Bisquick!

Okay people. I realize that I have been MIA. Trust me, I would much rather be blogging than doing what I've been doing the past few weeks (Thesis writing for life! I love working late!), but it just hasn't worked out that way. However, because I love you, I'm making a point to write a quick note telling you about some awesome news that I learned yesterday.

General Mills is introducing a gluten-free Bisquick this summer!

I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. Bisquick was a staple at my house growing up...from pancakes on a regular weekend to sausage balls at Christmas. I am thrilled! Plus, General Mills has done a fantastic job of not only transitioning a ton of their products to gluten-free, but also making their products readily available and clearly labeled. They make it so much easier for me to go grocery shopping without having to go to a specialty store.

Anyway, that's the scoop. For all of you Hamburger Helper fans, they are also introducing a gluten-free line of those.

Hope all is well. I'll be back soon!
Kelly

Eggs Benedict

Yesterday, The Hubby and I opted to make Easter brunch at home. We slept in, got up slowly, had some coffee (okay I did, The Hubby hates it), and then got to work on our Eggs Benedict. After seeing a recipe for a smoked salmon and spinach strata, we compromised and had a smoked salmon and spinach benedict with skillet potatoes on the side.

Oh my goodness. I can't even begin to tell you have fabulous and rich this was. 

The best part is that it is so simple! Time consuming, yes, but simple ingredients. All we used for the entire dish was:

• Eggs
• Butter
• Red potatoes
• Smoked salmon (purchased pre-smoked and ready-to-eat)
• Fresh spinach
• Onion
• Lemon juice
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Sugar
• Vinegar (for poaching the eggs)

I've never poached an egg in my life, so The Hubby handled that, along with the hollandaise. 

He used Alton Brown's hollandaise recipe and it turned out great!

I worked on the skillet potatoes and wilted the spinach.

I had never made skillet potatoes like this before, but let me tell you, it was super easy! Here's what I did:

• Cut as many potatoes as you need into small chunks. I used about 4 small/medium red potatoes for the two of us.
• Melt one tablespoon of butter in a skillet, then add potatoes and toss/stir to coat them all with the melted butter.
• Add salt/pepper/other seasoning of choice. I also added a little bit of chopped up onion.
• Cover and let cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until potatoes are softened from the steam.
• Uncover and let cook an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are browned.

Ridiculously easy and the perfect accompaniment to the benedict. The spinach was easy, too...I just put a little olive oil in a skillet on medium heat, added  about 3-4 cups of fresh spinach (it shrinks waaaay down), salt, pepper, and garlic, and stir it around occasionally while it wilts.

I think I got the easier end of the deal. For a lot of the time I sipped my coffee while watching The Hubby get a major workout from whisking hollandaise for half an hour.

After it was all said and done, I had my benedict without any bread -- the spinach, salmon and potatoes was plenty rich -- and he had his over a non-GF english muffin. I have to say, it was a success...and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed spending the time with him and watching him cook. We need to do it more often!

Kelly

Jellybeans!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday...and regardless of your religious views, it's impossible to miss the mass amounts of candy in prime view at every grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, and...well...pretty much everywhere. I grew up celebrating Easter, mostly for the Easter Bunny the Easter egg hunts. And the candy. Lots of it.

We weren't allowed to have much sugar growing up (I'm still bitter that I wasn't allowed to have Fruity Pebbles at any point during my childhood...unless I was visiting my super-cool aunt...but that's another story), but in the months between Christmas and Easter, Mom was a little more flexible. Especially between Valentine's and Easter. ESPECIALLY Easter. I can't remember any other point in my life where either of my parents handed me a giant basket full of sugar (read: I didn't have to go beg for it at the neighbors' houses like at Halloween) to enjoy with no consequences.

That being said, I've found that people are very touchy about their Easter candy of choice. Some people, for example, are passionate about their Peeps. I, personally, have only ever enjoyed Peeps while watching them triple in size in the microwave. Others are crazy about the Cadbury eggs. Ick. Something about a runny, sugary inside that looks like a raw egg just isn't appetizing to me. Easter candy, to me, is Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs--which now I have to double-check...some of the eggs have wheat flour, some don't---and Starburst Jelly Beans.

I only crave these once a year - and as you might have guessed, that once a year is now. I scoured the Super Target yesterday for these and managed to snag the last bag that was buried under the "other" jellybeans. You can imagine my excitement and near inability to wait until I got home to open the bag. I even contemplated buying the plastic Easter eggs to fill with these and put in the "Easter basket" I put together for The Hubby, but decided against it because that was just more between me and the beans.

The best part?

Yeaaaaaah! While these might be made of all kinds of sugary crap, they are gluten-free and I love them! It's the tiny victories, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful, if not festive, weekend! Looking forward to our homemade Easter brunch tomorrow morning...more on that later. 

Kelly