween candy has hit the shelves my kids have been begging me to make candy corn. It was not as hard as I thought it would be and turned out to be fun. The pictures will also show why I love the orange and yellow food coloring from Natural Candy Store. The colors are so vibrant and real looking and they taste so much better than the store bought stuff.

Corn Free Candy Corn
Adapted from Alton Brown

What you need:
4 1/2 ounces powdered sugar
1/2 ounce powdered milk (I use DariFree which you can find here)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
1/3 cup corn free corn syrup
2 1/2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons dairy free butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
orange and yellow food coloring

Directions:
I did mine just like Alton Brown did except for using natural food coloring. Follow his directions here. I also took tiny cookie cutters and used them to cut out solid colored bit sized candies. After I cut and shaped my candies they were still a bit sticky. I decided to place them in my dehydrator for a few hours on the lowest setting. They firmed up on the outside but are still nice and soft on the inside. Since they had a few hours in the dehydrator they can be stacked together to store.

DIY: Corn Free Corn syrup

I know that my title sounds a bit funny but you can make a corn syrup substitute so you don't have to use corn syrup. Why would you want to do that? So you can make candy corn! We have eliminated non-organic and GMO corn from my kids diet because they react to it similar to how they react to gluten. This means no corn syrup and Cameron really wanted me to make candy corn, which needs corn syrup.
I looked at many different substitutes and I did not want my candy to have a dark tint to them. This lead me to make my own corn syrup. It is not hard to make and it works perfectly to make candy corn.

Corn Free Corn Syrup

What you need:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt and a pinch

Directions:
Combine sugar, water and salt together in a heavy bottom pan and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Place the lid on the pan and cook at a simmer for 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes clip a candy thermometer on and cook till 240 degrees. Let cool slightly and store in a glass jar. Please be very careful as this is very hot stuff that will burn if you are not careful! I used most of the recipe making candy corn. The longer it sits the more it will form sugar crystals but warming the syrup will even the syrup back out. 

Yes, I know it's not the best picture but you get the idea.

Gluten and Dairy Halloween Candy

It's October! I am going to try to be more here the month of October and give you lots of neat ideas and recipes for gluten and dairy free Halloween treats. I'm starting off with a company today that I have worked with in the past and I love the selection they have. The Natural Candy Store has a great selection of gluten and dairy free candy that you can swap out the candy they get trick-or-treating. Out here camping they do three weekends of trick-or-treating plus we go out for Halloween. That is a ton of candy that my kids gather. They have no problem handing the candy back out to other trick-or-treaters but a few pieces of candy are nice to have. There are several different candies that I ordered this year to trade out along with some candy I can buy at my local health stores. We don't do many sweets but when all the other kids are having something special it is nice to be part of that group.

Here are some candies that I love from them.

 Gummi Jack o Lanterns they are corn free too!
Sour Worms
Gummy Spooky Spiders
Natural Candy Mix suckers, gummy worms and gum

I also order my food coloring from them and I have not had a problem with any colors. In fact I prefer the natural food colors over the ones I can buy locally because the colors are more true colors.

Black
Orange
Yellow
Red
Green
Blue
Purple

Now I have a challenge for you. I know we all like to get free stuff and as soon as my Facebook page hits 200 likes I will give away an awesome gift box full of gluten free yummies! The faster we reach this goal the more items will go into the box. Help me reach this goal by sharing with your friends and family please.

Caden's Little Einstein Birthday

Today is my baby's birthday. He turns three and for his cake he wanted Little Einstein. If you don't know who they are check them out here. I started with the cake recipe from Living Without which can be found here. I made it just like the recipe said but in the last step I added some natural orange food coloring because Caden wanted an orange colored cake. It turned out great, a bit dense but still tasted great.

Happy Birthday Caden!!

Fast Friday - DIY Steam Bags

I love my local farmers market! I don't know about you but I have a local farmer who is organic and when we stopped in last Wednesday they had both pears and potatoes. Around here organic potatoes are hard to find so I bought a box of them. A few weeks ago there was a post on Facebook that was a link to make your own freezer bag potatoes. The link that was posted was this one and I followed the instructions given but with organic potatoes! I am so excited to try these come winter when it is even harder to find organic potatoes.When you go to use them just poke a vent hole in the bag when you warm them.

Steam Bag Potatoes
What you need:

potatoes (organic if possible)
Seal a Meal (or another similar system)

Directions:

Yes, Caden helped me take the picture.

Peel, cube and boil till almost done. You want to be able to stick a fork into them but still holding their shape. Drain and let cool so it is easier to bag. Place desired amount of potatoes in bag depending on how big of serving you want. I did both large and small bags for just family and holiday meals. Label and freeze for later!

Souper Sunday - Sweet Slow Cooker Chili

I know I have been MIA for a while but it will be worth it. I've been taking some family time and trying to get my pain levels back down where I can cook again. Here is a treat for you to enjoy and it is the start of more fall recipes to come your way.
I received Rudi's new tortilla shells and while they are great as tortilla shells, I wanted to make something different with the too. What I love about their shells is when you warm them the shells puff. Like real tortilla shells! You don't even have to warm them to eat them! I am in the process of trying to convince local stores to carry them so I can have more to experiment with. The recipe that I converted to gluten free was a new one for me but it will be a dish that we will keep making.

Sweet Slow Cooker Chili
adapted from Food Network

What you need:
1-2 lbs of stew meat
1 tsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 (12oz) gluten free beer or soda (I used cream soda)
1 (14-16oz) jar salsa (I used a mild sweet salsa)
4 Rudi's Fiesta tortilla shells, torn into bite size pieces
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
2 cans beans (I used one kidney bean and one black bean)
4 cups broth (veggie, chicken or beef)

Directions:
Add oil to the bottom of a large pot and brown the stew meat. Sprinkle salt onto meat while browning each side of the meat. Remove the meat and place into slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on high heat for 8 hours or until meat is tender. Give a final stir and taste for additional spices before serving. The tortilla shells dissolve into the chili and help thicken the chili.

Souper Sunday - Gluten and Dairy Free Northwoods Chicken Soup

During the month of September I am going to post easy but yummy soups. Today's soup was a favorite of my cooking group and was often in our cooking rotation. This was before my family went gluten and dairy free. As fall is approaching I'm in the mood for soup again and this soup was one I wanted to try again. I am pleased with the results and while it doesn't have the original 1 1/2 cups of half and half, it is still creamy. With using tapioca starch the soup almost gels when cool but if you heat it back up again it will be creamy again. I have not tried freezing the soup like the original one because it did not last long enough. Cameron loved the soup and if I get him to eat and like new foods it is worth sharing. There are some people who do not like the texture of the wild rice and if they are in your family you can use brown rice instead.

Northwoods Wild Rice Soup
adapted from Food.com

What you need:
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup butter substitute
6 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
10 oz chicken broth
1 1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups dairy free milk (I used coconut)
2 cups cooked wild rice

Directions:
In one bowl combine tapioca starch, salt, thyme and paprika. Also have milk, chicken broth and worcestershire sauce together and ready to add to the roux you make. Melt the butter in a large pot and add onion and celery. Saute until the onion and celery is tender. Stir in the bowl of tapioca starch and spices and cook for about a minute, until it starts to thicken. Add in milk and chicken broth and stir, stir, stir! It will thicken into a gel for a second but keep stirring and it will smooth out. Add in chicken, bacon and wild rice and cook till thickened. Enjoy!
If you freeze it let me know how it is please.

Cameron asked for another bowl before bed.