These recipes are a bit "rough" since I've only made them once or twice; and are subject to change. TUSCAN CHICKEN (adapted from - Tuscan Rosemary Chicken and White Beans) Preheat GT Xpress 101 (takes 2-3 minutes). Meanwhile, chop veggies. When the light goes out... Place 1/2 T. bottled (or homemade) Italian Dressing in each cooking chamber. Add 1-2 small chicken tenderloins to each chamber. Flip the chicken so the dressing coats both sides. Top the chicken with a small sprig of fresh rosemary. Top the chicken with sliced veggies. I used 1 stalk of celery, 1 carrot, few slices of a small zucchini and small yellow squash, divided between the two chambers. If you want to increase the protein and use less chicken, use a small amount of chicken and add canned (or cooked) cannellini beans (drained and rinsed) mixed with the veggies. Other veggie choices would include frozen stir-fry veggies, if you are in a hurry. Cook 10-15 minutes, or until the temperature of the chicken reaches 180F and the chicken is cooked through. (Hubby\-Friendly) Hot Dog with Biscuit Topping Preheat the GT Xpress 101. Split hot dog and butterfly open. I use my homemade, multi\-grain version of a baking mix and used it for the biscuit topping. 3/4 c. Good\-For\-You Baking Mix 1/4 c. kefir (you could also use milk, plain yogurt, or milk substitute) Stir together, just until mixed together. In each chamber, place one hot dog (you may be able to place two hot dogs in each chamber if they are thin (I use Hebrew National). Divide the baking mixture in two equal portions and spread over the top of the hot dog/s. Bake 6\-10 minutes. Next time, I'm going to put the dollop of baking mix in the bottom of the chamber and top it with the hot dog and see how that works. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cheeseburger Bake This was thrown together, so I'm not sure exact measurements. Preheat GT Express 101. Mix together 1/2\-1 cup pre\-cooked hamburger (I keep pre\-cooked hamburger in the freezer for quick meals \- ground gluten would also work as a good ground beef substitute), chopped onion (I used dried onion), and enough ketchup to hold mixture together. Divide into the two chambers. Top with shredded cheese. Top with the "Pie" Batter mixture from the book: 1 c. milk 1 egg 1/2 c. baking mix Mix all ingredients together in a covered shaker. Fill each chamber to the top, but don't over\-fill it. Cook 10 minutes. NOTE: The next time I make this, I'm going to make tiny biscuits with my homemade baking mix and top each of the meat mixtures with 2\-3 multi\-grain biscuits instead of using the "Pie" Batter. Shredded beef, onion and bbq sauce could also be used as the mixture in the bottom and topped with biscuits or even a slice of rye bread or Italian bread. Makes an open\-faced BBQ Beef Sandwich. Hot Dogs (butterflied open) can be topped with well-drained sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Cook 6-7 minutes. Taco Salad (similar to Tostado Bowls in the cookbook) Another pull\-it\-out\-of the freezer meat I keep on hand is taco meat (ground beef (or beef/ground gluten combination), seasonings, salsa mixture), in individual 1/2\-cup portions. You need about 1/4 c. meat mixture per chamber. I cut a homemade tortilla in half (I made small tortillas so they would fit into the chambers) and fit one tortilla half into the preheated chambers. Added the meat, shredded cheese, cooked black beans (also from the freezer \- thawed). Cook 6\-7 minutes. Top with your favorite toppings (shredded lettuce, tomatoes....) Scalloped Potatoes (3 servings) Mix together: 1-1/2 c. Simply Potatoes - Shredded Hash Browns (refrigerator case, not frozen - or rehydrated dehydrated or freeze-dried hash browns) 1/2-1 t. dried onion 5 T. kefir (or half & half) 1/2 T. cheddar cheese powder (www.thespicehouse.com) Whisk together. 1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs 1-2 t. butter Melt butter, add bread crumbs to coat. Heat over low heat for a minute. Place hash browns in a small bowl and mix in dried onion. Add the kefir cheddar cheese powder sauce. Mix well and divide between the two chambers, which have been preheated and lightly greased. Divided the buttered bread crumbs on the top. Shut lid and cook 8-10 minutes. Option 1: I've precooked the recipe WITHOUT the buttered crumb topping, and only cooked it for 6-minutes. Removed the cooked potatoes and placed them in a buttered baking dish. (One recipe fits nicely into my 7-1/4x4-1/2x1-inch pasta dishes.) You can cool, wrap tightly with foil, and refrigerate this par-cooked recipe. When ready to reheat, add the buttered crumbs and finish baking in a toaster oven later in the day. Not sure of reheating times... Option 2: Line the baking dishes you are going to use with Reynolds Wrap Release non-stick foil. Place the par-cooked potatoes in them, quick freeze the potatoes. When frozen, remove the foil and wrap the potatoes in the foil and make a stack for freezer to use later. I made the recipe in the book, "Almost Instant" Coconut Custard Pies. I use unsweetened coconut and it worked just fine. I made these in the afternoon and chilled them in the refrigerator. So think ahead.... In the works: Chicken What\-the\-heck! Shepherd's Pie Impossible Pies from Bisquick \- in 2 serving sizes... \-Grainlady

Boy, what a challenge... I'd take the Polenta Pizza Crust mixture and make small rounds (about the size of an English Muffin), and see if you get better results making individual-sized pizza crusts. You might try baking them in a slow oven to dry them out, THEN in a higher oven to crisp them up and brown them. Have you tried converting a baked corn tortilla into a pizza crust (if that's a corn-based food you can have), or even converting a pancake? I remember making low-carb pancakes and using them for a wrap for sandwiches and a "crust" (base) for pizzas. How about a blender batter made with cornmeal, dairy, oil, salt and making a crepe-type shell. Here's a recipe from "An Introduction to Whole Grain Baking" - by Sue Gregg (www.suegregg.com). Blender Crepes Stage 1 1. Place in blender, cover and blend at highest speed 3-5 minutes: 1-1/2 c. warm filtered water 2 T. whey or cultured milk, (optional) (you can drain whey from plain yogurt) 2/3 c. whole grain - choice (soft white wheat, Kamut, spelt, barley, brown rice, millet, oats (whole oat groats), etc. (Grainlady note: you could probably use coarse corn meal.) 2. (DO NOT BLEND YET) Cover and let stand at room temperature several hours, or overnight. Stage 2 3. Add remaining ingredients except eggs and blend briefly until evenly blended; add eggs; cover and continue blending on highest speed for 1-3 minutes: 1 T. melted butter, extra-virgin olive oil, or melted coconut oil 1 t. honey (for fruit-filled or snack crepes) 1/2 t. cinnamon (for fruit-filled or snack crepes) 2 T. unbleached all-purpose flour, optional* see note below 1/4 t. salt 2 eggs 4. Preheat seasoned crepe pan over moderately high heat until drops of water sizzle gently in pan. 5. Grease pan as needed. 6. Pour about 3 T. batter into hot pan, quickly tilting pan to swirl the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan to the edges. Stir the batter before making each crepe. 7. Bake until browned at edges, about 1-2 minutes. Loosen along edge with shish kabob or party stick. Lift gently with fingers, loosening from pan carefully as you turn it over to bake on the second side. * (Grainlady note) If you have a grain mill, you can substitute milled bean flour for the all-purpose flour or use flaxmeal. I suggest using small white beans because they have the mildest flavor when added to baked goods. I've done a lot of food experiments using bean and chana dal flour (I mill them into flour myself). ----------------------------- Cookies from these ingredients... I have a recipe for corn meal cookies (NO flour), but they take a lot of sugar. What are you using for a sweetener? Can you use Stevia or low-glycemic agave nectar? I bet you could work out an oatmeal cookie. It's probably possible if you use powdered shredded wheat as the flour substitute - since that's essentially what it is. Can you have eggs? If not, substitute tofu for the eggs. Good luck - necessity is the mother of invention! -Grainlady

WOW!!! What's old is new again..... ;-) dian57, your recipe looks great! I have a new-and-improved add-in choice since this thread - it's High-Maize Resistant Starch. High-Maize would be a good substitute for wheat germ (measure-for-measure) in the Cornell Bread Recipe. Wheat germ is unnecessary in the Cornell Bread Recipe IF you use at least a portion of freshly-milled whole wheat flour in the recipe to begin with...fresh wheat germ is already available in whole wheat flour. Milling your own flour will also assure the highest amount of nutrients from the wheat. This is why I find it amazing the Cornell Recipe didn't use whole wheat flour in the first place. The nutrients in freshly-milled whole wheat flour begin to degrade within 3-hours of milling, and the wheat germ oil oxidizes quickly. You will find wheat germ purchased as an individual ingredient is basically a rancid product - which means it's a free-radical, which is destructive to the body. The rancidity in the wheat germ purchased commercially is covered by the toasting they do to the raw germ. Rancid oils don't have to smell rancid to BE rancid. If they smell rancid, then they have been rancid for a VERY long time. If you want to add wheat germ to a recipe, add freshly-milled whole wheat flour - it's in there... I add High-Maize Resistant Starch to all my recipes for baked goods anymore. Here's a bit of information from King Arthur Flour: -Natural dietary fiber is derived from corn. It's an easy solution for adding fiber to your gluten-free diet. -One serving of Hi-maize (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) contains 6g of non-soluble dietary fiber: about 20% to 25% of your suggested daily requirement. -Substitute for up to 1/4 to 1/3 the flour in your baked goods; adjust up or down to taste. -Add to soups, sauces, and smoothies. -Wheat-free, soy-free, nut-free blend is packed in a dedicated gluten-free facility. King Arthur - 12-ounces for $6.95. I buy High-Maize 5-in-1 Fiber from Honeyville Grain. $18.49 for 5-pounds. http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/hi-maize5-in-1-fiber.aspx Here's what Honeyville Grain has to say about Hi-Maize: Hi-maize has some real health benefits. Hi-maize is lower in calories than the flour it replaces. Hi-maize delivers between 2-l kilocalories/gram while flour delivers 4 kilocalories/gram. Hi-maize also helps your body burn more fat and may lead to lower fat accumulation. Hi-maize helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels in healthy individuals because Hi-maize increases insulin sensitivity in healthy people. Hi-maize helps balance your energy in the hours following a meal. It has a lower impact in blood sugar and blood insulin than the flour it replaces. For individuals following a "carbohydrate-control" diet, it lowers the "net" or digestible carbohydrates in foods. Hi-maize promotes digestive health. The fiber in Hi-maize is fermented within the large intestine and encourages the growth of friendly bacteria (a "prebiotic" fiber). It reduces harmful compounds such as ammonia, while producing beneficial compounds such as short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, the preferred fuel for colon cells. Hi-maize is ideal for use in a gluten-free diet. Hi-maize is well tolerated. It is slowly fermented and does not produce the uncomfortable digestive side effects sometimes found with fiber. I add a heaping tablespoon to my morning smoothie (homemade kefir, 100% fruit juice, flaxmeal, High-Maize and a nutritional supplement. I also substitute up to 15-20 percent of the flour in a recipe with High-Maize. Another good substitute for wheat germ in the Cornell recipe is amaranth (I believe I mentioned it above in an earlier post). You could add whole amaranth seeds or amaranth flour (amaranth is so tiny it needs to be milled in a seed mill or in a coffee/spice mill). The seeds look like golden poppy seeds and I like to add amaranth seeds to quick breads. Amaranth flour is high in protein, and protein is why wheat germ is used in the recipe. The fiber content of amaranth is three times that of wheat, plus good amounts of iron and calcium. Amaranth also contains vitamin E (also found in wheat germ). Amaranth is easy to digest. The Cornell Bread Recipe was a good start to improving nutrition, fiber and protein in bread, but there are a lot of other things you can add to your recipes way BEYOND what was used in this "old science" recipe. -Grainlady

1. Homemade is something made or prepared at home. It's just about that simple. It doesn't necessarily have to come from 100% whole foods or foods you produce or grow yourself. For instance, homemade chicken noodle soup... You COULD raise the chicken and make your own noodles, but the ingredients could also be purchased, or a combination of those choices - much like your lasagna. They are still MADE at home. I used to make homemade clothes. Clothes purchased from a store are called ready-made. I didn't produce the fabric or the notions to make homemade clothes, but it IS possible to do so. I knit homemade sweaters, but I don't raise sheep or cotton, and don't spin yarn, but it's possible to do so. 2. Prepared - ready-to-eat or ready-to-use. These can be foods YOU make, or commercially prepared. Your homemade lasagne can be frozen and used later, so it's a homemade prepared food. When you pull it out of the freezer, thaw, and reheat, it's a prepared food. Purchase lasagna in the freezer case - that's a prepared food. 3. Scratch - Scratch is actually a reference to something you haphazardly toss together, kinda like making vegetable soup when you really don't follow a recipe. Let's scratch together some breakfast... Others would say scratch is when you measure all the ingredients used in the recipe, but you didn't necessarily produce all the ingredients. 4. Convenience - Some of the preparation is already measured or mixed. I believe Bisquick was the original commercial "convenience" food (the dry ingredients and fat were all mix together and all you had to add was the wet ingredients). I make a wholegrain version of Bisquick, which includes freshly milled spelt, cornmeal and wheat; oatmeal (I flake my own grains), etc... and I consider this a "convenience" food, although I make it from scratch (measured and mixed all the ingredients). You can also make it from scratch using commercial ingredients (shortening, flour, baking powder, etc... Once I've got the mixture together, stored in the freezer, I can quickly make it into any number of things from biscuits to casseroles or desserts, just by using Bisquick Recipes. 5. I like simple preparation, simple food (we use whole and raw foods a lot - produced at home AND purchased. We're not self-sufficient by any means. The least amount of processing is my preference, but that doesn't mean I make everything. It's about choices, not about what's right or wrong. I choose one method or food, you choose another - for whatever reasons. Cooking isn't all or nothing - all scratch, all convenience, but combinations of those... I purchase anything I want, I just stay within my $50/week budget. I buy grain instead of bread. You purchase whole wheat bread, I took it to the next step to control the ingredients even more and make bread at home. I mill my own flour because that's the only way I'm assured the freshest flour possible and all the nutrients FROM wholegrain flour. It's about nutrition first for me. It's also cheaper to mill your own flour at home - especially if you're like me and make ALL your baked goods at home. I use a wide variety of grains/seeds/beans as the basis of our diet. I started milling my own flour and baking everything to eliminate trans-fats, chemical ingredients and artifical colors. Living in the middle of wheat country, I occasionally get free wheat from cousins or friends, and that's really cost effective. Why not just purchase whole wheat flour...? Much of the commercial whole wheat flour is nothing more than white flour with some of the bran raked back into it to make it "brown" AND you pay more for it. By law, in some cases, the wheat germ must be removed in order to give the whole wheat flour longer shelf life. Once the bran on wheat is cracked, the bran oil quickly oxidizes from exposure to oxygen. Even if you were to be able to purchase whole wheat flour milled from 100% of the grain, the nutrients quickly degrade and the germ oil goes rancid (rancid oils do not have to SMELL rancid to BE rancid - if they smell rancid, they've been rancid a l-o-n-g time). What you get with all commercial whole wheat flour is "old" flour, degraded oil and nutrients because you have no idea when it was milled or what conditions it was stored and warehoused under. 6. I try to stick to whole foods and raw foods as much as possible, but I'm not a complete throw-back to a by-gone era. I'm not that ambitious (LOL). You couldn't pay me to gut and pick a chicken, nor would I like to to raise them, but I did all that when I was growing up. Whole foods are easy to prepare, usually cheaper (because they are less processed), more filling and have more fiber than processed foods. 7. I've made lots of peanut butter in a food processor from purchased roasted peanuts. It's one of those easy things people just don't realize they can do at home, but unless you grow your own peanuts, peanut butter is probably less expensive than buying peanuts. 8. We don't use mayo, but I make a "sorta mayo" from drained kefir curd when I need to hold tuna salad or something together. You can do the same thing with yogurt. I also make salad dressing because I try to avoid soy products of any kind, as well as high-fructose corn syrup, which are in almost everything. I make 6-8 cups of kefir each week, but I don't make cheese. I've made cheese (just for the experience of the process), and for the small amount of cheese we use, it's more cost effective to purchase it. I've never used or needed ricotta cheese, but I'd probably drain kefir and use it. I buy mustard, catsup, don't use canned veggies, purchase frozen fruit/veggies when necessary, make freezer jam, but use very little of foods that have empty calories or lots of sugar. I have a flaker mill, so I flake my own grains. I occasionally purchase old-fashioned oats, but make my own cracked grains, so I make my own Scotch (steel-cut) oats. I also mill my own cereals - cream-of-wheat, cream-of-rice... 9. If I don't - or can't - grow an herb/spice, I purchase it, but I grow the majority of what I use. I buy vanilla. I grow many herbs indoors - they are an easy-to-use, high-in-nutrition, fresh vegetable source in the winter. It's also a nice hobby. Garlic is easy to grow, as are onions. 10. The fats I use I purchase - butter, coconut oil, and a small amount of olive oil. I'd make butter if I had a good source for raw dairy products, but I don't. Gas to go get raw milk/cream is more expensive than buying butter at the store. Kansas law - you have to purchase it at the point of origin - the farm it's produced from. 11. We don't use a lot of pasta, but I make most of the pasta we consume and use freshly-milled durum flour. Pasta is cheap and easy to make. I have a pasta machine which makes the work quick, consistant, and accurate. For instance, I only need to make egg noodles once or twice a year because I make so many at once. I make a large batch, dehydrate them, and vacuum-seal them with a FoodSaver and the jar attachment in canning jars. Fresh spaghetti only takes a few minutes to make. Freeze the extra. Cleaning the pasta machine is what takes all the time (LOL). 12. We also consume a rather spartan amount of food compared to most people. We follow the old Basic-4, and I'm a stickler for serving sizes. Because we use whole foods, I'm sure we feel fuller consuming less food because it's less processed and higher in nutrition. "Hunger" is often a sign of malnutrition (need for nutrients), not lack of food. We also enjoy going out to eat. We just don't do it as often as many people do. We also like "junk" food, we just don't waste food dollars on it. If we want hamburgers and French fries, they can be easily made at home. I make the multi-grain burger buns. I bake the fries, rather than deep frying. Here's the old Basic-4 we follow: Bread/Cereal Group: 4 servings Fruits & Vegetables: 4 or more servings Meat/Meat Alternative: 2 servings Dairy or Dairy Alternative: 2 servings 13. Snacks are fresh, frozen, and dehydrated fruits; dehydrated zucchini replaces potato chips. We like nuts, air-popped popcorn, homemade granola... 14. Home canning is an example of something I DON'T do (although I have canned and have taught canning classes). It's more expensive to do home canning than it is to purchase those 3 jars of pickled beets and one jar of dill pickles I use a year. Most of the food from our garden gets eaten quickly, while fresh, or preserved in the freezer or dehydrated. Dried tomato powder quickly replaces tomato sauce or tomato paste. 15. Over the years I've invested in "tools". I won $500 in a low-glycemic recipe contest and bought some of them with the winnings. Just like having good tools for ANY job - building tools or for gardening - good tools makes work easier, more consistant, or more efficient. I've chosen kitchen tools for that same reason. Most have quickly paid for themselves because I use them all the time. I mill flour 1-3 times a week. I have "tools" you probably don't have, but you may also have "tools" I DON'T have. I don't have a jumbo stand mixer. I've never needed one. I use a mandoline, but it's a quick way to make slices for dehydrating very thin and all the same thickness, you may not have one. I have several mills because one mill doesn't do everything. BTW - We have a Neuton battery-powered mower, but also designed our small yard to be very low-maintanance with less than 25% in grass. We water with rain water from our 1000-gallons in the rain barrels around the house. I don't like the emotionally charged, guilt-ridden "green". It's such a catch word these days so that companies can charge you more, or make you feel guilty for making a different choice. I've always prefered a simpler way to get the same results. Usually those ways are also going to save money, even though you may have to invest money up front before you see the savings. Rain water is free, but the containers, hoses and diverters cost money. We saved more than they cost after 2 summers. I cook in solar ovens. Yes, they cost, but so does cooking with electricity or gas. After enough time, the solar ovens have paid for themselves over and over again. It's all about choices. Not about what's right or wrong. -Grainlady