I came across a sugar cookie bar and adapted it to make it gluten and dairy free so Robby could enjoy them. Robby took one and had one bite and quickly turned to grab a second one. That speaks volumes. Jim and I also liked them so even your gluten eating friends will enjoy these sugar cookie bars. These were so easy to make and knowing how much Robby enjoyed them I know I will be making them often!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened. I used Earth Balance
3/4 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, I used Kate hill cream cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour, I used Bob’s one to one
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
INGREDIENTS FOR THE VANILLA FROSTING
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons milk, I used fare life
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Sprinkles or decorations if desired
DIRECTIONS
Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper or tin foil sprayed with non stick spray allowing two of the sides to hang over allowing for easy removal.
In a large mixing bowl add butter and sugar and beat together using your stand or hand mixer until creamy.
Add your cream cheese and vanilla extract beating again until smooth. Add the egg and beat again.
To the same bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until you have a smooth thick batter.
Add the batter to your pan spreading the batter out evenly. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool completely before frosting.
FOR THE FROSTING- in a mixing bowl add butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat with your mixer until smooth and creamy.
When the bars are cool spread the frosting over the bars covering all of the cookie bars. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Cut into bars. These are best stored in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Anne
Spring is here and summer is just around the corner and that means its grilling season in N.H. This recipe is super simple and can be adjusted to anyway your family would like. I used a red bell pepper, asparagus and carrots but you could add onion or zucchini if you wanted. This recipe needs a little time to marinate but other than that it’s simple to get on the table. It also cooks fairly quick as the steak is sliced thin or lightly pounded if needed. The trick to the recipe is slicing your vegetables into thin matchsticks. Jim had two helpings and requested it again for next week! This recipe goes in the win category for me!
INGREDIENTS
1 Pound of steak can be flank steak or skirt steak
1/2 cup of low sodium tamari
3 cloves of minced garlic
3 Tablespoons of honey
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 bell pepper cut into matchsticks
1 carrot cut into matchsticks
8 stalks of asparagus cut in half
Toothpicks or small skewers, soaked in water
DIRECTIONS
In a baking dish or a ziplock bag add the steak and mix the tamari sauce, garlic, honey, lime juice and sriracha add to the steak and let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 4 hours.
Once marinated remove from the fridge, add the marinade from the bag into a small saucepan.
slice the steak and pound the steak thin if needed, you want them to be equal rectangles place a few slices of each your veggies on a slice of the marinated steak making sure they are all about the same length. Roll the steak around the vegetables and secure with the soaked skewers.
Heat the marinade over medium heat and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 3-4 minutes and remove from heat.
Grill the steaks over medium heat and cook until your desired doneness. While cooking use the reserved marinade to baste the steaks as they cook. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Anne
Robby asked me to make clam chowder not long ago, sounds easy enough right? Well……easier said than done when it really needed to be dairy free as well. Although he can have some dairy most soups include much more than he can have. Needless to say Pinterest came to the rescue. Robby and my Dad really enjoyed this dish BUT although Jim liked it he did not care for all the veggies in the soup. Jim just wanted the clams and potatoes but this can easily be adjusted to Jim’s liking too! I enjoyed this dish as it’s made in the slow cooker, so simple!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
3 lbs. red potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 cups celery , peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
8 ounces clam juice
2 cans 6.5 ounce minced clams
10 ounces whole clams, drained
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 Tablespoons parsley
2 Tablespoons dry thyme
4 Tablespoons Earth Balance butter
1 cup vidalia onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons gluten free flour for thickening
14.5 ounce can of unsweetened coconut cream
DIRECTIONS
Turn slow cooker on high. Add the vegetable broth, clam juice, diced potatoes, diced carrots and celery into the slow cooker. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Stir to mix. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours.
In a large skillet melt the butter in the pan add the chopped onions and cook for a couple minutes on medium high. Whisk in the gluten free flour and stir for a couple minutes. Slowly add the coconut cream and cook until the mixture is thick and well incorporated. Pour the coconut cream mixture into the slow cooker. Add the whole and minced clams and gently stir. Set the crockpot to warm. It’s ready to eat when vegetables are fork tender.
Serve warm with a dash of hot sauce if desired.
Enjoy!
Anne
I first saw Korean sticky potatoes on one of our local restaurants menu’s but I had never heard of them. I took to Pinterest and sure enough there it was a number of recipes for Korean Sticky Potatoes! When I found the recipe I had all of the ingredients on hand so I got right in the kitchen! These are sweet and salty all at once. Jim and I both liked them but Jim thought he would like some sliced cooked sausage links added in. I have decided I will try it again with maple flavored sausage links diced in but either way these are very good, definitely not your average breakfast potatoes!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes diced into quarters or any potato diced into the same size.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup of water
2 1/2 Tablespoons Tamari- I used light tamari for less salt
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 1/2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds-optional. I left off due to a dietary restriction
DIRECTIONS
Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and fry the diced potatoes, stirring occasionally on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes start to get soft. Then add the water, tamari, corn syrup, sugar, ketchup and garlic. Simmer for another 6-8 minutes until the potatoes and fork tender. The sauce will thicken and coat the potatoes making them nice and sticky.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Anne
We celebrated Easter a few days early so that we could celebrate with Amanda, Steve and our grandkids before they had to leave back to N.Y. So when Easter Sunday rolled around we decided to take a ride to the coast and grab a bite to eat at Ray’s Lobster Pound and enjoy the day at the beach with some delicious seafood!
It also happened to be our dog Naz’s gotcha day so of course we had our little guy with us, he enjoyed a couple of French fries on his special day!
Luna enjoying our Easter egg hunt!
Aksel enjoying our egg hunt!
Naz enjoying his gotcha day on a drive to the beach!
Ok, let’s get to the food! Ray’s Lobster Pound is located at 1677 ocean Blvd in Rye N.H. They have your typical fried and baked seafood along with plenty of lobster choices as you would expect. appetizer’s including fried calamari, coconut shrimp and crab baked stuffed mushrooms to just name a couple. They have a couple different kinds of chowder, seafood rolls, combo plates and salads. They also have a full bar if you eat in. We decided to get take out and go just down the road to a small beach and enjoy our lunch there.
Jim had the fish sandwich with French fries ($22.00) the sandwich was absolutely huge! It was crispy and tender all at the same time. Jim thoroughly enjoyed his sandwich and happily shared his crispy fries with our little guy Naz!
I opted for the combination plate. ($30.00) I had fried scallops and calamari along with onion rings. This also came with coleslaw. It was a lot of food. The batter on the scallops was so light and crispy, the inside was incredibly tender and sweet. Those scallops were phenomenal. The calamari was crispy with a slightly heavier batter but so good! Calamari can be hit or miss but each bite of these were just right! The onion rings had a light batter, thinly sliced , crispy and tender. These were one of the better onion rings I have had.
Needless to say we were very pleased with our lunch and the view we had!
We highly recommend Ray’s Lobster Pound. They also ship live lobsters and have clam bakes on and off site!
If you are traveling through keep an eye out for Ray’s Lobster Pound!
Enjoy!
Anne
