This sauce is perfect served with Coconut Chicken Tenders or any chicken or pork dish.  Start with good quality apricot preserves (as shown in picture.)

Creamy Apricot Mustard Dipping Sauce

3/4 cup apricot preserves
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt (I like So Delicious coconut milk yogurt)
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Stir until lumps are removed and all ingredients are incorporated.

I also just received a case of Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Cake Mix to test.  As you know from my previous Really Easy GFCF Lemon Cake post, I think this mix is one of the best gfree vanilla cake mixes available.   Yesterday I was having a terrible morning.  I took my son to camp and they reminded me that they would be making Fruit Loop Rice Krispy Treats.  Basically Fruit Loops with marshmallows and butter.  I let my son have dairy for special treats but I knew there was another boy who could not have both gluten and dairy.  His mom didn’t send a butter replacement and I felt so bad for him.  They said he would eat another treat that he brought with him.  I was furious with the camp for not making a snack that everyone could eat and heartbroken for all the kids that have to deal with their food issues in school.

I ran to the store, bought a box of round shaped safe cereal (I can’t remember the brand), I had a bag of colored gfree marshmallows from Passover, and I brought some Earth Balance Butter Sticks so both of the boys could indulge in their delicious treats.  My son brought home a big pile of orange mushy sticky treats and was in heaven!  I felt better after I came home, cried for my kids, and then made these raspberry jam muffins.  It seems that baking and cooking make me feel better when I am miserable.

Sorry for the long intro….but I had to get that all out!  And I forgot – the cupcakes never did turn out to be pink.  But they were moist and delicious!

Ingredients

1 bag Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup POM Wonderful juice (or other healthy juice) (replace the water on the directions with juice)
1/2 cup oil
12 ounces raspberry jam or preserves (preferable with seeds)
1/4 cup So Delicious Strawberry Kefir

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Place in a greased muffin tin or line with paper liners.  Pour batter 3/4 of the way into the cups.  Bake as directed on package and add 5 extra minutes due to the extra liquid ingredients.

Insert a toothpick into the Muffin to see if they are still moist inside.  You may need to bake a little longer than expected due to the extra ingredients.

When fully cooked, cool on wire rack.

P.S. – these remind me of those little raspberry filled doughnuts we used to eat when I was younger.  You would bite into them and taste the fresh raspberry with the seeds.

I love calling vendors and hearing about their day.  Cleta was talking about the crops and her kids and grandchildren helping with the company and I realized how hard these people really work.  I new that Pete and Cleta worked hard but I didn’t realize how good their products are until recently.  When I am at the Expo vendor fair, I am so busy I barely get to try any of the samples.  I grab a few things (always a Pamela’s cupcake from Marion!) and run around trying to get all the work done.  I didn’t get to taste Pete and Cleta’s samples at the Expo.  But the past two weeks I have been making cookies from their Basic Cookie Mix.

WOW!  This is an amazing mix.  I don’t say that about many mixes but this one is phenomenal.  It makes really light and fluffy cookies that are slightly crisp on the outside and perfectly fluffy on the inside.   You can make the basic mix (you add egg and melted butter – I added egg and melted Earth Balance Buttery Sticks) and add additional ingredients if you want.

My favorite version was when I added 3/4 cups shredded coconut, 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup dried cherries.  These cookies were devoured by everyone at a picnic we went to last weekend.  And most of the folks were not gluten free!

Thanks Pete and Cleta for making such great products!  I look forward to trying the rest of the samples you left for me.  I’ll report in when I try the Angel Food Cake Mix.  To order AgVantage Naturals products go to www.agvantage-naturals.com

Follow the directions for preparing the mix and replace the liquid (such as water or milk) with a combo of half milk and half orange juice.  Example:  If the directions have you add 1/2 cup water instead add 1/4 cup milk or milk alternative and 1/4 cup orange juice.  The orange juice will add a nice citrus flavor.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons gluten free lemon extract to the batter and mix well.   If you have a fresh lemon in your refrigerator, add the zest of the lemon to the batter and combine.  Bake as directed on the cake mix package.

Allow to cool.

Top with quick and easy lemon frosting.  Mix in one teaspoon of gluten free lemon extract to your favorite white or vanilla frosting.  You can use a can of frosting (such as Betty Crocker) or make your own frosting with this easy recipe. Don’t forget to add the lemon extract to the frosting!

For a really decadent cake, make two 9″ cake rounds and a double batch of frosting.  Put a layer of frosting in between the two cakes and then frost the top and sides.  This is delicious served with fresh fruit…

Sorghum

Sorghum, which doesn’t have an inedible hull like some other grains, is commonly eaten with all its outer layers, thereby retaining the majority of its nutrients.  Sorghum also is grown from traditional hybrid seeds and does not contain traits gained through biotechnology, making it nontransgenic (non-GMO).

Some specialty sorghums are high in antioxidants, which are believed to help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and some neurological diseases. In addition, the wax surrounding the sorghum grain contains compounds called policosanols, that may have an impact on human cardiac health. Some researchers, in fact, believe that policosanols have cholesterol-lowering potency comparable to that of statins.

Click here to see research studies on sorghum and health

In the Mideast, sorghum is made into cous-cous and flatbread; in Bangladesh it’s boiled like rice, to produce kichuri; and in Honduras, sorghum tortillas are common.

Throughout Africa, you’ll find sorghum porridge or gruel in almost every country, and sorghum flatbreads such as injera , the Ethiopian flatbread (which is made from sorghum or teff or a combination of both). Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are also made from sorghum. Most of these products start with fermented or sprouted sorghum, as these two processes make sorghum’s nutrients more available, while increasing shelf life for greater food safety.

Check out these sorghum-based gluten free beers.
Bard’s Tale Beer
Red Bridge Beer
Green’s Beers
Twin Valley Mills produces a great line of sorghum flours.  According to their website, here are some baking tips using sorghum when baking.  You can order your sorghum grain and flour directly from Twin Valley Mills.

• Add 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of corn starch to every cup of sorghum flour to improve smoothness and moisture retention
• Use xanthan gum as a binder and for moisture retention. Add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of sorghum flour for cookies and cakes; or 1 teaspoon per cup of flour for breads
• Add a little extra oil or shortening if you feel your recipes are too dry
• Add an extra egg or egg white for improved smoothness and crumb structure
• Add a little extra baking powder and/or soda to boost rising properties
• Mix recipes longer

Here are some gluten free recipes using sorghum flour:
Artisanal Sorghum Bread from Gluten Free Girl
Vegan Sorghum Vanilla Cupcakes from Book of Yum

Coconut Sorghum Muffins from Funky Foods
Popping Sorghum (like popcorn)

What is the nutritive value of grain sorghum flour? Per 100 grams, it contains:

The gluten-free product line is manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free and eight top allergen-free facility!  That means that those of you that can’t eat nuts, peanuts, dairy, gluten, etc…. can enjoy!!  And so far, the mixes have been great.    I have tried the pancake mix and the muffin mix and everyone has loved both.  Click here to read about the muffins I made using the King Arthur Gluten Free Muffin Mix.  I made Coconut, Chocolate, Cranberry Ginger Muffins with the mix.

For the pancakes, I followed the package directions and it made ALOT of pancakes.  I have to admit, I am typing this a week after I made the pancakes and I didn’t write down how many pancakes we made.  But, we made very nice 2-3″ pancakes that fed my family of four for two complete breakfasts.  When the pancakes were fresh, they were very light, fluffy and not moist (not dried out).  When we reheated them and tried them a second time, they were slightly drier, but still very good for a second time.

I did not add anything fancy to the pancakes because I wanted to taste them plain.  I did use Spectrum Coconut Oil Spray in the pan so the pancakes wouldn’t stick.  I really love the Spectrum Coconut Oil Spray for baking things like pancakes, muffins and brownies – when a hint of coconut is wonderful! 

I made our pancakes on an electric griddle.  Here are the pictures of the pancakes being made.